Red Flags Ignored: Governance Values and Practices in Africa

This research paper examines the gap between the African Union's democratic governance goals and the actual practices of its member states. It highlights a lack of political commitment to regional standards and a deficit in moral leadership, while arguing for the global promotion of intrinsic African values like communalism and solidarity to improve the continent's governance image.

• The African Union (AU) has established a vision for democratic governance values to replace negative values entrenched in political traditions, marking a departure from the approach of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU). However, AU member states show inconsistent commitment to the ratification, domestication, and compliance of these standards, alongside a general lack of political commitment to regional standards.
• Governance values intrinsic to Africa, including communalism, consensus, solidarity, and peer review, are deeply rooted in the culture but have not been effectively communicated internationally. The document suggests that promoting these particularities and perspectives would improve the continent's image regarding the application of positive governance values.
• To improve governance, the paper advocates for the consolidation of the African Governance Platform and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to better coordinate and evaluate the implementation of normative rules. It identifies a critical shortage of moral leadership as the primary obstacle to achieving ideal governance values and social transformation.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2014). Red Flags Ignored: Governance Values and Practices in Africa. https://saiia.org.za/research/red-flags-ignored-governance-values-and-practices-in-africa/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Red Flags Ignored: Governance Values and Practices in Africa. 2014. https://saiia.org.za/research/red-flags-ignored-governance-values-and-practices-in-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Red Flags Ignored: Governance Values and Practices in Africa |date=11 February 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/red-flags-ignored-governance-values-and-practices-in-africa/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2014red, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Red Flags Ignored: Governance Values and Practices in Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/red-flags-ignored-governance-values-and-practices-in-africa/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }