Africa's public enterprise sector and evidence of reforms

Public enterprises (PEs) play an important role in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in terms of their contribution to output, and employment. PEs also provide a channel through which governments deliver social services and goods, and transfer technology. But while many benefits stem from PE activities, evidence suggests that most PEs do not successfully mobilize or efficiently utilize resources. To alleviate some of the problems many governments have introduced reforms. This paper examines Africa's PE sector and the evidence of reforms. The paper is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the main findings, discusses the use of data and explores the history of PEs in Africa. Chapter 2 provides an overview of todays PE sector with an emphasis on size and financial performance. Chapter 3 discusses financial flows between PEs, the government, and the banking system. Chapter 4 looks at PE financial indicators and explores questions of efficiency and productivity. Chapter 5 reviews the root problems of PE performance and assesses the design and implementation of reform programs. Chapter 6 analyzes several countries' experiences with PE reform, and draws lessons for the future.