Synthesis of Review of Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mauritania
This synthesis paper is based on a review of three countries in West Africa-Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mauritania where state owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to play an important role and Governments have embarked on a number of public sector reform...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/544581468191970452/Synthesis-of-review-of-corporate-governance-of-state-owned-enterprises-in-Burkina-Faso-Mali-and-Mauritania http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27603 |
| Summary: | This synthesis paper is based on a
review of three countries in West Africa-Burkina Faso, Mali,
and Mauritania where state owned enterprises (SOEs) continue
to play an important role and Governments have embarked on a
number of public sector reforms are intended to have a
positive impact on SOEs. SOE governance practices and
problems are having strong similarities in all of the
countries reviewed. These commonalities can be ascribed to
the fact that all of the countries are transitioning from
centrally controlled economic and political traditions to
more liberal economies and to a more democratic government.
All are facing challenges with implementing the legal
structures left behind from colonial times. The data that
is available shows that wholly-owned and state controlled
SOEs under perform. Many are technically insolvent and
survive only through government support. Their performance
is not only poor in the financial area but also in the
provision of needed social services. The country studies
link the poor performance of SOEs, in particular
wholly-owned SOEs, to their governance practices.
Long-lasting reforms are not simply a matter of plugging
holes in the legislative or institutional framework.
Corporate governance is the result of a complex interplay of
law, practice, institutions and culture. Action plans need
to take into account incentives and the political, social
and cultural context of corporate governance in the country
in addition to the legal framework. Indeed, SOE governance
is a system and making it work better requires a systems
approach. Most reform plans in the past have focused on one
or another element of SOE governance, which might explain
why many have fallen short of hopes and expectations.
Systems approaches, on the other hand, are important in
complex organizations (such as SOEs) whose success depends
upon the interaction and cooperation of other organizations
and institutions. This synthesis paper presents the
objectives and the methodology used in carrying out the
reviews followed by a discussion of the features and
importance of SOEs in each of the countries studied. It
then segues into a discussion on the performance of SOEs
which is supplemented by case studies of both successful and
unsuccessful SOEs and key lessons learned the paper then
presents the current Government initiatives for reform and
the remaining challenges and recommendations. The paper
concludes with suggestions on how to implement the
recommendations based on examples from other countries that
have embarked on comprehensive governance reforms for the
SOE sector. |
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