Vol. 16(10), pp.

210-223, October 2022

DOI: 10.5897/AJBM2022.9373
Article Number: 4CB50CD69926
ISSN: 1993-8233
Copyright© 2022
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article African Journal of Business Management
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM

Full Length Research Paper

Corporate governance and organisational performance

in Africa: A systematic literature review
Sifiso Gwala* and Pfano Mashau,
Graduate School of Business and Leadership, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Received 19 April, 2022; Accepted 12 October, 2022

This paper aims to review systematically the existing studies of corporate governance that positively
impact organisational performance in Africa and put forward theories, research methods, topics, and
variables that emerge from the review. The systematic literature review is based on 32 peer-reviewed
journal articles (and a further 12 thesis publications from Google Scholar Database focused on
corporate governance, board characteristics, and ownership structure and Thesis publications
produced by universities in Africa and in the diaspora). This study's conceptual framework is based on
agency theory. The majority of results show a positive correlation between corporate governance and
organisational performance with agency theory being the most utilised theory of choice. This paper
undertakes a significant thorough systematic review of corporate governance with firm performance
literature. It gives a 20-year review with a reference index from 2003 to 2022, useful for both academics
and professionals. This study acts on recommendation to expand geographical spread across all
continents to cover corporate governance area and to improve studies related to corporate governance
and its impact on firm performance. Lastly, it is recommended that more studies that look at the impact
of the corporate governance and firm performance should be performed especially in the public sector.

Key words: Corporate governance, business administration, firm performance; company performance,
ownership structure; Africa.

INTRODUCTION

Corporate governance has been growing in bounds and a vast body of knowledge in the literature on corporate
leaps (Shaikh and Randhawa, 2022) in the past two governance and organisational performance (Iqbal et al.,
decades. Its significance became increasingly important 2019).
to curtail many corporate scandals (Hilton and Arkorful, The introduction of corporate governance codes in
2021, Tica et al., 2021) which have been witnessed Africa have been taking shape slowly in different parts of
which led to the collapse of many firms in the world. In the continent (Farah et al., 2021, Oduor and Kebba,
the United Kingdom it was firmly led by the Cadbury 2019). As a result, the topic of whether corporate
Report (Gorman and Ward, 2020) and in South Africa by governance and business success are linked has been
King Report (Foster, 2020). Many researchers have built raised. The purpose of this study is to see how many

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sifisogwala@gmail.com. 951051987@stu.ukzn.ac.za.

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
 Gwala and Mashau 211

Table 1. Definition of corporate governance.

Author Definition
“Corporate governance (CG) is a system of rules, policies, and practices that dictate how a company's
Tibiletti et al., 2021
board of directors manages and oversees the operations of a company.”
“The corporate governance represents the system through which companies and firms can be
controlled and directed. Based on the definition of corporate governance it can be stated that objective of
Amonboev, 2020
the good corporate governance is to maximize the contribution of the company to the whole
economy, particularly to all stakeholders.”
“Corporate governance is the broad term describes the processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions
Khan, 2011
that directs the organizations and corporations in the way they act, administer and control their operations.”
“The corporate governance of a company involves establishing a set of relationships between the
Económicos, 2016
management of the company, its board of directors, its shareholders and other stakeholders.”
Source: Authors

CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE Agency
THEORETICAL Theory
FRAMEWORK

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework by the author based on the studies.

Source: Authors

researchers in different African countries have looked into which areas may inspire future research. This study adds
and reported on this topic. The authors analyse aspects and shed understanding on the studies that have been
inherent in the link between corporate governance and conducted in Africa related to corporate governance and
company performance via the perspective of agency organisational performance.
theory and supporting theories as anchors in the
theoretical framework.
To begin, we will review what we now know about LITERATURE REVIEW
corporate governance. The agency theory and additional
corporate governance theories that complement and Over the last few decades, a corporate governance
augment the agency theory by capturing elements of the revolution has occurred, resulting in the creation of
fourth industrial revolution are then offered utilising numerous anchoring theories. The agency hypothesis is
contingency theory. The method for selecting journal by far the most popular theory in corporate governance.
articles for review from the Google Scholar Database is The most common theories in corporate governance are
next investigated and discussed. The findings of theories, based on agency theory (Aguilera et al., 2019, Dinh and
research technique, the impact of corporate governance Calabro, 2019). Table 1 displays the definition of
on business performance, and the impact of the fourth corporate governance.
industrial revolution on firm performance are then The theoretical framework for the study is the agency
presented and analysed. Finally, the study's relevance theory (Figure 1). The concepts are discussed briefly
and significance was examined, as well as the significant here, along with an evaluation of how they have been
discoveries or contributions, and provide a summary of employed in journalpapers. When it comes to the
212 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

PRINCIPAL

Instructions about actions Relationship Information about

Rewards Power over = actions
Resources “Contract”

