Historical Overview of NEPAD
A: BACKGROUND: The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a holistic, integrated sustainable development initiative for the economic and social revival of Africa involving a constructive partnership between Africa and the developed world. It is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development and, at the same time, to participate actively in the world economy and body politic. The initiative is anchored on the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world. It is a call for a new relationship of partnership between Africa and the international community to overcome the development chasm. The partnership is to be founded on a realisation of common interest, obligations, commitments, benefit and equality. The initiative is premised on African states making commitments to good governance, democracy and human rights, while endeavouring to prevent and resolve situations of conflict and instability on the continent. Coupled to these efforts to create conditions conducive for investment, growth and development are initiatives to raise the necessary resources to address the development chasm in critical sectors that are highlighted in the Programme of Action, such as infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and ICT. Resources will be mobilised by way of increasing savings and capital inflows via further debt relief, increased targeted ODA flows and private capital. There will be an emphasis on the better management of public revenue and expenditure. The founding document of the NEPAD contains both a strategic policy framework and a Programme of Action. The NEPAD offers a historic opportunity for the advanced countries of the world to enter into a genuine partnership with Africa, based on mutual interests and benefit, shared commitment and binding agreement, under African leadership. In proposing the partnership, Africa recognises that it holds the key to its own development. The adoption of a development strategy, together with a detailed programme of action marks the beginning of a new phase in the partnership and cooperation between Africa and the developed world, including multilateral organisations. B: RATIONALE FOR THE NEPAD: The idea of developing a new Agenda for African Recovery dates back to 1999. President T Mbeki, President O Obasanjo and President A Bouteflika, as leaders of three major organisations representing the interests of Africa and the South, found themselves in a unique position to put Africa’s case to the global community. They realised that Africa has been reacting for too long to ideas and offers of support from the rest of the world, without developing and articulating its own vision and programme of action. Africa has produced a variety of initiatives and programmes of action in the past, in particular the Lagos Plan of Action and the Abuja Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community. However, for a variety of reasons, including timing, a lack of capacity and resources, a lack of political will and the interference of outside interests in the Cold War era, the plans failed in their implementation. A convergence of favourable circumstances within the continent and internationally provides the ideal opportunity now to take the existing plans, eg for economic integration, forward within the context of a new initiative developed by Africans for Africans. Faced with the challenge of addressing poverty and underdevelopment, both in their respective countries and on the continent, and with demands to address world forums on African issues, the Presidents resolved to request the OAU to mandate them to prepare a comprehensive development programme that could serve as a foundation for the regeneration of the continent and the forging of a new partnership with the rest of the world, more specifically the industrialised countries and multilateral organisations. This would be a programme that went beyond debt reduction, which was the immediate trigger for the initiative. The end result is the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). C. PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE FINAL INITIATIVE: The mandate for the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) had its genesis at the OAU Extraordinary Summit held in Sirte, Libya during September 1999. The Summit mandated President T Mbeki of South Africa and President A Bouteflika of Algeria to engage Africa’s creditors on the total cancellation of Africa’s external debt. Following this, the South Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and the G77, held in Havana, Cuba during April 2000, mandated President Mbeki and President O Obasanjo to convey the concerns of the South to the G8 and the Bretton Woods institutions. Realising the correlation between the two mandates and the fact that debt relief forms but one critical aspect of the overall development agenda for Africa, the OAU Summit held in Togo in July 2000 mandated the three Presidents to engage the developed North with a view to developing a constructive partnership for the regeneration of the Continent. Following from this, the three Presidents raised the issue of a partnership with the leaders of the G8 at their Summit in Japan during July 2000. The work on developing the MAP then began in earnest and a process of engagement on a bilateral and multilateral level was pursued. For example, a presentation on MAP was made to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2001. The first concept paper was prepared by President Mbeki and was approved by the other two Presidents in September 2000. A Steering Committee was appointed to develop a more detailed proposal immediately thereafter. Each President appointed two members to the Steering Committee in October 2000. After a number of consultations with the three Presidents regarding an evaluation of past and current development agendas for Africa, the Steering Committee produced a Policy Framework document, Draft 3 (a), in February 2001. Draft 3 (a) was both a vision statement and an outline of a Programme of Action for the political, social and economic
An Overview of NEPAD
