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This paper aims to explore the socio-cultural factors that emerge in the implementation of integrated financial management information systems (IFMIS) in Ghana, a developing country.

A qualitative research approach was used with a case study design. The data were collected from archival documents and semi-structured face-to-face interviews with participants who played a significant role in the implementation of IFMIS in the Ghanaian public sector.

The findings show that although IFMIS was considered by the World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID), European Union and Danish International Development Agency to be rational, technical, universal and unproblematic, the use of the system in the Ghanaian public institutions was constrained by socio-cultural factors. These factors included power struggles between various technocrats; and negative attitudes such as opportunism and rent-seeking interest towards the IFMIS.

The research is grounded in a single case study, but the findings can be theoretically generalised to information technology (IT)-based financial management system exhibiting the same characteristics.

This study offers a practical implication for governments, consultants and donor agencies.

This study provides additional insight through the application of the sociology and duality of information technology theory to study a particular IT-based public financial management initiative.

In this study, we use neoinstitutional sociology to explore how institutional pressures exerted on Ghana influenced the government’s decision to adopt, implement and use integrated financial management information systems (IFMIS) for the management of public financial resources.

Based on a case study of Ghana’s Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), the study uses a qualitative interpretive case approach as the methodological stance, and some key officials involved in the implementation of the IFMIS project were interviewed and documentary evidence was also analyzed to achieve triangulation of data and results.

The results show that the IFMIS reform was instigated by two main forces. One is the pressure from external stakeholders like the World Bank related to funding relationships. The other is the indigenous pressures coming from internal stakeholders who felt dissatisfied with the outcomes of previous reforms. The findings also suggest that many contingencies for successful reforms to IFMIS were present in Ghana, such as the commitment of internal stakeholders, the training programs for improving the needed skills of employees, and the will to get inspired by best practices abroad. Nevertheless, ultimate users mostly were hesitant to use IFMIS due to fears of losing their jobs because of institutionalized practices and a lack of IT skills. The study further revealed that, even if many conditions for a successful reform, especially regarding adoption and implementation, are in place, the reform may ultimately fail due to the impact of other factors that particularly regard the use of the newly developed accounting repertoire.

The findings of this study can be considered as a blueprint to emerging economies yet to adopt and implement similar IT-based Public Financial Management Information System (PFMIS). Moreover, given that some ultimate users exhibited resistance to the use of the new system, the results will prompt emerging economies that have not yet implemented IT-based PFMIS to recognize that cultural change management is an inevitable condition for successful implementation and use of IT-based PFMIS.

This study contributes to studies on public sector accounting reform in emerging economies by highlighting how the adoption of public sector accounting reform was instigated by both development partners and indigenous institutions responsible for ensuring effective and transparent management of public funds. Furthermore, unlike previous studies, the implementation team imported business case ideas from the private sector to augment the IFMIS implementation.

Purpose – This chapter examines developments in public sector accounting practices using evidence from a developing country (Ghana), and explores the motivations for such developments from post-independence to date. This stems from the limited research in public sector accounting particularly on developing countries despite the rich empirical context that they provide for the global research community.

Design/methodology/approach – Advocating for institutional theory, data was gathered from multiple sources including interviews, discussions and documents to achieve the above objectives.

Findings – Evidence gathered shows gradual shift from cash accounting to accrual accounting practices (modified), including computerization of the entire public sector accounting and reporting processes. Indeed, the World Bank and IMF sponsored reform (PUFMARP) instigated many of the major developments in the public sector accounting practices, including the adoption of accrual accounting and deployment of integrated financial management information system.

Research limitations/implications – Findings on developments during the post-colonial period were only based on the analysis of few documentary sources.

Originality/value – The study contributes to the limited studies in public sector accounting from developing countries and Africa in particular. It also extends the application of institutional theory in public sector accounting research.

Implications – Findings inform practitioners and policy-makers on the context-specific factors worth considering in the adoption of public sector accounting practices.

Country comparative studies especially in Africa on public procurement reforms toward financial control and accountability of public expenditure are limited. Meanwhile, these kinds of studies have potential for providing useful insights on how value for money through public procurement is being ensured across Africa. This paper attempts to provide this. The purpose of this paper is to highlight several policy recommendations for public management aimed at improving public procurement and public financial management (PFM) systems in Africa.

