What is a public enterprise, in our context some called them parastatal?
How those these arrangements better serve the interest of the public as opposed to central government management? These institutions were left to go on a performance contract signed between government and the Board of Directors. The corporate governing body has a vested interest to perform or get fired. Because the interests are aligned it is assumed every rational person will work for that common interest. The agent will perform to continue to maintain his/her job, secure his/her ownership interest and receive additional bonuses for exceptional performance. The opposite is to loss all such benefits. On the other hand the public will benefit from the quarterly and/or annual dividend payment and tax income. As long as it is working, call it “win-win winners”. In practice it doesn’t work in all cases and we will see what is happening in The Gambia.
