New rôles of government in supporting manufacturing: the capabilities of support agencies in Ghana and Zimbabwe

This study examines the roles and capabilities of executive agencies in providing support services to manufacturing in Ghana and Zimbabwe. It asserts that the new roles of government during and after adjustment have not been clearly defined and are in fact more complex than running state‐owned productive enterprises. The basic shift is said to be from direct provision of goods and services to the provision of an enabling environment through support in areas such as training, information, finance, export and investment promotion and technology. Economic development is stimulated when there is a harmonious relationship between entrepreneurs and their institutional environment, much of which is provided by the state. This article concentrates upon the role of meso‐level agencies in changing incentives faced by entrepreneurs and shifting them out of unproductive activity and into productive entrepreneurship, and outlines some of the preliminary results from related research. There are several factors which influence the capabilities of agencies providing these services. Essentially they may be divided into internal and external factors. This allows the analysis to consider not only budgeting and incentive systems but also the impact of external pressures experienced by any given agency. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.