This book provides an overview of the civil service in colonial and post-independence Africa. Using case studies from several countries, it examines the reasons for its growth and expansion; scrutinizes reform proposals, including “first and second generation” reforms and their implications; and formulates proposals for dealing with the civil service in future.

The African Civil Service Fifty Years after Independence aims to examine the numerous challenges/structural problems faced by the civil service, especially during periods of austerity in Africa. The reader will discover, from reading the book, how complicated the civil service bureaucracy has become in Africa. 

This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin.