IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025issue-4p540-561.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Re-Thinking Good Governance in Africa: The Strategic Role of Intra-Government Collaboration and Responsible Negotiation

Author

Listed:
  • Gilbert Atuto Ang’ana*

    (Policy Leader Fellow, European University Institute, Florence School of Transnational Governance)

Abstract

Interest in good governance in Africa has grown significantly, establishing it as both a distinctive governance model and a dynamic field of research. However, gaps in its full application remain challenging due to limited understanding of its antecedents, mediators, moderators, and the emerging interventions required for effective outcomes. The objectives are to explore the theoretical foundations of good governance, identify key antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators, and investigate the emerging themes in good governance that can bridge its application. Seventy (70) research articles from the Web of Science database were systematically reviewed, focusing on publications from 2014 to 2024. The findings highlight a surge in interest in good governance from 2017 to 2024, following the AU Agenda 2063. Most research is primarily driven by institutions in developed nations, with no dominant theoretical approach. The findings also reveal that good governance has primarily focused on collaborative leadership, institutional synergy, and accountability at the inter-government and external stakeholder levels, limiting its application at the intra-government level. The study constructed an elaborate schematic framework to enhance the theory and practice of good governance in Africa. Intra-government collaboration and responsible negotiation are proposed as key strategic enablers for the sustainable application of good governance in Africa. A future research agenda is proposed to explore the empirical effects of intra-government collaboration and responsible negotiation on good governance in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Atuto Ang’ana*, 2025. "Re-Thinking Good Governance in Africa: The Strategic Role of Intra-Government Collaboration and Responsible Negotiation," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(4), pages 540-561, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-4:p:540-561
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-4/540-561.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/re-thinking-good-governance-in-africa-the-strategic-role-of-intra-government-collaboration-and-responsible-negotiation/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maurizio Carbone, 2024. "Beyond the Heaven–Hell Binary and the One‐Way Traffic Paradigm: The European Union, Africa and Contested Human Rights in the Negotiations of the Samoa Agreement," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(5), pages 1314-1331, September.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "DOES GLOBALIZATION PROMOTE GOOD GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA? An Empirical Study across 51 Countries," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 180(2), pages 105-141, June.
    3. Paulos C Tsegaw, 2020. "The Nexus Between Good Governance Indicators And Human Development Index In Africa: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(2), pages 119-119, December.
    4. Moeketsi Kali, 2022. "Rebellious civil society and democratic consolidation in Lesotho," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 565-577, December.
    5. Roger Southall, 2019. "Polarization in South Africa: Toward Democratic Deepening or Democratic Decay?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 194-208, January.
    6. Abel Kinyondo & Riccardo Pelizzo & Mwoya Byaro, 2021. "“DELIVER AFRICA FROM DEBTS”: Good Governance Alone is not Enough to Save the Continent From Debt Onslaught," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 184(3), pages 318-338, September.
    7. Japhace Poncian & Edward S. Mgaya, 2015. "Africa¡¯s Leadership Challenges in the 21st Century: What Can Leaders Learn from Africa¡¯s Pre-Colonial Leadership and Governance," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 3(3), pages 106-115, May.
    8. Steve Yaw Sarpong & Murad A. Bein, 2021. "Effects of good governance, sustainable development and aid on quality of life: Evidence from sub‐saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 25-37, March.
    9. Desirée Nilsson & Isak Svensson, 2023. "Pushing the doors open: Nonviolent action and inclusion in peace negotiations," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(1), pages 58-72, January.
    10. John Mamokhere, 2022. "Pragmatic implementation and promotion of good governance principles in realizing Sustainable Development Goal Six (6) in South Africa," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(6), pages 20-32, September.
    11. Abraham Ename Minko, 2023. "The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Good Governance in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(5), pages 952-958, May.
