The perils of a bureaucratic fad in Africa: Examining the effects of the agencification of the state apparatus in Gabon

Abstract

AbstractThe paradigmatic ascent of the new public management (NPM) doctrine in the 1980s was a joyful moment for advocates of market‐led public sector reforms. Four decades later, following disappointing results, the NPM is no longer dominant. Pending the emergence of a new leading paradigm, however, NPM‐inspired reforms are still being pursued in several nations worldwide. The central African nation of Gabon is one of those. For 8 years, it pursued an unsuccessful program of agencification of the state apparatus reportedly to create a “modern” public bureaucracy that would support economic modernization. This article provides the first scholarly analysis of the effects of this program. It shows that agencification fundamentally undermined the fragile foundations of the Gabonese administrative state. The magnitude of the damage to the state apparatus stands as the key finding of this study. This outcome further strengthens the case against an uncritical adoption of exogenously‐developed public sector reforms.