Origin/MandateThe mandate for the New African Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) had its genesis at the OAU Extraordinary Summit held in Sirte, Libya during September 1999. The Summit mandated President Mbeki of South Africa and President Bouteflika of Algeria to engage Africa’s creditors on the total cancellation of Africa’s external debt. Following this, the South Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77, held in Havana, Cuba during April 2000, mandated President Mbeki and President Obasanjo of Nigeria to convey the concerns of the South to the G-8 and the Bretton Woods institutions. Realising the correlation between the two mandates and the fact that debt relief forms but one critical aspect of the overall development agenda for Africa, the OAU Summit held in Togo in July 2000 mandated the three Presidents to engage the developed North with a view to developing a constructive partnership for the regeneration of the Continent. Following from this, the three Presidents raised the issue of a partnership with the leaders of the G-8 at their Summit in Japan during July 2000. The work on developing NEPAD (at that stage referred to as the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP)) then began in earnest and a process of engagement on a bilateral and multilateral level was pursued. During the 5th Extraordinary Summit of the OAU held in Sirte, Libya from 1 to 2 March 2001, President Obasanjo made a presentation on MAP, while President Wade of Senegal who presented the OMEGA Plan. The work being done by the four Presidents, i.e. Presidents Mbeki, Obasanjo, Bouteflika and Wade, was endorsed and it was decided that every effort should be made to integrate all the initiatives being pursued for the recovery and development of Africa, including the ECA’s New Global Compact with Africa. In reaching this decision, the Summit recognised the synergy and complementarity that existed between the various initiatives. An integration process of the various initiatives followed, and on 11 July 2001, NEPAD (or the New African Initiative (NAI) as it was temporarily known at the time), was presented to the OAU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Lusaka, Zambia, providing the vision for Africa, a statement of the problems facing the continent and a Programme of Action to resolve these problems in order to reach the vision. NEPAD was enthusiastically received and unanimously adopted in the form of Declaration 1 (XXXVII) as Africa’s principal agenda for development, providing a holistic, comprehensive integrated strategic framework for the socio-economic development of the continent, within the institutional framework of the African Union. DescriptionThis adoption of NEPAD is considered as one of the most important developments of recent times for its conception of a development programme placing Africa at the apex of the global agenda, by: Creating an instrument for advancing a people-centered sustainable development in Africa based on democratic values; Being premised on recognition that Africa has an abundance of natural resources and people who have the capacity to be agents for change and so holds the key to her own development; and Providing the common African platform from which to engage the rest of the international community in a dynamic partnership that holds real prospects for creating a better life for all. ObjectiveThe primary objective of NEPAD is to eradicate poverty in Africa and to place African countries both individually and collectively on a path of sustainable growth and development to thus halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process. At the core of the NEPAD process is its African ownership, which must be retained and strongly promoted, so as to meet the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples. While the principle of partnership with the rest of the world is equally vital to this process, such partnership must be based on mutual respect, dignity, shared responsibility and mutual accountability. The expected outcomes are: Economic growth and development and increased employment; Reduction in poverty and inequality; Diversification of productive activities; Enhanced international competitiveness and increased exports; and Increased African integration. StructureNEPAD is structured into three components: The first component provides the preconditions for sustainable development, which are the Peace, Security, Democracy and Political Governance Initiatives; the Economic and Corporate Governance Initiative; and the sub-regional and regional approaches to development. The second component provides the sectoral priorities, which include bridging the infrastructure gap; the Human Resource Development Initiative; the Agriculture Initiative; the Environment Initiative; the Cultural Initiative and Science and Technology Platforms. The third component concerns the mobilisation of resources, referring to the Capital Flows Initiative and the Market Access Initiative. Relationship between NEPAD and African Union NEPAD is a mandated initiative of the African Union. The NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee has to report annually to the Union Summit. The Chair of the Union as well as the Chair of the Commission of the Union are ex-officio members of the Implementation Committee. The Commission of the Union is expected to participate in Steering Committee meetings. Relationship with SADCThe linkage between NEPAD and the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) was adopted by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance at their meeting in Blantyre on 13 September 2001, which came to the conclusion that, in terms of relationships, SADC is part of and feeds into NEPAD since the latter is premised on the regional economic communities (RECs). The Ministers recognised that NEPAD is a framework and process within the Union, while SADC is a recognised REC of the Union. SADC participates, therefore, in both the Union and NEPAD. To this end, by strengthening the implementation capacity of SADC, it was recognised that success in NEPAD would be enhanced. It was decided that the development of the RISDP and the SADC restructuring process should take NEPAD into account, and where appropriate, SADC and NEPAD programmes should be harmonised. SADC should also take NEPAD into account in the ongoing review of SADC programmes. Other LinkagesNEPAD has not been constructed and come into existence in
