New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is the vision and strategic framework adopted by African leaders to address poverty and underdevelopment throughouts the African continent. Its broad approach was initially agreed at the 36th Heads of State and Government Assembly of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) held in Algeria, in 2000. The meeting asked Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa to develop an integrated socio-economic framework for Africa. Subsequently, the 37th Summit of the OAU held in Lusaka, Zambia in July 2001 formally endorsed NEPAD as the framework for the continent's development. In January 2010, the 14th African Union (AU) Summit strengthened the NEPAD programme by endorsing its integration into the AU.

The Secretary-General established the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) to increase international support for NEPAD, to coordinate UN system efforts in support of NEPAD and to report annually to the General Assembly on progress in the implementation of and international support for NEPAD.

• See presentation by Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, on NEPAD (11 October 2010)

NEPAD Framework

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is the vision and strategic framework adopted by African leaders at the 37th Summit of the OAU held in Lusaka, Zambia, in July 2001. The NEPAD strategy document is designed to address the current challenges facing the African continent, including:

Poverty eradication

• Placing African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development
• Halting the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process and increasing the continent's full and beneficial integration into the global economy

NEPAD priorities include the following:

a) Establishing the conditions for sustainable development by ensuring:

• Peace and security
• Democracy and sound political, economic and corporate governance
• Regional-cooperation and integration

b) Policy reforms and increased investment in the following sectors:

• Agriculture
• Human resources development with a focus on health, education, science and technology
• Building and improving infrastructure
• Promoting diversification of production and exports, especially in agro-industry, manufacturing, mining and mineral processing and tourism
• Accelerating trade among African countries and improving access for their exports to markets in advanced countries
• Environment

c) Mobilizing resources by:

• Increasing domestic savings and investment
• Improving Africa’s share of global trade
• Attracting more foreign direct investment
• Increasing capital flows through further debt reduction and enhanced aid

African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) - a key component of NEPAD - is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the Member States of the African Union (AU) as an African self-monitoring mechanism. The APRM is a bold, unique and innovative approach designed and implemented by Africans for Africa.

The APR process entails periodic reviews of the policies and practices of participating countries to ascertain progress being made towards achieving the mutually agreed goals and compliance in the four focus areas, namely Democracy and Political Governance, Economic Governance and Management, Corporate Governance, and Socio-Economic Development.

As of June 2010, 29 African countries had voluntarily acceded to APRM: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. Twelve countries had been peer reviewed: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda.

Promoting Partnerships in Support of African Peer Review Mechanism Implementation - Report of the Expert Group Meeting held on 15-16 November 2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Overview Paper on The Role of the APRM in Strengthening Governance in Africa: Opportunities & Constraints in Implementation--Prepared for the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa by Professor Michelo Hansungule , Professor of Law Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2007.