Digitalisation and New Public Management in Africa

Abstract

Digitalisation and public management in this era of industry 4.0 are important for public sector management for governments to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the use of scarce public sector resources. Whilst European countries such as Denmark and Estonia lead the world in the digitalisation of government service, with Estonia believed to be saving 820 years of work annually, the African story on digitalisation in public sector institutions has received little research attention. This chapter explores digital innovations adopted by governments and public sector organisations in African countries and the way in which these digital innovations are improving lives, businesses, and public sector management in the twenty-first century. Best practices are drawn from African countries and lessons provided for governments interested in moving public sector management to the next level. The chapter provides a general introduction to the digitalisation process with examples from African countries, the benefits of digitalisation, and the trends in digitalisation on the African continent. There are sections on the level of acceptability of the digitalisation of government services by citizens, the effect of digitalisation on corruption in Africa, challenges of digitalisation of government services, and, finally, the future of digitalisation on the African continent.KeywordsNPMDigitalisatione-governmentAfricaPublic institutions