Enhancing good governance in Africa: The imperative of a supranational approach Babatunde Fagbayibo* ABSTRACT At the core of the discourse on the political and economic development in post- colonial Africa is the debate on governance. The proven nexus between good governance and socio-economic development provides the basis for the immense interest in improving African governance. The dynamics of providing an effective answer to the vexing state of African governance is the main problem that this paper seeks to tackle. This paper investigates the possibility and methodology of granting African regional institutions the authority to superintend the implementation of good governance standards across the continent. Put differently, to what extent can regional institutions positively impact on democratisation and good governance at the national level? At the heart of this problematique is the discussion on supranationalism, especially the logic of improving governance standards through an organisation that possesses binding powers. 1. INTRODUCTION At the core of the discourse on the political and economic development in post- colonial Africa is the debate on governance. The proven nexus between good governance and socio-economic development provides the basis for the immense interest in improving African governance. 1 The inability of immediate post-independence elites to lay the foundation for the essential features of good governance continues to frustrate meaningful attempts to provide a sustainable democratisation process. As such, the matrix of governance in post- colonial Africa was, and still is, largely characterised by the monopolisation and manipulation of the national political (and economic) process. Electoral chicanery, suppression of opposition, nepotism and the personalisation of the national treasury has all become the hallmark of most post-colonial states. 2 * LLD (Pretoria). Senior Lecturer, Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law, College of Law, University of South Africa. Email: fagbabo@unisa.ac.za. 1 See e.g. New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), “Governance in Africa’s Development: Progress, Prospects and Challenges”. The 9th African Partnership Forum, Algiers, Algeria, 2007. Available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/6/23/41078136.pdf [accessed 10 October 2012]. 2 S. Adejumobi, “Elections in Africa: A Fading Shadow of Democracy?” 21 International Political Science Review (2000), p 62. Open Rubric