Policy Glocalization and Macroeconomic Fundamentals in Africa in the Post-Pandemic Era: Any Role for Institutions?

The paper fills a significant academic vacuum by offering one of the first empirical analyses of the influence of domestic institutions on the effects of global policy mandates- a phenomenon known as policy glocalization-in five major African economies (Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Ghana) between 2020 and 2025. Using a quantitative explanatory design and panel multiple regression (N=30 country-year observations), the research tests the "Institutional Filter" theory. It explores the relationship between regulatory quality and corruption control and the success of global trade and health policy adjustments to macroeconomic fundamentals. The results reveal glocalization through trade (TDR) has a positive pressure on the domestic prices (β = 1.229, P < .05), the institutional interaction factor, the "filter" has a strong counter-pressure on the inflation (β =-3.415, P < .001). This implies that the quality of high institutions can offset the inflationary pressure of almost three times that of unmediated global integration. Besides, the model captures 67.3% of the variation in inflation and 54.3% in fiscal deficits. Remarkably, though, the correlation between glocalised policies and short-term GDP growth was not significant (P = .6478), indicating that growth is still tied to external shocks and structural bottlenecks. The paper ends by concluding that global compliance does not lead to African macroeconomic stability, but decolonial praxis (the dynamic re-calibration of international norms to suit local social economic conditions). This is operationalized in the form of Afriruralization where local growth poles are put at the fore instead of the urban-based global models. The paper provides a road map to the policymakers and regional bodies (AU, ECOWAS) to shift towards the active institutional filtering as opposed to passive replication to ensure that the global imperatives do not take over the local sustainable development.