Beyond Stewardship: Generative AI, Institutional Capacity and the Transformation of Offices of the Accountant General for Effective IPSAS Implementation in Africa
Keywords:
public value; Africa; digital transformation; accountabilityAbstract
Purpose - This paper examines how Offices of the Accountant General (OAGs) in Africa can move beyond traditional stewardship and compliance roles to become strategic institutions that create public value, strengthen institutional resilience and lead responsible digital transformation. It focuses on the interaction between Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), institutional capacity and implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Design/methodology/approach - A structured integrative review of 34 academic, theoretical, standards, policy and government sources was undertaken for the period 2015 to 24 August 2026, with older foundational works retained for theory and review design. Transparent search strings, source-type quality appraisal, an extraction matrix and a three-stage Comparative-Argumentative-Synthesis (CAS) procedure were used. Four purposively varied country illustrations - Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda and South Africa - were analysed to connect the framework to documented reform trajectories.
Findings - GenAI can support standards interpretation, disclosure review, reconciliation, exception analysis and professional learning, but it cannot compensate for missing records, fragmented systems, weak expertise or unclear accountability. The country illustrations show that sequencing, integrated systems, professional capacity, asset-data governance and procurement integrity shape readiness. Cybersecurity, privacy, sovereign-data control, regulatory fragmentation, infrastructure constraints, vendor dependence and model assurance are binding implementation conditions. Scale should therefore be conditional on independently evidenced readiness gates and accountable human review.
Originality/value - The paper connects three debates that are often treated separately: IPSAS implementation, public-sector AI adoption and strategic transformation of central accounting institutions. It proposes a phased, Africa-sensitive framework in which foundational capacity and responsible AI governance convert accounting reform into accountability, resilience and public value.
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