Exploring Urban Governance in Ethiopia: Institutional Principles of Non-state Actors’ Engagement

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to look in to the institutional principles that encourage non-state actors (NSAs’) to participate in urban infrastructure and services. This article uses a qualitative research approach to achieve the purpose of the research. To acquire qualitative data, qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and key informant interviews were used. The findings of the study indicate that NSAs’ engagements are governed by legal and policy provisions in the case study urban local governments (ULGs’). In spite of the aforementioned provisions, there have been imbalances in these provisions to safely deal with the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions. Furthermore, there was a significant disconnect between legal/policy provisions and their execution. The case study ULGs’ lacked the necessary resources to carry out constitutional provisions relating to the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure services. Consequently, the institutional environment might impede the role of NSAs’ engagement to improve decentralized development policy. The case study ULGs’ general institutional situation was pathetic to encourage the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions. The traditional top-down approach to institutional assistance was incompatible with the bottom-up nature of partnership development. There was significant gap in institutionalizing the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions although there have been proper efforts to institutionalize their engagement. This case study, therefore, contends that to guide NSAs’ involvement and the sharing of the merit of partnership development, unambiguous norms and regulations must be established. These laws and regulations must give the NSAs’ the freedom to engage in the activities of development and make judgments. Besides, this article contends that in order to fulfill their obligation to facilitate NSAs’ engagements, the case study ULGs’ require extensive manpower development. The development of manpower must concentrate on developing competent personnel and a welcoming institutional culture. The ULGs’ should have given sufficient powers and responsibilities over infrastructure service provisions.