Politico-Administrative Regime and Development Institutes in Africa

Abstract

The ability of the modern state to be competitive on the international level depends on its capacity to be flexible and proactive in dramatically changing world. South Africa, which is no doubt an important player on the African continent and its representative in the BRICS, with its incredible natural and human resources but at the same time with enormous poverty and political-administrative obstacles faces socio-economic and political challenges every day, while making an effort to get a sensitive governability and economic competitiveness to develop and to play a significant role on the international arena. On the other hand, the colonial and apartheid past created a huge number of obstacles on the way of modernization of the politico-administrative regime and the creation of national competitive advantages in South Africa. That is why since 1994 new political elite have tried to solve the main problems with the help of new development institutions in the sphere of public policy, political administration and economics — such as the National Planning Commission or Public Service Commission created in 1996. Moreover, the government of South Africa has realised that it is vital to support the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and innovations to be competitive and flexible in the modern world. Thus, the aim of this article is to show the role of development institutions in the process of smooth changes in the political and administrative regime of South Africa in the name of economic and social improvements.