Demystifying Governance of Zimbabwean Public Sector Enterprises in Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

Recently, there is growing consensus on the fact that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be efficiently and effectively attained in developing countries without excellent public administration and governance (Jackson, 2020). The significant role of the public sector was fashioned in most countries to accelerate economic and social development as stated by Kenny (2019) in the case of the Nigerian Power Sector (1981-2015).

This is also reported in SDG 16 and 17 which capture the essence of institutions and means of implementation respectively. As such, public goods and services are very essential in the development discourse. Therefore, the need for sound governance in public sector enterprises is of uttermost importance. In line with the role of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) in attaining SDGs, Boex (2016) stressed that countries around the world have the public sector which delivers the public services that people need, schools for their children, public health services, access to clean drinking water, extension services for small farmers, roads for getting goods to market, garbage collection, and so on.

Many of these public services are crucial for achieving SDGs and inclusive development. The extent to which the structure of a country ‘s public sector including the level of local public expenditures and the nature of local institutional arrangement contributes to successful service delivery outcomes hence the closer it becomes to the attainment of SDGs. Anselmi et al., (2015) added that the myriad of service delivery outcomes at the local level, both within and between different countries, shouts out for a better understanding of the role that the local public sector plays in achieving pro-poor development outcomes.

In several countries across the globe, the roles of PSEs are justified from a social point of view. In many cases, PSEs are not economically viable but socially desirable (Jackson & Jabbie, 2019). In this regard, it is salient to observe that accountable, effective, efficient, and inclusive institutions can contribute significantly when it comes to the attainment of the SDGs (Dzingirai & Ndava, 2022; Jackson, 2020). Going forward, Sushil-Jha and Tandon (2019) stated that there is a widespread belief in government circles today that the public sector has matured and will no longer be a white elephant, and that the focus should not be on the private sector at the expense of the public sector undertakings.

However, Alinska et al., (2018) stressed that public sector entities are not able to meet the adopted sustainable development objectives on their own and then require the support of private sector partners. As such, public-private cooperation should be based primarily on the need to develop a unique joint strategy of reasonable action, define priorities and objectives, and capture the means of their implementation in each context. This was evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic which revealed the need for revisiting the role of PSE in the provision of necessities at affordable prices such as health-related resources to society.

Meuleman (2021) observed that the countries with a well-functioning and robust public sector that caters for essential and basic health services for all were better equipped to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic than those with privatized healthcare systems. This is attributed to the fact the strategies of privately-owned enterprises are market-oriented at the expense of social-oriented. Therefore, the role of PSE in sustainable development has received much attention since the PSEs are the biggest contributors to the GDP of developing countries. Even the World Bank (2020) which advocated for privatization for a long time is now advocating for a “whole of society” approach with a prominent role for PSEs to tackle the health care problems during the pandemic.