AGENT
Actions Actions

Figure 2. Agency Relationship Model (adapted from (Mitnick, 1975; Ross, 1973).
Source: Authors

application of superiority in corporate governance, agency problem (AP), as formal contracts tend to align
agency theory is unique (Madhani, 2017, Wiley and the interests of shareholders with those of managers
Monllor-Tormos, 2018). The corporate governance has (Barako et al., 2006; Healy and Palepu, 2001). The board
been developing for over two decades now. It has been represents a monitoring and control mechanism aimed to
used in many fields of study including politics, economics, analyse and evaluate the work of top management and
business, management, psychology and many others. ensuring profit maximisation for shareholders (Donnelly
The agency problem is termed as the conflict that and Mulcahy, 2008). Figure 2 show the agency
arises as agents tend to think for themselves and how relationship model (adapted from (Mitnick, 1975; Ross,
they can maximise self-enrichment as opposed to 1973).
advancing shareholder value. The agency problem and As shown in Figure 3, the governance structure that
how to address it are best explained using agency theory. emerged as a result of the convergence of directors and
The agency idea is supported by the stewardship and managers was dubbed in the business firm model
stakeholder theories (Booth-Bell and Jackson, 2021; (Napier, 1998). At a theoretical level, the connections
Wang, 2021). between shareholders, directors, management, and
auditors have been widely studied using various
methodologies.
Agency theory Shareholders nominate and elect directors to safeguard
their interests, while directors accept a fiduciary
Monitoring the functioning of boards (Farag and Mallin, obligation to be stewards of those interests, according to
2019; Federo and Saz‐Carranza, 2020), is an important stewardship theory (Shah and Napier, 2019; Barzuza et
focus of corporate governance research. The al., 2019). On the other hand, agency theory sees the
fundamental theoretical framework that connects this owners of the business employing managers, who may
monitoring function to company performance is taken act in ways detrimental to the owners’ interests (Dong et
from agency theory, which predicts that conflicts of al., 2021, Karim et al., 2020). The auditor's job, according
interest can occur in organisations due to the separation to the agency theory, is to keep an eye on management's
of ownership and control (Fama and Jensen, 1983; Dong actions. Auditors should also be strictly regulated and
et al., 2021).The agency problem is how can an monitored. Do directors, in contrast to management,
organization, through its owners and its stewards, represent the interests of shareholders, or are they
minimize the posited tendency for managers to essentially the same? However, there is no conclusive
inappropriately leverage their advantage when managers’ answer to this question.
interests are not consonant with those of owners (Walsh
and Brief, 2007). The agency problem (AP) has been Models of corporate governance
defined as managerial power and discretion that
managers and executives yield (Tan and Liu, 2016; The agency theory has given birth to how shareholders
Wangrow et al., 2015; Liang and Renneboog, 2018). A might effectively use agents to ensure that shareholders'
formal contract, in theory, is a tool that could mitigate the interests are tightly guarded against agents'. There are
 Gwala and Mashau 213
managers was dubbed the business firm model (Napier, 1998). At a theoretical level, the connections between
shareholders, directors, management, and auditors have been widely studied using various methodologies.

PRINCIPALS
Shareholders The Investors
Monitoring Information
Board of Reporting
Directors

AGENTS The Company

Managers

Figure 3. The business company model of corporate governance.

Source: Adapted from (Napier, 1998:115).

Defining the review question and eligibility criteria

Searching for studies

Selecting the studies

Data Extraction

Data Synthesis

Interpretation

Figure 4. The steps to conducting the systematic review (adapted from (Petticrew and Roberts, 2008) and
(Ahmad and Omar, 2016).

several suggestions on how this can be accomplished. As a result, the research will review and assess research methods
There are two categories, namely stakeholder and as well as corporate governance concepts. The purpose of this
study is to examine the concepts, methodologies, topics, and
shareholder model. The contrasting and contending variables that are frequently covered in corporate governance
views are that one emphasises the shareholder over the literature.
stakeholder.

Systematic literature review

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The systematic literature review approach considers keyword
Systematic literature review into corporate governance and its identification, database selection, and search period selection, all of
applicability which will be detailed further down.

In order to find the theories, methodologies, and themes employed

in corporate governance research published in the Google Scholar
family of journals, this study used the systematic literature review RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
approach.
The research follows fundamental guidelines stated by (Petticrew The search strategy and identification of keywords
and Roberts, 2008) for conducting a systematic review in the social
sciences. Also, this research followed an amended five-step
process (Ahmad and Omar, 2016) as shown in Figure 4. The search strategy was related to keywords as shown in
Table 2. As independent variables, there are three
keywords: independent variable, company performance,
Defining research questions corporate governance, and ownership structure. The
The study analyses corporate governance research and company authors looked for publications that had these terms in at
performance in Africa using the Google Scholar Database. These least one of the fields: title, abstract, and keywords. The
studies focus on corporate governance and business performance. following keywords were identified:
214 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Table 2. The search variables utilised to search for journal articles.

Dependent variable Independent variable

1 performance 1 Corporate governance
2 Profitability 2 Board performance
3 Firm performance 3 Ownership structure
Source: Authors

Table 3. The journals identified by the search strategy from Google Scholar.

