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The
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) -
Part 5
Contents
I.
Introduction
II.
Africa in today's world: Between poverty and prosperity
III.
The new political will of African leaders
IV.
Appeal to the Peoples of Africa
V.
Programme of action: The strategy for achieving sustainable
development in the 21st century
-
Conditions
for sustainable development
-
Sectoral
priorities
-
Mobilising
resources
VI.
A new global partnership
VII.
Implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development
VIII.
Conclusions
Abbreviations
and acronyms
VI.
A new global partnership
174.
Africa recognises the centuries-old historical injustice
and the need to correct it. The central injunction
of the new partnership is, however, for combined efforts
to improve the quality of life of Africa's people
as rapidly as possible. In this, there are shared
responsibilities and mutual benefits for Africa and
her partners.
175.
The global technological revolution needs an expanding
base of resources, a widening sphere of markets, new
frontiers of scientific endeavour, the collective
capacity of human wisdom, and a well-managed ecological
system. We are aware that much of Africa's mineral
and other material resources are critical inputs into
production processes in developed countries.
176.
In addition to its indispensable resource base, Africa
offers a vast and growing market for producers across
the world. A developing Africa, with increased numbers
of employed and skilled workers and a burgeoning middle
class, would constitute an expanding market for world
manufactured products, intermediate goods and services.
177.
At the same time, Africa provides a great opportunity
for investment. The New Partnership for Africa's
Development creates opportunities for joint international
efforts in the development of infrastructure, especially
in ICT and transportation.
178.
Africa also provides prospects for creative partnerships
between the public and private sectors in beneficiation,
agro-industries, tourism, human resource development
and in tackling the challenges of urban renewal and
rural development.
179.
Furthermore, Africa's biodiversity - including its
rich flora and fauna and the rain forests - is an
important global resource in combating the environmental
degradation posed by the depletion of the ozone layer
and climate change, as well as the pollution of air
and water by industrial emissions and toxic effluents.
180.
The expansion of educational and other opportunities
in Africa would enhance the continent's contribution
to world science, technology and culture, to the benefit
of all humankind. After all, modern science recognises
Africa as the cradle of humanity. Fossils, artefacts,
artistic works and the versions of ancient human settlements
are to be found throughout Africa, providing material
evidence of the emergence of Homo sapiens and the
progression of humanity.
181.
A part of the process of the reconstruction of the
identity and self-confidence of the peoples of Africa,
it is necessary that this be understood and valued
by Africans themselves. In the same vein, Africa's
status as the birthplace of humanity should be cherished
by the whole world as the origin of all its peoples.
182.
Africa's rich cultural legacy is reflected in its
artefacts of the past, its literature, philosophies,
art and music. These should serve both as a means
of consolidating the pride of Africans in their own
humanity and of confirming the common humanity of
the peoples of the world.
183.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development
has, as one of its foundations, the expansion of democratic
frontiers and the deepening of the culture of human
rights. A democratic Africa will become one of the
pillars of world democracy, human rights and tolerance.
The resources of the world currently dedicated to
resolving civil and interstate conflict could therefore
be freed for more rewarding endeavours.
184.
The converse of such an initiative, that is the collapse
of more African states, poses a threat not only to
Africans, but also to global peace and security. For
industrialised countries, development in Africa will
reduce the levels of global social exclusion and mitigate
a major potential source of global social instability.
185.
Africa is committed to the development and strengthening
of South-South partnerships.
Establishing
a new relationship with industrialised countries and
multilateral organisations
186.
A critical dimension of Africans taking responsibility
for the continent's destiny is the need to negotiate
a new relationship with their development partners.
The manner in which development assistance is delivered
in itself creates serious problems for developing
countries. The need to negotiate and account separately
to donors supporting the same sector or programme
is both cumbersome and inefficient. Also, the tying
of development assistance generates further inefficiencies.
The appeal is for a new relationship that takes the
country programmes as a point of departure. The new
relationship should set out mutually agreed performance
targets and standards for both donor and recipient.
There are many cases that clearly show that the failure
of projects is not caused only by the poor performance
of recipients, but also by bad advice given by donors.
187.
The various partnerships between Africa and the industrialised
countries on the one hand, and multilateral institutions
on the other, will be maintained. The partnerships
in question include, among others: the United Nations
New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s;
the Africa-Europe Summit's Cairo Plan of Action; the
World Bank-led Strategic Partnership with Africa;
the International Monetary Fund-led Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers; the Japan-led Tokyo Agenda for Action;
the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act of the United
States; and the Economic Commission on Africa-led
Global Compact with Africa. The objective will be
to rationalise these partnerships and to ensure that
real benefits to Africa flow from them.
