Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the varying responses of African governments to global financial standards and why it is that some governments have embraced them while others have been highly selective in adoption or largely eschewed them.

Paper long abstract:

Since the 1980s, unprecedented capital mobility has linked national financial markets into an ever more tightly interconnected global system and African countries have been no exception. To help manage the risks associated with financial integration, governments from the world's largest financial centers have met regularly since the 1980s to agree common regulatory codes and standards, which have become 'international best practice'. African governments have not been represented in these international decision-making fora and they have responded in different ways to these international codes and standards.

This paper examines the varying responses of African governments to global financial standards and why it is that some governments have embraced them while others have been highly selective in adoption or largely eschewed them. Focusing on the banking sector, the paper draws on a range of primary and secondary sources to compare banking regulation in eight African countries and sub-regions. It argues that differences in regulatory approaches and hence degrees of convergence with global standards, are the product of interaction between domestic politics, particularly the ownership structure of the banking sector, the depth and nature of integration into international financial markets, and relations with key global financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).