No. Journal Frequency Percent

1. Academy of Strategic Management Journal 1 3
2. Advanced International Journal of Banking, Accounting, and Finance, 1 3
3. Africa Management Review 1 3
4. Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting 1 3
5. Analysts Journal 1 3
6. Asian Journal of Accounting and Finance 1 3
7. Business and Social Science 1 3
8. Corporate Ownership and Control 6 19
9. European Journal Of Accounting, Finance and Business 1 3
10. European journal of economics, finance and administrative sciences 1 3
11. International Accounting and Taxation Research Group 1 3
12. International Journal of Scientific Research in Social Sciences and Management Studies 1 3
13. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance 1 3
14. International Journal of Financial, Accounting, and Management 1 3
15. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science 1 3
16. Investment Management and Financial Innovations 1 3
17. Journal of Economics and Finance 1 3
18. Journal of Economic and Financial Studies 1 3
19. Journal of Economics and International Business Management 2 6
20. Journal of modern accounting and auditing 1 3
21. Journal of Politics and International Affairs (Special Edition 1 3
22. Managerial Auditing Journal 1 3
23. Manufacturing Industry. Indian Journal of Corporate Governance 1 3
24. South African Journal of Accounting Research 1 3
25. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 1 3
26. Sustainability 1 3
32 100
Source: Authors

1) Corporate governance based on geographical location, and we narrowed them down to 32

2) Organisational or firm performance peer-reviewed studies that would be the focus of the systematic
3) Ownership structure literature review.
4) Africa

Because the Google Scholar Database is well regarded and Selection of database and journals
contains a large number of peer-reviewed articles, it has emerged
as the ideal choice for searching for corporate governance and Search period
business performance. The number of journals that returned
research based on the aforementioned keywords utilized and to The study's search period runs from 2003 to 2022, spanning 20
analysis is shown in Tables 3 and 4 (Journals) and Table 5 (Figure years of corporate governance and company performance research
5) (Research Methods and Theories), respectively. The 20-year on the African continent. This is in line with the global evolution of
period from 2003 to 2022 was used as the limiting condition. 202 corporate governance, albeit African studies dealing with real
journal articles were discovered after applying rejection criteria instances have been sluggish to catch on.
 Gwala and Mashau 215

Table 4. Studies from Google Scholar Database Journal articles published in Africa 2003 to 2022

Journal name from Google scholar

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
database
Academy of Strategic Management
1 1 1
Journal
Advanced International Journal of
2 1 1
Banking, Accounting, and Finance,
3 Africa Management Review 1 1
Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and
4 1 1
Accounting
5 Analysts Journal 1 1
6 Asian Journal of Accounting and Finance 1 1
7 Business and Social Science 1 1
8 Corporate Ownershipand Control 1 1 2 1 1 6
European Journal Of Accounting,
9 1 1
Financeand Business
European journal of economics, finance
10 1 1
and administrative sciences
11 Indian Journal of Corporate Governance 1 1
International Accounting and Taxation
12 1 1
Research Group
International Journal of Scientific
13 Research in Social Sciences and 1 1
Management Studies
International Journal of Disclosure and
14 1 1
Governance
International Journal of Financial,
15 1 1
Accounting, and Management
International Journal of Research in
16 1 1
Business and Social Science
Investment Management and Financial
17 1 1
Innovations
18 Journal of Economics and Finance 1 1
Journal of Economic and Financial
19 1 1
Studies
Journal of Economics and International
20 2 2
Business Management
Journal of modern accounting and
21 1 1
auditing
Journal of Politics and International
22 1 1
Affairs (Special Edition
23 Managerial Auditing Journal 1 1
South African Journal of Accounting
24 1 1
Research
216 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Table 4. Cont’d.

South African Journal of Economic

25 1 1
and Management Sciences
26 Sustainability 1 1
Total 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 3 4 3 6 2 5 0 32
Source: Authors

Table 5. Studies from Google Scholar Database per Journal articles published in Africa 2003 to 2022.

Research methods and

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total %
theories
Total number of articles 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 4 3 6 2 5 0 32 100
Research methods
Quantitative 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 4 2 4 1 5 28 88
Qualitative 1 1 2 6
Review 1 1 2 6
Non-empirical 0 0
Theories
Agency theory 1 1 2 2 3 1 3 2 1 16 50
Resource theories 1 1 2 1 5 16
Stewardship perspective 1 2 1 1 1 6 19
Stakeholder theory 1 2 1 1 1 6 19
Shareholder theory 0 0
Other theories 2 1 3 9
No. of papers without
1 1 1 1 2 1 3 3 1 2 16 50
theory
Source: Authors

Evolution of journal papers on corporate local regulations (Harnay, 2018; Maroun and relationship between good corporate governance
governance and firm performance Cerbone, 2020; Ferrarini et al., 2021). The practices and firm performance. However, few
application started to flow as a negotiating tool studies (Bathala and Rao, 1995; Bhagat and
In the case of African nations, creating distinctive between governments and the private sector. This Bolton, 2008; Kajola, 2008; Sanda et al., 2010)
nation codes was the first goal. The guidelines started at a very slow pace but its understanding have established a negative relationship between
were then implemented inconsistently, with many and adoption in Africa has improved significantly corporate governance and organisational
of them being modelled on the British company (Corvino et al., 2020; Wachira et al., 2019; Singh performance. Nevertheless, some other
Cadbury's strategy. Many businesses have et al., 2019). researchers could not establish any relationship.
decided to adopt international corporate Previous studies (Bhatia and Gulati, 2021; The constrained nature of the data may be to
governance rules first, despite the well-established Brenes et al., 2011) established a positive blame for the discrepancies in the research
 Gwala and Mashau 217