188.
The African leaders envisage the following responsibilities
and obligations of the developed countries and multilateral
institutions:
-
To support materially mechanisms for and processes
of conflict prevention, management and resolution
in Africa, as well as peacekeeping initiatives;
-
To accelerate debt reduction for heavily indebted
African countries, in conjunction with more effective
poverty reduction programmes, of which the Strategic
Partnership with Africa and the PRSP initiatives
are an important starting point;
-
To improve debt relief strategies for middle-income
countries;
-
To reverse the decline in ODA flows to Africa and
to meet the target level of ODA flows equivalent
to 0.7 per cent of each developed country's gross
national product (GNP) within an agreed period.
Increased aid flows will be used to complement funds
released by debt reduction for accelerating the
fight against poverty;
-
To translate into concrete commitments the international
strategies adopted in the fields of education and
health;
-
To facilitate the development of a partnership between
countries, international pharmaceutical corporations
and civil society organisations to urgently secure
access to existing drugs for Africans suffering
from infectious diseases;
-
To admit goods into markets of the developed countries
through bilateral initiatives, and to negotiate
more equitable terms of trade for African countries
within the WTO multilateral framework;
-
To work with African leaders to encourage investment
in Africa by the private sector in developed countries,
including the establishment of insurance schemes
and financial instruments that will help lower risk
premiums on investments in Africa;
-
To raise consumer protection standards for exports
from developed countries to developing countries
as applicable to the domestic markets in the developed
countries;
-
To ensure that the World Bank and other multilateral
development finance institutions participate as
investors in the key economic infrastructure projects,
in order to facilitate and the secure private sector
participation;
-
To provide technical support to accelerate the implementation
of the programme of action, including strengthening
Africa's capacity in planning and development management,
financial and infrastructure regulation, accounting
and auditing, and development, construction and
management of infrastructure;
-
To support governance reforms of multilateral financial
institutions to better cater for the needs and concerns
of countries in Africa;
-
To set up co-ordinated mechanisms to combat corruption
effectively, as well as commit themselves to the
return of monies (proceeds) of such practices to
Africa.
VII.
Implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development
189.
Recognising the need to sequence and prioritise, the
initiating Presidents propose that the following programmes
be fast-tracked, in collaboration with development
partners:
- Communicable
diseases - HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis;
- Information
and Communications Technology;
- Debt
reduction;
- Market
access.
190.
Work has already been done on all these programmes
by a variety of international partnerships and institutions.
However, Africa's participation and leadership need
to be strengthened for better delivery. We believe
that addressing these issues could fast-track the
renewal of the continent. (Detailed proposals on each
programme are available as annexes.)
Projects
191.
Much as the promoters of the New Partnership for
Africa's Development appreciate the dangers of
a project approach to development, they are proposing
a number of projects that are crucial to an integrated
regional development, as conceived by the New Partnership
for Africa's Development. Not only will these
projects strengthen country and regional development
programmes, but they will also go a long way in kick-starting
the regeneration of the continent.
192.
The projects presented below are for illustrative
purposes only. A detailed list of projects can be
found on the web site of the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (www.nepad.org).
(i)
Agriculture
193.
Expand the ambit and operation of the integrated land
and water management action plan for Africa. The project
addresses the maintenance and upgrading of Africa's
fragile agricultural natural resources base. Many
African governments are already implementing these
initiatives as part of this programme. Partners include
the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank,
ADB the FAO and other bilateral donor agencies.
194.
Strengthen and refocus the capacity of Africa's agricultural
research and extension systems. The project addresses
the issue of upgrading of the physical and institutional
infrastructure that supports Africa's agriculture.
Technological innovation and technology diffusion
hold enormous potential for accelerating agricultural
output and productivity, but the continent lacks the
research capacity that is necessary for major breakthroughs.
Major players include the Forum for Agricultural Research
in Africa (FARA), the World Bank, the FAO and the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR).
(ii)
Promotion of the Private Sector
195.
International experience suggests that one of the
best practices in promoting enterprises in highly
innovative areas is through the establishment of business
incubators. This project will formulate required guidelines
and policies for the establishment of such incubators
at the national level, drawing on international experience
and established best practice, tailored to African
needs and conditions.
