PLATEAUS NOT SUMMITS: REFORMING PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA - Insights from Harvard

A very interesting article on the Public Finance Management reform in Africa

"Successful public sector reform is rare in Africa. Over 12 years, Ethiopia transformed its public financial management (PFM) to international standards and now has the third best system in Africa that is managing the largest aid "ows to the continent (Hedger and de Renzio, 2010, p. 3; World Bank, 2010). The Financial reform succeeded because it was embedded in a government led political and administrative reform—decentralization. The reforms were driven by a domestic political imperative, not a foreign technical agenda, and rapid results were needed in PFM to keep up with the accelerating pace of decentralization. Rapid results required improving the existing financial system rather than changing it with advanced !nancial techniques of “international best practice.”"

For further reading:

http://www.governanceanddevelopment.com/2012/05/plateaus-not-summits-reforming-public.html