JOURNAL ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN AFRICA 2003-2022

2022 0
2021 5
2020 2
2019 6
2018 3
2017 4
2016 3
2015 3
2014 0
2013 1
2012 0
2011 0
2010 1
2009 1
2008 1
2007 1
2006 1
2005 0
2004 0
2003 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Figure 5. Journal articles published in Africa 2003 to 2022.

Source: Authors

conclusions. Despite these contradictory findings, the Geographical spread of research in Africa
research consistently demonstrates that excellent
corporate governance is critical to improving business Nigeria is by far one country at 28% of the studies where
success. The fact that governments, regional authorities, corporate governance research is leading. Nigeria is a
and private institutions are paying close attention to leading economy in Africa with a very high population. It
corporate governance challenges attests to this reality. is further one country which is highly educated and where
The failures and weaknesses in corporate governance research is done in Nigeria and throughout the world by
arrangements that could not serve their purpose of students studying in those countries. South Africa and
safeguarding against excessive risk-taking by financial Ghana follow suit next at 16% each, followed by Kenya
institutions in the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2007 and Egypt at 9% and 6% respectively. All others fair at
were largely due to failures and weaknesses in corporate 3% each. Of the 51 countries, the 12 countries show a
governance arrangements that could not serve their high activity of work done and published in academic
purpose of safeguarding against excessive risk-taking by journals (Table 7 and Figure 7).
financial institutions.
Theories used
Research methodology used
Agency theory is by far the most used theory of corporate
governance with 16 studies of the 32. This is 50% of the
There were 32 qualifying studies that satisfied the criteria,
studies, showing that by far agency theory as posited by
with 88% of them using quantitative research technique,
(Tang et al., 2020; Adegboye et al., 2019; Manukaji,
6% using qualitative research methodology, 6% using
2018; Ahmed and Rugami, 2019). The stewardship
review, and none using non-empirical research
theory was utilised by 6% and stakeholder theory by 6%
methodology. It was also noticed that none of the studies
of the journal articles surveyed. The resource theories
employed a mixed-methods approach. The study of the
constitute 5% of the studies. It was also noted that 50%
research methodologies employed by the journal articles
of the papers did not choose to use a specific theory to
is shown in Table 6 and Figure 6. The majority of the
anchor their studies (Table 8 and Figure 8).
research, according to this study, employed quantitative
analysis, followed by qualitative and review approaches.
There is a startling revelation: no journal publications on Summary of emergent topics
the subject were published between 2003 and 2006, or
between 2011 and 2012. There are many different topics covered by corporate
218 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Table 6. Research Methods utilised in the studies.

Research
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 total %
methods
Quantitative 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 4 2 4 1 5 28 88
Qualitative 1 1 2 6
Review 1 1 2 6
Non-Empirical 0 0
Total Number
0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 3 4 3 6 2 5 0 32 100
of Articles
Source: Authors

performance. Internal corporate governance is unaffected by the minority of women who sit on in Kenya. The Moroccan study posit that the audit
includes, among other things, board activities, it. However, the chairperson's role is crucial in committee and nomination and remuneration
board composition, gender and racial diversity, guiding the transition for selecting and assessing committee have a positive effect on financial
CEO duality, board meetings, board committees, candidates' commitment to the board while performance (El Idrissi and Alami, 2021).
board remuneration, board qualifications, board keeping in mind diversity and governance
experience, board independence, and board (Kakabadse et al., 2015). (Ntim, 2015) posits that
leadership (Pucheta-Martínez and Gallego- ethnic diversity is valued more highly by the stock Board size and board committee size
Álvarez, 2020; Herndon, 2020) to organisational market than gender diversity. (Gyapong et al.,
performance measurements. On the organisational 2016), in a South African study showed that there There is no minimum or maximum size for boards,
performance, three measures of performance are is a positive and significant effect of both board however boards are appointed depending on the
widely used in corporate governance studies: gender and ethnic diversity on firm value. It also needs of the firm and the tasks that committees
these are: return on assets (ROA); return on found that the increase in firm value is greater need to perform. (Muchemwa et al., 2016) posit
equity (ROE), and Tobin’s Quotient (TQ) (Buallay, when boards have three or more women directors. that the average board is 12.87 or 13 board
2017; Buallay, 2021). Firm performance and members which has risen to 14 after the
corporate governance must therefore evolve to emergence of King III Codes with the upper
accept these fundamental changes in the Audit committee independence ceiling being of 24 board members in South
structure of the economy. Africa. In Nigeria the average is about 9 board
Auditors have been suggested to be independent members (Kajola, 2008). The adoption of the
but audit committees as they form part of the board size provision as influential to firm
Gender diversity and racial diversity board must also seek to maintain that level of performance is however not supported in a
independence that allows the board to perform its Ghanaian study by (Owusu and Weir, 2013).
A number of investigations in the past have tasks independently. Transparency and accuracy However some studies performed in Nigeria find
suggested a positive relationship between gender in reporting is important (Giannarakis et al., 2020; that board size has no effect on financial
diversity of the board and company financial Fuadah and Setiyawati, 2020). The studies performance (Odewale, 2020)
performance. (Ibrahim et al., 2019; Namanya et recommend that audit committees should be
al., 2021; Almarayeh, 2021). The dominant culture independent in order to improve firm performance
plays a critical role in gender diversity and hence (Nyarko et al., 2017). (Ibrahim et al., 2019) Board independence
firm performance in deep cultured societies analysis indicates that audit committee
(Naghavi et al., 2021). A study conducted in independence significantly and positively affects Boards must be able to act independently in order
Ghana revealed that the performance of the board the financial performance of insurance firms to cut agency costs. According to the research, a
 Gwala and Mashau 219

