Abstract
This article set out to explore the impact that governance has on the developmental role of Public Enterprises in Africa. However initial findings revealed that, the above failure is related to lack of leadership, maladministration and corruption which are the enemies of good governance, the State and of National Development Plan (NDP) as these impede any development initiative. This paper is divided into five major parts. The first part introduces the problematic of the research; the second part argues about the concept of governance, the third part discusses public enterprises reforms and the justification for decentralisation as a tool for the sustainability of public enterprises. The fourth part explains the impact of decentralisation on SOEs. The Fifth part concludes and presents a set of recommendations for future research.