Two Decades of African Accounting Research 2000–2019: Synthesis, Reflection, Gaps, and Future Directions

Abstract

This structured literature review analyzes 179 African accounting research articles in 38 major accounting journals published from 2000 to 2019 (inclusive) to assess trends of publications in these journals, topics covered or neglected, research methods employed, the main contributing authors, their research impact, opportunities for future research, and challenges confronting this field. It found that, despite the increase in research publications on Africa, they were almost absent in the top 6 accounting journals and had little presence in the remaining 32. The analysis of research methods, contributing authors, and research impact found that much African research has adopted a qualitative approach, unlike the U.S. tradition employing mostly quantitative and economics-based methods, and most top-contributing authors either originated from Africa or were affiliated with an African university. There was a regional imbalance of African accounting research, which covered only 19 of the 54 countries. These were larger, richer, and had stock markets.