Comparison Of Research Methods Utilised

100%
88%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 6% 6%
0%
0%
Quantitative Qualitative Review Non-Empirical

Figure 6. Analysis of research methods and theories utilised.

Source: Authors

Table 7. Geographic spread of countries in Africa where the studies were conducted.

Country Publication Percent

East Africa 1 3
Egypt 2 6
Ethiopia 1 3
Ghana 5 16
Kenya 3 9
Libya 1 3
Morocco 1 3
Nairobi 1 3
Nigeria 9 28
Rwanda 1 3
South Africa 5 16
Uganda 1 3
Zimbabwe 1 3
Total 32 100
Source: Authors

Journal Article Publications per country 2003 -2022

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Figure 7. Graphical geographic spread of countries in Africa where the studies were conducted.
Source: Authors
220 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Table 8. Analysis of research methods and theories utilised in the corporate governance studies.

Theories 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 total %
Agency theory 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 3 2 1 16 50
Resource theories 2 2 1 5 16
Stewardship perspective 1 2 1 1 1 6 19
Stakeholder theory 1 2 1 1 1 6 19
Shareholder theory 0 0
Other theories 2 1 3 9
No. of papers without theory 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 3 1 2 16 50
Total number of articles 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 3 4 3 6 2 5 0 32 100
Source: Authors

sufficient number of board meetings, a sizable the Corporate Governance Code's adoption by the directors, a mix of directors with industrial and
board, director independence, educated board Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission accounting/finance experience, and independent
members, an audit committee, board composition, has increased voluntary disclosure by listed directors (Haron et al., 2021).
and ownership all have a positive impact on companies (Odewale, 2020). There is a neutral
business performance, which lowers agency costs and negative but insignificant relationship
(Agarwal, 2020). respectively between CEO Duality and Multiple Implications of the study
Codes and performance of listed financial firms in
Nigeria (Mohammed, 2019). Future research must explore how the introduction
CEO duality of corporate governance has altered private
sector compliance and decreased corporate
The CEO duality is when the CEO position and Board experience governance failures in Africa. In the public sector,
the Chairperson of the board are occupied by one it should try to figure out why there aren't as many
person (Ozbek and Boyd, 2020; Gan and Erikson, Experience is arguably one of the most prominent studies done there or in state-owned businesses
2022). The result shows that CEO duality is corporate governance attributes, yet studies as there are in the private sector. Additional
negatively related to voluntary disclosure investigating traits of corporate governance in research could look at several databases including
(Odewale, 2020). In a Moroccan study, the CEO mitigating risk-taking behaviour have ignored Scopus, World of Science, and Science Direct.
duality have a negative impact on financial board experience (Akande et al., 2020). For
performance (El Idrissi and Alami, 2021), finds a outsiders, a longer stay on the board is linked to
negative association between CEO duality and greater performance levels, but insiders' number Conclusion
firm performance (Nasser, 2021). of current board seats has a favourable effect on
performance. Finally, we find no evidence that any Corporate governance must be viewed as more
of them have been affected by their board than merely ticking off compliance requirements; it
Multiple codes and code adoption positions to yet (Tejerina-Gaite and Fernández- must be viewed as enhancing the business. The
Temprano, 2021). The findings show a strong link most recent corporate scandals have severely
To make sure that publicly traded firms comply between gender diversity, board experience, and harmed people's livelihoods and career prospects.
with the disclosure requirements, Nigerian board independence and corporate fraud. It has shown the damage that occurs when
authorities must strengthen their enforcement and According to the findings, corporate fraud is less companies break the law. When the government
compliance measures. There is no evidence that likely to occur when there are more women spends money in order to create value and ensure
 Gwala and Mashau 221

Theories utilised in journal articles

No. Of Papers
Without Theory Agency Theory
31% 31%

Other Theories
6%

Shareholder Resource Theories

Theory 10%
0%

Stakeholder
Stewardship
Theory
Perspective
11%
11%

Figure 8. Graph of theories used.

