Global Agendas, Local Realities: Reassessing the Effectiveness of Western‑Driven Policy Frameworks in African Development Context

Abstract

This essay interrogates the limitations of universal policy transfer models by examining how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) travel from Western institutional architectures into the governance realities of the Global South (Sierra Leone as a case). Drawing on policy transfer, translation, and mobility scholarship, it argues that the success of global frameworks does not hinge on similarity between contexts as (Dolowitz and Marsh, 1996) suggest, but on the capacity of domestic actors to reinterpret, hybridise, and embed external ideas within their own political, cultural, and institutional logics. The analysis shows that Sierra Leone’s SDG adoption is shaped by structural constraints, weak data systems, donor-driven incentives, and deep historical legacies, producing incomplete and often misaligned transfers. Yet, the case also reveals meaningful adaptive strategies: localisation through the Sierra Leone Medium-Term National Development Plan (SLMTNDP), consultative voluntary reviews, and hybrid governance arrangements that negotiate global norms with local priorities. Ultimately, the essay positions Sierra Leone as emblematic of wider African experiences where global development agendas collide with and are reshaped by fragile institutions, informal economies, and entrenched social norms. It concludes that policy transfer in such settings is neither linear nor replicative but a contested, negotiated process in which agency, translation, and contextual sensitivity determine outcomes. This reframing contributes to contemporary debates on decolonising global governance and designing development frameworks that recognise complexity rather than impose one-size-fits-all models.