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were given to municipalities and central government agencies (Rahandusministreerium, 2019[18]). In Asia, regionalisation reforms have also been quite important, in particular since the 1990s. Regionalisation is often asymmetric, to recognise the specific identities of certain regions. For example, in the Philippines, as of 2019, the country comprises 17 administrative regions, with one being autonomous. In Latin America, regional reforms have also occurred in recent decades, but at a slower pace compared to other regions. In Chile, administrative regions became self-governing entities in 2017 and the first regional elections are to take place in 2020. Regional reforms have also taken place in some African countries. In Mauritania, decentralised regions were established in 2018. In 2018, the 15 regions (wilayas), previously deconcentrated entities of the State, were grouped into six administrative regions and set up as decentralized local authorities, each with a regional council composed of members elected by direct universal suffrage for five years. They elect the governor (wali), as the head of the council, and his/her deputies. The Region of Nouakchott is divided into three wilayas (north, south and west) In Cabo Verde, a law on regionalisation is being finalised and will introduce a new level (regions) between the central government and municipalities. In Ghana, following a national referendum on December 2018, six new regions were created, increasing the total number of regions in the country from 10 to 16. Regions are further divided for administrative purposes into 216 local districts. Regionalisation trends raise several policy and governance implications. They increase the need for coordination across government tiers and the need for clarification in the assignment of responsibilities, in order to avoid overlap. In general, fiscal autonomy of regions is rather limited and regions depend quite heavily on the national government for financing. It is quite likely that regionalisation trends will continue to progress in the coming decades, to generate countries of scale in public service delivery and provide more effective regional development policies, given persistent territorial disparities. Scale issues thus need to be balanced with accountability and democratic issues. One trend that might increase as well is the differentiation of responsibilities assigned to different regions (OECD, 2019[18])).