African governments remain distrustful of foreign influence, and in general, are only half-hearted converts to the merits of the free market system. With their political power base often weak, they are also vulnerable to social unrest. The loss of patronage is a threat to their survival. If the privatization process results in significant job losses, this further undermines their popular power. The process is driven to a significant degree by the corporate finance departments of British and American merchant banks.
Corporate financiers are expensive, and corporate finance departments carry high overheads.
Corporate financiers are deal driven. They have a interest in getting the deal done, regardless of the suitability of the enterprise which is proposed to be privatized. With investors hungry for deals, they have in the early phase found little problem in building structures which satisfied the fears and needs of the selling governments, knowing the potential buyers would turn a blind eye to the deficiencies of the privatized enterprise. As such, the French model has been proposed and accepted. This model, however, as noted above has serious deficiencies.