NEPAD in Brief
1. WHAT IS NEPAD? The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a VISION and STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICA’s RENEWAL 2. WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF NEPAD? The NEPAD strategic framework document arises from a mandate given to the five initiating Heads of State (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa) by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to develop an integrated socio-economic development framework for Africa. The 37th Summit of the OAU in July 2001 formally adopted the strategic framework document. 3. WHAT IS THE NEED FOR NEPAD? NEPAD is designed to address the current challenges facing the African continent. Issues such as the escalating poverty levels, underdevelopment and the continued marginalisation of Africa needed a new radical intervention, spearheaded by African leaders, to develop a new Vision that would guarantee Africa’s Renewal. 4. WHAT ARE THE NEPAD PRIMARY OBJECTIVES? a) To eradicate poverty;b) To place African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development;c) To halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy;d) To accelerate the empowerment of women 5. WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF NEPAD? Good governance as a basic requirement for peace, security and sustainable political and socio-economic development African ownership and leadership, as well as broad and deep participation by all sectors of society; Anchoring the development of Africa on its resources and resourcefulness of its people; Partnership between and amongst African peoples; Acceleration of regional and continental integration; Building the competitiveness of African countries and the continent; Forging a new international partnership that changes the unequal relationship between Africa and the developed world; and Ensuring that all Partnerships with NEPAD are linked to the Millenium Development Goals and other agreed development goals and targets. 6. WHAT IS THE NEPAD PROGRAMME OF ACTION? The NEPAD Programme of Action is a holistic, comprehensive and integrated sustainable development initiative for the revival of Africa, guided by the aforementioned objectives, principles and strategic focus. 7. WHAT ARE THE NEPAD PRIORITIES? a. Establishing the Conditions for Sustainable Development by ensuring Peace and security; Democracy and good, political, economic and corporate governance; Regional co-operation and integration; Capacity building. b. Policy reforms and increased investment in the following priority sectors- Agriculture; Human development with a focus on health, education, science and technology and skills development; Building and improving infrastructure, including Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Energy, Transport, Water and Sanitation; Promoting diversification of production and exports, particularly with respect to agro-industries, manufacturing, mining, mineral beneficiation and tourism; Accelerating intra-African trade and improving access to markets of developed countries; The environment. c. Mobilising Resources by – Increasing domestic savings and investments;Improving management of public revenue and expenditure;Improving Africa’s share in global trade;Attracting foreign direct investment; andIncreasing capital flows through further debt reduction and increase ODA flows. 8. WHAT ARE THE IMMEDIATE DESIRED OUTCOMES OF NEPAD? Africa becomes more effective in conflict prevention and the establishment of enduring peace on the continent; Africa adopts and implements principles of democracy and good political economic and corporate governance, and the protection of human rights becomes further entrenched in every African country; Africa develops and implements effective poverty eradication programmes and accelerates the pace of achieving set African development goals, particularly human development; Africa achieves increased levels of domestic savings, as well as investments, both domestic and foreign; Increased levels of ODA to the continent are achieved and its effective utilisation maximised; Africa achieves desired capacity for policy development, coordination and negotiation in the international arena, to ensure its beneficial engagement in the global economy, especially on trade and market access issues; Regional integration is further accelerated and higher levels of sustainable economic growth in Africa is achieved; Genuine partnerships are established between Africa and the developed countries based on mutual respect and accountability. 9. WHAT ARE THE KEY PRIORITY ACTION AREAS?Operationalising the African Peer Review Mechanism; Facilitating and supporting implementation of the short-term regional infrastructure programmes covering Transport Energy, ICT, Water and Sanitation; Facilitating implementation of the food security and agricultural development program in all sub-regions; Facilitating the preparation of a coordinated African position on Market Access, debt relief and ODA reforms; Monitoring and intervening as appropriate to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals in the areas of health and education are met. 10. WHAT DOES THE STRUCTURE FOR IMPLEMENTING NEPAD LOOK LIKE NEPAD is a programme of the African Union designed to meet its development objectives. The highest authority of the NEPAD implementation process is the Heads of State and Government Summit of the African Union, formerly known as the OAU. The Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSIC) comprises 3 states per AU region as mandated by the OAU Summit of July 2001 and ratified by the AU Summit of July 2002. The HSIC reports to the AU Summit on an annual basis. The Steering Committee of NEPAD comprises the Personal Representatives of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government. This Committee oversees projects and programme development. The NEPAD Secretariat coordinates implementation of projects and programmes approved by the HSIC.