Rethinking Accountability in Government Procurement in Africa Within the Neoliberal Governing Reforms: Some Evidence From Ghana

ABSTRACT The paper draws on the “politics of the belly” framework to locate procurement of government contracts within a kind of governing in which often conflicting dynamics are closely intertwined and shape accountability practices differently. By taking a historical view, we show how neoliberal reforms evolved new organizational forms, embedded in the traditional way of doing business in Africa, and “succeeded” in promoting political elite interests in Ghana. Contrary to the neoliberal reforms ideology of promoting accountability, the paper shows how the socialization of individuals through informal political networks and the “politics of the belly culture” incubates corrupt practices and inevitably constrains accountability in public procurement. The paper contributes to scholarship on public sector reform, corruption, and accountability by showing how neoliberal accountability regimes, when introduced into political systems structured by informal power, are reconstituted to serve rather than challenge elite interests. It also offers practical implications for reform agendas that seek to engage with African states on more contextually appropriate terms. The paper argues that accountability in public procurement in Africa reflects the complex interplay of local political practices and informal networks, consistent with the logic of the politics of the belly. The question for policy actors is no longer just “how do we strengthen procurement systems?”—but “whose accountability do these systems serve, and how might reforms be co‐designed to account for, and counteract, embedded political interests?”