{"id":14146,"date":"2026-02-28T09:52:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/reformes-publiques-en-afrique-pourquoi-lexecution-reste-le-principal-defi\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:22:36","slug":"public-sector-reforms-in-africa-why-execution-remains-the-main-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/public-sector-reforms-in-africa-why-execution-remains-the-main-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Sector Reforms in Africa : Why Execution Remains the main challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\n
<\/section>\n
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Introduction<\/h3>\n

African governments have never produced so many strategic visions, sectoral plans or national transformation programmes. Yet despite legitimate ambitions, the results achieved often remain partial or disappointing. The real Achilles heel is neither vision nor strategy: it is execution.
\nAccording to Forbes and the work of Robert Kaplan and David Norton, nearly 90% of strategies fail not because they are bad, but because they are not executed properly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n

<\/section>\n
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The African paradox: strong visions, interrupted reforms<\/h3>\n

Africa does not have a problem with ideas. Africa has a problem with implementation.
\nReforms are interrupted, priorities change with teams, projects lose their coherence, budgets do not follow priorities, teams work in silos.<\/p>\n

The result :<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Intentions are diluted<\/li>\n
  • Impacts are delayed,<\/li>\n
  • Confidence weakens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
    \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n
    <\/section>\n
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    Adopt a proven strategic execution system<\/h3>\n

    In more than 70 countries, governments and large companies have adopted the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Strategy Execution Premium Process (XPP) to finally move from strategy to results.<\/p>\n

    This method makes it possible to:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Translate vision into concrete actions,<\/li>\n
    • Align teams,<\/li>\n
    • Measure performance,<\/li>\n
    • Coordinate stakeholders,<\/li>\n
    • Strengthen accountability,<\/li>\n
    • Ritualise execution (monthly or quarterly reviews).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n
      <\/section>\n
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      \n
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      Why the method is perfectly suited to the African context<\/h3>\n

      Contrary to what one might think, deploying the BSC does not require:<\/p>\n

      \n
      \n
      A highly mature administration<\/div>\n
      A large budget<\/div>\n
      A complex IT system<\/div>\n
      \u2022 Radical internal transformation<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      On the contrary, one of its main advantages is its scalability<\/strong>. You can start small (a pilot department or ministry) and then gradually expand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n

      <\/section>\n
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      The three psychological barriers preventing leaders from adopting the method<\/h3>\n
      \n
      \n
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      1. “It’s too complex.”<\/div>\n
      False. With modern tools, the method becomes visual, intuitive and dashboard-driven.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      2. “We don’t have enough internal capacity.”<\/div>\n
      A strategic core of 6 to 12 people is enough to get started.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      3. “The technology is expensive.”<\/div>\n
      Current cloud solutions cost less than an international mission.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      Concrete benefits for African governments<\/h4>\n
      \n

      <\/p>\n

      \n
      \n
      1. Progressive scalability<\/div>\n
      Gradual, controlled adoption without disrupting the organisation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      Budgetary and organisational agility<\/div>\n
      Quarterly strategic reviews and rapid reallocation of resources.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      3. Enhanced accountability<\/div>\n
      Decisions based on KPIs, not impressions.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      <\/p>\n

      \n
      \n
      4. Stakeholder integration<\/div>\n
      Citizens, donors, ministries: everyone sees the same strategy.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      5. Reduction in interrupted reforms<\/div>\n
      Steering discipline protects initiatives from political cycles.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n
      <\/section>\n
      \n
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      Technology: the real psychological trigger<\/h3>\n

      Hesitant leaders usually change their minds after seeing a demonstration of BSC\/XPP applications. Visualisation of strategy maps, automatic KPI tracking and performance alerts show them that:<\/p>\n

      “It’s doable. It’s concrete. And it’s doable NOW.”<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

      Conclusion<\/h3>\n

      Africa does not need new strategies; it needs systems to execute them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The Balanced Scorecard and XPP offer:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Rigour,<\/li>\n
      • Transparency,<\/li>\n
      • Coordination,<\/li>\n
      • Measurable impacts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Institutionalising this method in African administrations would be a major step forward in strengthening citizen confidence, optimising resources and ensuring the success of public reforms.
        \nThe future of African public policy depends less on the quality of ideas and concepts than on the ability to execute them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n \n

        <\/section>\n
        \n
        \n
        \n
        \n
        \"Salahdine<\/div>\n
        \n

        An article by Salahdine Ourzik, MBA, PMP, BSC\/XPP, LMI<\/em><\/b><\/h4>\n

        Strategic planning
        \nOrganisational Change Management
        \nLeadership Development
        \nCorporate Performance System\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14146"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15491,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14146\/revisions\/15491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.setym.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}