Source: Authors

in order to generate revenue for its support, this is governance in the public sector. Separately, more study
especially crucial for state-owned enterprises. In has to be done on the impact of the fourth industrial
actuality, the study's time frame (2003–2022) and revolution on corporate governance. The disparate
geographical reach are likewise limited. However, it is a continental advancements are a reflection of the various
useful lesson about how far research has been done in adoption, progress, and experiences in each of these
Africa. Very few researches are geared at state-owned fields, which has led to study. Changes in the global
enterprises, and corporate governance is likewise order, the workplace, and governmental and corporate
primarily focused on private companies. Unpredictability institutions have been brought about by the emergence of
and the inability to make long-term plans are frequently covid-19. One possibility is to conduct more analysis on
linked to a nation's lack of stability. This has an impact on the impact of COVID-19 on corporate performance
input and output resources, which has an impact on how (Almoneef and Samontaray, 2019) as well as the impact
well a corporation performs. The objective of this study is of the fourth industrial revolution and its adoption on
to critically evaluate ideas, research approaches, and corporate governance and firm performance.
issues that have been covered in corporate governance
and its effects on organisational performance in Africa in
the Google Scholar Database from 2003 to 2022. These CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
themes include variables. Notably, significant
advancements have been made in the study of corporate The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.
governance and organisational performance over the
years, with varying degrees of success. The results show
that there is a growing body of knowledge and study on REFERENCES
corporate governance in developed countries. Therefore,
Adegboye A, Ojeka S, Adegboye K, Ebuzor E, Samson D (2019). Firm
it was essential to undertake a research in Africa to performance and condensed corporate governance mechanism:
determine the extent of the work that has been done over evidence of Nigerian financial institutions. Business: Theory Practice
the past two decades. The most popular method is 20:403-416.
Agarwal S (2020). Literature review on the relationship between board
agency theory, while quantitative research techniques are
structure and firm performance. International Journal of Business
also often utilised. A growing number of studies link Ethics in Developing Economies 9:33-43.
corporate governance to firm performance in a definitive, Aguilera RV, Marano V, Haxhi I (2019). International corporate
favourable, and important way (Alodat et al., 2021, Bhatt governance: A review and opportunities for future research. Journal
of International Business Studies 50(4):457-498.
and Bhatt, 2017). It is important to conduct further study
Ahmad S, Omar R (2016). Basic corporate governance models: a
on both the effects of mandating the application of systematic review. International Journal of Law and Management
corporate governance principles and corporate 58(1):73-107.
222 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Ahmed AF, Rugami M (2019). Corporate governance and performance An International Review 29(6):630-660.
of savings and credit cooperative societies in Kilifi County, Kenya. Federo R, Saz‐Carranza A (2020). A typology of board design for highly
International Academic Journal of Economics and Finance 3(3):61- effective monitoring in intergovernmental organizations under the
79. United Nations system. Regulation and Governance 14(2):344-361.
Akande JO, Moses O, Tewari D (2020). Board Experience, Corporate Ferrarini G, Siri M, Zhu S (2021). The EU sustainable governance
Risk-Taking and Going Concern: Evidence from South Africa. IUP consultation and the missing link to soft law. European Corporate
Journal of Accounting Research and Audit Practices 19(1):18-52. Governance Institute-Law Working Paper. P 576.
Almarayeh T (2021). Board gender diversity, board compensation and Foster R (2020). The evolution and alignment of institutional
firm performance. Evidence from Jordan. Journal of Financial shareholder engagement through the King and CRISA reports.
Reporting Accounting Forum In press. Journal of Global Responsibility 11(2):147-153.
Almoneef A, Samontaray DP (2019). Corporate governance and firm Fuadah H, Setiyawati H (2020). The Effect of the implementation of
performance in the Saudi banking industry. Banks and Bank Systems transparency and accounting information systems on the quality of
14(1):147-158. financial reports. International Journal of Business Management
Alodat AY, Salleh Z, Hashim HA, Sulong F (2021). Corporate 3(11):01-12.
governance and firm performance: empirical evidence from Jordan. Gan D, Erikson T (2022). Venture governance: CEO duality and new
Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting In press. venture performance. Journal of Business Venturing Insights
Amonboev M (2020). Corporate Governance and Development: The 17:e00304.
case of Uzbekistan. Available at: Giannarakis G, Andronikidis A, Sariannidis N (2020). Determinants of
https://tsue.scienceweb.uz/index.php/archive/article/view/2464 environmental disclosure: investigating new and conventional
Barako DG, Hancock P, Izan HY (2006). Factors influencing voluntary corporate governance characteristics. Annals of Operations
corporate disclosure by Kenyan companies. Corporate Governance: Research 294(1):87-105.
