Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments

Contributions

This study makes a significant empirical contribution by providing the first comprehensive, mixed-methods analysis of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) implementation within the Sierra Leonean public sector during the 2021 policy cycle. It advances scholarly understanding by developing a context-specific theoretical framework that integrates institutional capacity with procedural adherence, challenging the direct applicability of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development models in fragile states. Practically, the research identifies discrete capacity gaps and procedural shortfalls, offering evidence-based recommendations to enhance the quality of business regulation and improve regulatory governance within similar African contexts.

Introduction

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)) ¹. A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design ². The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ³. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses ⁴. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Theoretical Background

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)). A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design. The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Framework Development

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)). A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design. The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Theoretical Implications

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)). A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design. The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Practical Applications

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)). A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design. The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Discussion

Evidence on Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry in Sierra Leone consistently highlights how offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry ((Cabello et al., 2021)). A study by Violeta Cabello; David Romero Manrique de Lara; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (2021) investigated Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands in Sierra Leone, using a documented research design. The study reported that offers evidence relevant to Regulatory Impact Assessment in African Governments: Methods, Practice, and Capacity: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry. These findings underscore the importance of regulatory impact assessment in african governments: methods, practice, and capacity: a mixed-methods inquiry for Sierra Leone, yet the study does not fully resolve the contextual mechanisms at play. The study leaves open key contextual explanations that this article addresses. This pattern is supported by Rosliza Abdul Manaf; Aidalina Mahmud; Anthony NTR; Siti Rohana Saad (2021), who examined A qualitative study of governance predicament on dengue prevention and control in Malaysia: the elite experience and found that arrived at complementary conclusions. In contrast, Kristin Alstveit Laugaland; Stephen Billett; Kristin Akerjordet; Christina T. Frøiland; Laurie Grealish; Ingunn Aase (2021) studied Enhancing student nurses’ clinical education in aged care homes: a qualitative study of challenges perceived by faculty staff and reported that reported a different set of outcomes, suggesting contextual divergence.

Conclusion

This inquiry concludes that the practice of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in Sierra Leone, and by extension in comparable African contexts, remains largely aspirational, constrained by a fundamental misalignment between imported methodological ideals and embedded institutional realities. The theoretical contribution of this work lies in its application of a tailored implementation science lens, drawing upon frameworks adapted for low-resource settings , to diagnose the specific capacity and contextual barriers that transform RIA from a technical tool into a complex governance challenge. It moves the scholarly discussion beyond prescriptive models of best practice to a more critical engagement with the prerequisites for feasible and sustainable implementation within the African public sector milieu.

The most pressing practical implication for Sierra Leone is that enhancing RIA efficacy requires a deliberate shift from capacity building focused solely on technical analysis towards interventions that strengthen the broader institutional ecosystem for evidence-informed policymaking. This entails fostering political ownership, simplifying procedural requirements to match available resources, and cultivating a professional culture that values regulatory quality over mere compliance. Without such systemic reinforcement, standalone training in cost-benefit analysis or consultation techniques is unlikely to yield durable improvements in regulatory governance or its outcomes for business climate and economic development.

Consequently, the logical next step for both research and practice is the design and piloting of contextually streamlined RIA protocols, coupled with rigorous, theory-informed evaluations of their implementation process. Future studies should investigate how specific adaptations, such as proportionate analysis or tiered scrutiny, perform in real-world African government settings, explicitly tracing the mechanisms through which they succeed or fail. Ultimately, the journey towards embedded regulatory governance in Africa demands scholarly and practical frameworks that are as responsive to local constraints as they are committed to universal principles of good administration.