(iii)
Infrastructure and Regional Integration
196.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development
process has identified many energy, transport, telecommunications
and water projects that are crucial to Africa's integrated
development. The projects are at various stages of
development and require funding. The next step is
to accelerate their continued development in collaboration
with the African Development Bank, the World Bank
and other multilateral institutions.
197.
The view of the initiating Presidents is that, unless
the issue of infrastructure development is addressed
on a planned basis - that is, linked to regional integrated
development - the renewal process of the continent
will not take off. Therefore, the international community
is urged to support Africa in accelerating the development
of infrastructure. Detailed infrastructure projects
can be found on the web site of the New Partnership
for Africa's Development (www.nepad.org).
Needs
assessment
198.
As part of assessing the required action in the priority
sectors, a needs assessment will be undertaken, progressing
from the national level, to the sub-regional and sub-regional
levels. The aim is to assess the needs in the five
priority sectors in terms of structures and staff.
199.
The assessment of sub-regional sectoral needs will
start from the national needs assessment. The proposal
is that the experts and ministers in each sub-sector
meet in one of the sub-regional capitals. For each
sector, national data would have been aggregated and
used to elaborate a sub-regional sectoral plan. Once
sub-regional sectoral needs are assessed in the five
sectors, they can be aggregated to formulate over
all regional plan.
200.
It should be stressed that sub-regional sectoral needs
are not to be simply added up - the starting point
is a sub-regional perspective leading to at least
two new elements:
-
Specific needs of the sub-region perceived as a
single space for all states in the sub-region. For
instance, roads and railroads will not be conceived
from a national perspective but from a sub-regional
one;
-
Needs that should be rationalised on a sub-regional
basis. For instance, the universities should be
distributed according to a sub-regional territorial
rationale;
-
Finally, the continent's needs will be assessed
in the five sectors considered as priority sectors
in the light of the global sub-regional plans. The
details can be found on the web site of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (www.nepad.org).
Management
mechanism of the 'New Partnership for Africa's Development'
The
Heads of State promoting the New Partnership for
Africa's Development will advise OAU on an appropriate
mechanism for its implementation.
201.
There will be a need for core technical support for
the implementing mechanism in the areas of research
and policy formulation.
Heads
of State Implementation Committee
202.
A Heads of State Implementation Committee composed
of the five Heads of State, promoters of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development and ten others,
(2 from each region) will be appointed for the implementation.
203.
The functions of the Implementation Committee will
consist of:
-
Identifying strategic issues that need to be researched,
planned and managed at the continental level;
-
Setting up mechanisms for reviewing progress in
the achievement of mutually agreed targets and compliance
with mutually agreed standards;
-
Reviewing progress in the implementation of past
decisions and taking appropriate steps to address
problems and delays;
VIII. Conclusion
204.
The objective of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development is to consolidate democracy and sound
economic management on the continent. Through the
programme, African leaders are making a commitment
to the African people and the world to work together
in rebuilding the continent. It is a pledge to promote
peace and stability, democracy, sound economic management
and people-centred development and to hold each other
accountable in terms of the agreements outlined in
the programme.
205.
In proposing the partnership, Africa recognises that
it holds the key to its own development. We affirm
that the New Partnership for Africa's Development
offers an historic opportunity for the developed countries
of the world to enter into a genuine partnership with
Africa, based on mutual interest, shared commitments
and binding agreements.
206.
The adoption of a development strategy as set out
in the broad approach outlined above, together with
a detailed programme of action, will mark the beginning
of a new phase in the partnership and co-operation
between Africa and the developed world.
207.
In fulfilling its promise, this agenda must give hope
to the emaciated African child that the 21st century
is indeed Africa's century.
ABUJA,
NIGERIA
OCTOBER 2001
Abbreviations
and acronyms
AGOA
Africa Growth and Opportunity Act
AU African Union
CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research
DAC Development Assistance Committee
EBA "Everything But Arms"
ECA Economic Commission on Africa
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
FARA Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Facility
GESI Global Environmental Sanitation Initiative
GIS Geographic Information System
GNP Gross National Product
GSP Generalised System of Preferences
HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Country
IAF International Accreditation Forum
ICT Information and Communications Technology
IDA International Development Assistance
IDG International Development Goal
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IMF International Monetary Fund
ISO International Standards Organisation
NBI National Business Incubator
OAU Organisation of African Unity
ODA Overseas Development Assistance
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PPP Public-Private Partnership
PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
RETOSA Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa
SADC Southern African Development Community
TBT Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organisation
WTO World Trade Organisation
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