An International Review 14(2):107-125.. Gorman L, Ward AM (2020). Accountability. Encyclopedia of
Barzuza M, Curtis Q, Webber DH (2019). Shareholder value (s): Index Sustainable Management, 1.
fund ESG activism and the new millennial corporate governance. Gyapong E, Monem RM, Hu F (2016). Do women and ethnic minority
Available at: directors influence firm value? Evidence from post‐apartheid South
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/scal93 Africa. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting 43(3-4):370-413.
&div=39&id=&page= Harnay S (2018). Explaining the production and dissemination of global
Bathala CT, Rao RP (1995). The determinants of board composition: An corporate governance standards: a law and economics approach to
agency theory perspective. Managerial and Decision Economics corporate governance codes as a global law-making technology. In
16(1):59-69. Global Phenomena and Social Sciences, Springer. pp. 63-78.
Bhagat S, Bolton B (2008). Corporate governance and firm Haron NH, Halim NAA, Alias N (2021). The Relationship between Board
performance. Journal of Corporate Finance 14(3):257-273. Diversity, Board Independence and Corporate Fraud. Advances in
Bhatia M, Gulati R (2021). Board governance and bank performance: A Business Research International Journal 7(1):33-55.
meta-analysis. Research in International Business and Finance Healy PM, Palepu KG (2001). Information asymmetry, corporate
58:101425. disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical
Bhatt PR, Bhatt RR (2017). Corporate governance and firm disclosure literature. Journal of Accounting and Economics 31(1-
performance in Malaysia. Corporate Governance: The International 3):405-440.
Journal of Business in Society 17(5):896-912. Herndon F (2020). The relationship of CEO duality to financial
Booth-Bell D, Jackson P (2021). Governance theory and board performance and efficiency in electronics firms. Doctoral dissertation,
diversity, where do the rationales for board diversity and governance Capella University.
theories converge? Global Journal of Accounting and Finance Hilton SK, Arkorful H (2021). Remediation of the challenges of reporting
5(2):70. corporate scandals in governance. International Journal of Ethics and
Brenes ER, Madrigal K, Requena B (2011). Corporate governance and Systems 37(3):356-369.
family business performance. Journal of Business Research Ibrahim HB, Ouma C, Koshal JN (2019). Effect of gender diversity on
64(3):280-285. the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya. International
Buallay A (2021). Corporate governance, Sharia’ah governance and Journal of Research in Business and Social Science 8(5):274-285.
performance: A cross-country comparison in the MENA region. Al Iqbal S, Nawaz A, Ehsan S (2019). Financial performance and
Qasimia University Journal of Islamic Economics 1(1):189-215. corporate governance in microfinance: Evidence from Asia. Journal
Buallay AM (2017). The relationship between intellectual capital and of Asian Economics 60:1-13.
firm performance. Corporate Governance and Organizational El Idrissi I, Alami Y (2021). The financial impacts of board mechanisms
Behavior Review 1(1):32-41. on performance: The case of listed Moroccan banks. International
Corvino A, Doni F, Bianchi Martini S (2020). Corporate governance, Journal of Financial, Accounting, and Management 3(2):93-113.
integrated reporting and environmental disclosure: Evidence from the Kajola SO (2008). Corporate governance and firm performance: The
South African context. Sustainability 12(12):4820. case of Nigerian listed firms. European Journal of Economics,
Dinh TQ, Calabro A (2019). Asian family firms through corporate Finance and Administrative Sciences 14(14):16-28.
governance and institutions: A systematic review of the literature and Kakabadse NK, Figueira C, Nicolopoulou K, Hong Yang J, Kakabadse
agenda for future research. International Journal of Management AP, Özbilgin MF (2015). Gender diversity and board performance:
Reviews 21(1):50-75. Women's experiences and perspectives. Human Resource
Dong JQ, Karhade PP, Rai A, Xu SX (2021). How firms make Management 54(2):265-281.
information technology investment decisions: Toward a behavioral Karim S, Manab NA, Ismail RB (2020). Assessing the governance
agency theory. Journal of Management Information Systems mechanisms, corporate social responsibility and performance: the
38(1):29-58. moderating effect of board independence. Global Business Review
Donnelly R, Mulcahy M (2008). Board structure, ownership, and 0972150920917773. Available at:
voluntary disclosure in Ireland. Corporate Governance: An https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0972150920917773
International Review 16(5):416-429. Khan H (2011). A literature review of corporate governance. In
Fama EF, Jensen MC (1983). Separation of ownership and control. The International Conference on E-business, management and
Journal of Law and Economics 26(2):301-325. Economics 25(1):1-5.
Farag H, Mallin C (2019). Monitoring corporate boards: Evidence from Liang H, Renneboog L (2018). Is corporate social responsibility an
China. The European Journal of Finance 25(6):524-549. agency problem?. In Research handbook of finance and
Farah B, Elias R, Aguilera R, Abi Saad E (2021). Corporate governance sustainability. Edward Elgar Publishing pp. 54-71.
in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review of current Madhani PM (2017). Diverse roles of corporate board: Review of
trends and opportunities for future research. Corporate Governance: various corporate governance theories. The IUP Journal of Corporate
 Gwala and Mashau 223

