Participatory and incremental development in an African local government accounting reform

Despite significant donor funding, government accounting reforms seeking transparent and effective management of public resources often fail or have limited success, especially in Africa, prompting questions about donors? implementation approach and calls for studies of successful reforms. This paper investigates a local government accounting reform in Benin supported by a German development agency ? perceived as successful due to the participatory, pragmatic and incremental approach reinforced by conditionalities in the face of neo-patrimonial leadership.