The Local Public Sector Alliance—led by LPSA’s Working Group on Sub-Saharan Africa and other Africa-based members of the Alliance—brought together leading African experts on decentralization and localization and partner organizations from around the world on how best to advocate for and support more inclusive and effective decentralization and localization in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this effect, LPSA—along with key partner organizations—organized the workshop “Elevating The Debate On Decentralization and Multilevel Governance In Africa” which was held at the Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya, from May 20-22, 2024.
The workshop was hosted by the Local Public Sector Alliance in partnership with the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights (University of the Western Cape, South Africa); the East Africa Local Governments Association (EALGA); the Institute for Local Government Studies, Ghana; and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC), Kenya.
A select group of invited participants was able to join the workshop in-person. Other interested colleagues were able to follow the sessions and participate online.
The Workshop Proceedings summarize and capture key highlights of the three days of presentations, discussion, and nine workshop sessions. In addition, YouTube videos of each of the workshop sessions are now available. Key take-aways from the workshop follow below.
Key takeaways from the workshop
The workshop was first-of-its-kind, building relationships between (national and local) government officials, policy makers, public sector experts and evidence organizations. The workshop brought together central government officials, local government practitioners, scholars, policy makers, civil society actors, and other champions of decentralization and localization from across Africa to discuss and exchange knowledge and experiences on the state of decentralization, localization, and multilevel governance. There is currently no other all-inclusive pan-African platform that brings together such a range of stakeholders in support of decentralization and more inclusive and effective localization in Africa.
Contextualization of decentralization agenda is critical in understanding the pathway that countries in Africa have adopted. Varied experiences from Anglophone and Francophone Africa as well as different political context and the link to political setting remains critical in determining the interest, influencers, drivers and contours of decentralization policy and implementation. Understanding and appreciating the conceptual clarity on devolution and decentralization in Africa is critical in supporting the implementation of decentralization policies.
The basis for decentralization in African countries may be rooted in post-colonial nation building, resolving conflict, preserving traditional and indigenous mechanisms and/or improving service delivery. While there are complexities in how countries are transitioning on their pathways, decentralization is viewed as a means, an end and a process affected by many factors and operating within a highly centralized ecosystem. African countries can leverage on the vast experiences to promote contextualised practices and deliver on lower hanging fruits. There was an emphasis on extending local government functions to economy and engaging political ecosystem.
The 2014 African Charter on values and principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development has the potential to inspire continental action towards localizing development efforts that serve the people. However, its limited ratification is a limiting factor but it can be pivoted to influence national level action on decentralisation. Whereas all countries in Africa proclaim to have local governments, most local governments lack the authority and autonomy to act as “governments of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The role of civil society and other non-state actors as well as centering decentralization around the community is critical to an inclusive and effective approach to deliver on the promise of decentralization towards service delivery. While community participation is increasingly evident, community-led monitoring and feedback mechanisms could be improved by working with civil society and other partners to develop tools that focus on measuring impact.
There is considerable variation in decentralization practices within Africa, but limited opportunities and insufficient mechanisms for knowledge sharing among actors across countries. While Kenya and South Africa decentralization agendas are cited as best practice on the continent, devolution does not necessarily equate to more effective services at the local level. Continued efforts are needed to ensure effective transfer of functions and financing, intergovernmental coordination, inclusive governance, and efficient local service delivery.
More data and analysis are needed to promote the consistent, responsible use of inclusive data and evidence to inform and improve policymaking. It is critical to exploring issues on good data, measurement and diagnostic tools that will elevate the debate on decentralization in Africa. Locally disaggregated data about public sector spending or local development results is rarely (publicly) available, and where such data is available, it is rarely used to analyze the effectiveness of the (local) public sector. This is a major missed opportunity to use evidence-informed decision-making to ensure a more inclusive, responsive and efficient public sector.
LPSA’s Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Working Group offers a platform for further convening, coordination and partnerships to unlock the capacity of African experts and evidence organizations. Further convening, coordination and partnerships are required to unlock the capacity of African experts to engage in comparative (peer) reviews of local governance institutions as well as the ability to engage in comparative quantitative assessments of intergovernmental finances within and across countries in the region. The initial discussions of a Pan-African Network of Decentralization and Localization Advocates (PANDA) took shape with the LPSA’s Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Working Group being proposed as a vehicle to generate ongoing policy dialogue among stakeholders and to elevate the debate on decentralization and localization with data, facts, and rigorous analysis.