    12. Daniel N Mlambo & Mandla A Mubecua & Siphesihle Edmund Mpanza & Victor H Mlambo, 2019. "Corruption and Its Implications for Development and Good Governance: A Perspective from Post-Colonial Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 11(1), pages 39-47.
    13. Sarah Brierley, 2020. "Unprincipled Principals: Co‐opted Bureaucrats and Corruption in Ghana," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(2), pages 209-222, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Flavia Massuga & Marcos Aurélio Larson & Marcos Roberto Kuhl & Sérgio Luis Dias Doliveira, 2024. "The influence of global governance on the sustainable performance of countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28567-28589, November.
    2. Miebi Ugwuzor, 2021. "Self-Destructive Work Behavior Management for Socio-Economic Emancipation: A Classic Case of Saving One from Oneself," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 13(3), pages 34-43.
    3. Tang, Lianzhou & Xu, Wenli, 2025. "Patronage and pollution," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    4. Kossi Ayenagbo & Mamadou Boukari, 2023. "Comparative Analysis of the Interlinks between Globalization, Governance and Development in African Economic Communities," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 4318-4338, December.
    5. Ariel Herbert Fambeu & Georges Dieudonné Mbondo & Patricia Tchawa Yomi, 2022. "Bigger or better? The effect of public spending on happiness in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(4), pages 487-499, December.
    6. Ali, Shahid & Xiaohong, Zhou & Hassan, Syed Tauseef, 2024. "The hidden drivers of human development: Assessing its role in shaping BRICS-T's economics complexity, and bioenergy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    7. repec:osf:osfxxx:z9bcy_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Agnihotri, Anustubh, 2022. "Transfer preferences of bureaucrats and spatial disparities in local state presence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    9. Martins Iyoboyi & Latifah Musa-Pedro, 2024. "Impact of Institutional Quality on the Quality of Life in Africa: An Economic Approach," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 523-545, April.
    10. Evangelia Vasilarou & Michel Zouboulakis, 2023. "Institutionalist impact upon the efficiency of public finance policy. A theoretical approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(3), pages 1338-1355.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Samba Diop, 2021. "Human development and governance in Africa: do good fences make good neighbours?," Working Papers 21/051, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    12. Ali Celik & Ahmet Kostekci, 2025. "Empirical Exploration of the Drivers of Human Development in Central and West Asian Countries: How Effective Are Control of Corruption, Political Stability and the Rule of Law?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 4652-4675, June.
    13. Kazi Musa & Kazi Sohag & Jamaliah Said & Farha Ghapar & Norli Ali, 2023. "Public Debt, Governance, and Growth in Developing Countries: An Application of Quantile via Moments," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, January.
    14. Dong, Zhu & Shi, Hui, 2023. "Does natural resources efficiency provide roadmap for economic development in China? Evidence from econometric analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    15. Aman-Rana, Shan, 2025. "Meritocracy in a bureaucracy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    16. Bhatnagar, Ankur, 2021. "What drives Indian Non-SOE FDI into Africa?," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 9(4), September.
    17. Eslam A. Hassanein & Nagwa Samak & Salwa Abdelaziz, 2024. "The synergetic effect of economic complexity and governance on quality of life: policy thresholds," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    18. Dejene Mamo Bekana, 2021. "Innovation and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why Institutions Matter? An Empirical Study Aross 37 Countries," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 20(2), pages 161-200, December.
    19. Mariem Jaafra & Houssem Rachd, 2022. "Education and Economic Growth: ıs There a Role for Governance? a Comparison between MENA and OECD Countries," Eurasian Journal of Social Sciences, Eurasian Publications, vol. 10(4), pages 236-251.
    20. Danielle Resnick, 2022. "Does Accountability Undermine Service Delivery? The Impact of Devolving Agriculture in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 1003-1029, April.
    21. Siriki Coulibaly & Pierre Guei, 2023. "Qualitative Analysis of West African Economic and Monetary Union Decades’ Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Statistics, Anser Press, vol. 1(2), pages 44-56, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-4:p:540-561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.