Neopatrimonialism, good governance, corruption and accounting in Africa

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how best to design, implement and assess accounting reforms in Africa. Design/methodology/approach A cross-disciplinary literature review. Findings Whilst neopatrimonialism inhibits optimal development, some forms do not block it. Such governance often permeates African politics and reforms directed at its elimination may fail due to a lack of political will. Thus accounting reforms should recognize their political feasibility and be directed at areas congruent with strengthening attributes of a developmental state. Research limitations/implications There is a need to evaluate accounting reforms with respect to the level of a country’s development, relate them to its political governance, and evaluate them with respect to incremental rather than absolute achievement of their aims. Practical implications Rather than relying on imported “best practice” accounting standards and systems, there is a need for greater indigenous involvement to create systems that meet local needs and circumstances to increase indigenous accounting capacity and will to reform. Social implications Whilst the push to good governance is a desirable ideal, reforms need to be pragmatic with respect to feasibility. Originality/value The paper relates recent work on development to accounting reform in Africa which has been neglected by accounting scholars and practitioners.

Globalisation, accounting and developing countries

“…Many have corruption, patronage and clientelism levels similar to or lower than Northern countries when at similar stages of development (Hopper, 2016). Major anticorruption organisations (particularly the WB, UN, IMF, OECD, and Transparency International) portray it as a noble cause rectifiable through accounting technologies such as IFMSs, developing more professional accountants, adopting and applying IASs, and enacting a strong legal framework to support modern accounting practices.…”

“…In states with non-developmental characteristics, 23 accounting reforms may achieve little without political change: but not all forms of neo-patrimonialism preclude economic development (Hopper, 2016). Local projects can benefit from leadership and coordination from benign neo-patrimonial leaders oriented to fostering longer-run attributes of developmental states.…”

“…If this is the case, promoting conventional accounting reforms in DCs that serve economic ends have merit. However, other development experts argue that poor governance hinders development, which is not merely an economic phenomenon, hence the need for alternative accountings in areas like CSR and civil society involvement (Hopper, 2016). This debate within development studies is highly pertinent to determining the best shape of accounting reforms in DCs.…”

Institutional pluralism, two publics theory and performance reporting practices in Zambia’s health sector

“…Under such circumstances, the adoption and implementation of accounting reforms based on external rationales reproduced an alien hegemony that did not increase local autonomy, democracy and accountability (Hopper et al, 2016). Further, these accounting reforms together with their discourse and language may encourage governments in EEs to abandon their development agenda as they seek to legitimate themselves to supranational institutions (Hopper et al, 2009;Hopper, 2017). Consequently, such practices may result in dubious development benefits (Awio et al, 2007).…”

“…Further, more than half of health outcome performance monitoring indicators in Zambia emerge from the imperatives of supranational institutions (Ministry of Health, 2011). Such situations point towards the need for appropriate accounting and reporting systems suitable for multiple donor institutions (Everett, 2012;Hopper et al, 2016;Hopper, 2017). This paper contributes towards the growth of accounting research in Africa outside the larger and more economically dynamic African nations (e.g.…”