GOLD Report I - UCLG

27and local governments are defined instatutes of a lower rank than the constitution,three main tendencies can beseen. Some countries have relativelyelaborate legislation with many regulations,decrees and ordinances for implementation.This model is found primarilyin francophone countries. The profusionof statutes complicates the implementationof decentralization and slows thingsdown, causing substantial delays betweenconfirmation of legality, and actualenforcement; delays of 10 years are notunusual. The second legislative tendencyinvolves a relatively small number oflaws and regulations on decentralization.Typically, only about half a dozen statutescover the various aspects of implementingdecentralization. The majorityof countries in this category are formerBritish colonies. Somewhere between theFrench and British models is North Africa,where there has never really been amajor break in the decentralizationpolicy. The process there seems to havetaken root in the colonial era, and hasprogressed to this day with a kind ofslow, sometimes imperceptible, continuity.Some of the earliest North Africanstatutes date back to the middle of the19th century (Tunisia, 1858). However,there have been major territorial reforms,including the 1984 Algerian law, andMorocco’s 1996 constitutional reform and1997 law on regions. Despite the longexperience of North African countries withdecentralization, the autonomy of localgovernment there is still restricted overallin relation to the central state.A complex picture thus emerges of multiplehistoric, sociological, cultural, economic,political and legal influences inAfrican governments. Nevertheless, movementtoward decentralization and localdemocracy can be discerned.The first major tendency, if not an actualtrend, is quantitative. Since independence,in nearly every part of the continentthere has been noticeable, continuousgrowth in the number of local governmentsand in the territory they administer.This growth is especially noticeable inthe African urban environment. Diversificationand a more refined and complexhierarchy of structures and territorialtiers of decentralization can also be seen.The table below compares population figures,rates of urbanization and the numberof local governments by African region.Table 2Local governments: Demography and urbanizationRegions Population (millions) Rate of urbanization (%) Municipalities (number)North Africa 154 62 4200West Africa 264 40 3000Central Africa 98 47 1000East Africa 245 31 1900Southern Africa 148 36 1300Africa as a whole 909 38 11400Source: PDM, 2006.