Governance 16(2):7-28. Shah N, Napier CJ (2019). Governors and directors: Competing models
Manukaji IJ (2018). Corporate governance and income smoothing in the of corporate governance. Accounting History 24(3):338-355.
Nigerian deposit money banks. International Journal of Business and Shaikh I, Randhawa K (2022). Managing the risks and motivations of
Law Research 6(1):27-38. technology managers in open innovation: Bringing stakeholder-
Maroun W, Cerbone D (2020). Corporate Governance in South Africa. centric corporate governance into focus. Technovation 114:102437.
In Corporate Governance in South Africa. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. Singh H, Jain G, Munjal A, Rakesh S (2019). Blockchain technology in
Mitnick BM (1975). The theory of agency. Public Choice 24(1):27-42. corporate governance: disrupting chain reaction or not? Corporate
Mohammed UG (2019). Corporate Governance and Performance of Governance 20(1):67-86.
Listed Financial Firms in Nigeria. Available at: Tan M, Liu B (2016). CEO's managerial power, board committee
http://www.internationalpolicybrief.org/images/2020/MARCH/IJSRSS memberships and idiosyncratic volatility. International Review of
MS/ARTICLE18.pdf Financial Analysis 48:21-30.
Muchemwa MR, Padia N, Callaghan CW (2016). Board composition, Tang P, Yang S, Yang S (2020). How to design corporate governance
board size and financial performance of Johannesburg Stock structures to enhance corporate social responsibility in China's
Exchange companies. South African Journal of Economic and mining state-owned enterprises? Resources Policy 66:101619.
Management Sciences 19(4):497-513. Tejerina-Gaite FA, Fernández-Temprano MA (2021). The influence of
Naghavi N, Sharif SP, Hussain HBI (2021). The role of national culture board experience on firm performance: does the director’s role
in the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance: evidence matter? Journal of Management and Governance 25(3):685-705.
from a multi-country study. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An Tibiletti V, Marchini PL, Furlotti K, Medioli A (2021). Does corporate
International Journal 40:631-650. governance matter in corporate social responsibility disclosure?
Namanya D, Fong WLW, Mugarura JT (2021). Corporate governance Evidence from Italy in the “era of sustainability”. Corporate Social
and firm performance in developing countries: evidence from East Responsibility and Environmental Management 28(2):896-907.
Africa. Advanced International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Tica A, Weißenberger BE (2021). How regulatory changes are driven by
Finance 3(7):127-147. a need for control in reputational scandals: a case study in the
Napier CJ (1998). Intersections of law and accountancy: Unlimited German insurance industry. Journal of Accounting and Organizational
auditor liability in the United Kingdom. Accounting, Organizations and Change 18(1):57-76.
Society 23(1):105-128. Wachira MM, Berndt T, Romero CM (2019). The adoption of
Nasser ZA (2021). The effect of internal corporate governance of the international sustainability and integrated reporting guidelines within a
firm’s performance and firm value in five GCC countries. Accounting mandatory reporting framework: Lessons from South Africa. Social
and Finance Innovations. P 225. Responsibility Journal 16(5):613-629.
Ntim CG (2015). Board diversity and organizational valuation: Walsh JP, Brief AP (2007). The Academy of Management Annals (Vol.
Unravelling the effects of ethnicity and gender. Journal of 1). Taylorand Francis.
Management and Governance 19(1):167-195. Wang H (2021). The Effect of CEO Power on Corporate Debt Financing
Nyarko FK, Yusheng K, Zhu N (2017). Corporate governance and Costs: Integrating of Agency Theory and Stewardship Theory. In The
performance of firms: An empirical evidence from the banking sector 2021 12th International Conference on E-business, Management and
of Ghana. Journal of Economics and International Business Economics pp. 295-304.
Management 5(1):14-29. Wangrow DB, Schepker DJ, Barker III VL (2015). Managerial discretion:
Odewale RW (2020). Board attributes and voluntary disclosure in an An empirical review and focus on future research directions. Journal
emerging economy: evidence from Nigeria. Afro-Asian Journal of of Management 41(1):99-135.
Finance and Accounting 10(3):341-363. Wiley C, Monllor-Tormos M (2018). Board gender diversity in the
Oduor J, Kebba J (2019). Financial sector regulation and governance in STEM&F sectors: the critical mass required to drive firm performance.
Africa. In Extending financial inclusion in Africa, Academic Press. pp. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies 25(3):290-308.
137-163.
Owusu A, Weir C (2013). Do company directors underestimate the
adoption of corporate governance provisions?. Journal of Modern
Accounting and Auditing 9(11):1526-1534.
Ozbek OV, Boyd B (2020). The influence of CEO duality and board size
on the market value of spun-off subsidiaries: The contingency effect
of firm size. Journal of Strategy and Management 13(3):333-350.
Petticrew M, Roberts H (2008). Systematic reviews in the social
sciences: A practical guide. John Wileyand Sons.
Pucheta-Martínez MC, Gallego-Álvarez I (2020). Do board
characteristics drive firm performance? An international perspective.
Review of Managerial Science 14(6):1251-1297.
Ross SA (1973). The economic theory of agency: The principal's
problem. The American Economic Review 63:134-139.
Sanda AU, Mikailu AS, Garba T (2010). Corporate governance
mechanisms and firms' financial performance in Nigeria. Afro-Asian
Journal of Finance and Accounting 2(1):22-39.