The paper adopts a qualitative case study using secondary data drawn from Global Integrity Index (GII) of the Transparency International and the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessments databases to investigate variables that influence public procurement practices in three purposively selected African countries. The comparative approach for presenting some of the experiences of countries in public procurement methods is used in this paper.

The findings suggest three main variables, namely, government structure and economic variables, complicated by socio-cultural values interact to influence public procurement and PFM systems in the case study countries.

Data for the GII indicators used were only available from 2013, which restricted the discussion of those indicators to a short span (2013–2015).

The socio-cultural milieu within which public procurement takes place has implications for how governance structures function to deliver value-for-money public procurement.

This study adds value by comparing three countries within Africa to reveal common variables which influence public procurement and PFM systems.

This study aims to focus on public policy concerning the implementation of public procurement policies in Nigeria and Ghana toward achieving value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works. It specifically analyzes some major administrative challenges Nigeria and Ghana are faced with in the administration/implementation of public procurement policies toward achieving value for money. It looks at the relationship between the state (regulatory authorities) and substate (procurement entities) in the public sectors of Nigeria and Ghana.

A comparative case study approach is adopted, where the two countries are compared in terms of achieving value for money. Data was collected from multiple sources, including in-depth interviews. The use of official documents and direct observations at the procurement regulatory authorities and entities’ premises.

This study found Nigeria often used the four Es – economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity while Ghana mainly used the traditional five rights (right quantity, right quality, right price, right place and right time) as their criteria for ensuring value for money. The major administrative challenges found include corruption, low capacity of procurement personnel and poor knowledge of the procurement laws.

It recommends effective collaboration between government and civil society groups in the fight against corruption in procurement-related activities, with the implication that there is a need for periodic training for public procurement officials.

It adds to the field of public procurement in terms of value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works in developing countries context.

This study aimed to examine the adoption of consortium blockchain technology to ensure interoperability for the transparency of budgetary control in Ghanaian local government.

This study is based on the design science research (DSR) observational technique for developing a consortium blockchain budgetary control system for Ghana's local government.

The study resulted in the design of a consortium blockchain monitoring and evaluation system to set up a mechanism to monitor various budget projects, processes and transactions for Ghana's local government. The findings also proved Ghana is ideally positioned to gain an advantage from designed artefacts such as ours, given its digital financial service (DFS) policy. In addition, the evaluation of the designed artefact proves there will be a positive impact on budgetary processes by addressing transparency concerns; however, the success of this concern depends on how the local government organisation embraces the artefact.

The study sheds light on budget monitoring and evaluation tied to peer-to-peer (P2P) participation in the public sector via an advanced administrative digitalised networking and communication algorithm (A Distributed Ledger Technology - blockchain). The difference between the designed artefact and the traditional M&E system is argued. The study is limited by the paradoxes and inefficiencies of the integration of blockchain into the Ghanaian local government but, at the same time, presents a high level of certainty and possibility.

The proposed artefact has presented relevance because it is a new solution to existing concerns like trust, transparency, accountability and compliance, thereby improving local government budget administration.

The study has offered unique and new methods, guidelines and designs for tracking various budget projects and processes beyond the conventional technology-driven approach via DSR, exhibiting a unique solution for solving budget transparency, trust, accountability, compliance and data accessibility concerns.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of government accounting in Ghana and Benin using neo-patrimonial and organizational façade lenses.

The study used two country case studies that engaged with stakeholders including donors, civil society, politicians, and civil servants. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection technique, which were complemented by document analysis.

The study finds that government accounting reforms are decoupled and used in both countries as a façade which is caused, to a varying degree, by indigenous neo-patrimonial governance traits of informal institutions, patronage, and clientelism. And despite the relatively superior Ghanaian system, in terms of its functioning, compared to the Beninese, government accounting plays a more symbolic role in the former than in the latter.

This is one of the very few theoretically informed empirical studies that examine the state of government accounting in the two major African settings – Anglophone and Francophone. The results inform policies more tailored to indigenous governance issues for better outcomes.