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The New
Partnership for Africa's Development NEPAD
The OAU incorporated economic cooperation as one of its principal
objectives
at
the summits of 1970, 1973, 1977 and 1979, step by step, formulated
guidelines for paving the way for the ultimate goal of establishing an
African economic community.
This economic community was envisaged to be realized
through the standard phases of preferential trade arrangement, free trade
area, customs union, common market and economic union.1
PART ONE
Historical Context of NEPAD
The
efforts highlighted in the above excerpt culminated
in the
Lagos Plan of Action
of April 1980, which enjoined all African states to establish sub-regional
economic blocs with the ultimate aim of establishing an African Economic
Union by the year 2000. Nevertheless, this was revised because of the
ambitious nature of the plan.
The focus
on economic integration endeavors was essentially in line with the
political objective of the OAU, which aims to realize the dream of
continental unity. This was the vision of the early Pan-Africanists such
as Dr. Kwami Nkrumah, who saw "political sovereignty" automatically
leading to "economic kingdom".
TOP
After
four decades of independence and development efforts most African
countries are poorer today than they were in the early 60’s. Development
assistance mainly from the West has not produced the desired change in the
quality of lives of Africans. Some of the reasons for this are bad
governance, corruption, debt burden, decline in Official Development
Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The above
predicament of the African peoples has forced African leaders to take a
new and critical look at the development scene of the continent. One of
the approaches suggested is that it is better to focus on a new
partnership with the industrialized countries based on enhanced trade and
economic partnership which promote foreign direct investment.
Hence,
the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) was suggested as a
way of pooling resources from the rich industrialized countries and the
African states themselves.2 Some have viewed NEPAD as a mini-Marshall
plan. Nevertheless, NEPAD is conceptually different from the old-Marshall
plan. This is so because the financial resources which will be generated
for it will come both from the rich countries and the African states
themselves.
The
initial total amount, which NEPAD aims to generate on an annual basis, is
USD 64 billion. But, as donors discreetly whisper to one another this is
considered far too high to generate under the current economic situation.
TOP
The
question that is frequently asked is: what is NEPAD? NEPAD is a holistic,
integrated sustainable development initiative for the economic and social
revival of Africa. 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
the African people to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both
individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and
development simultaneously. NEPAD aims to help Africa participate actively
in the world economy and body politic.3
NEPAD is also
anchored on the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the
continent from the pincer-grip of underdevelopment and exclusion in a
globalised world. It is predicated on a call for a new relationship of
‘constructive partnership‘ between Africa and the international community.
Its
ultimate aim is to narrow and eventually overcome the development gap
between the poor African states and the rich industrialized countries.
“The NEPAD
partnership is based on the realization of common interests, obligations,
commitments, and benefits”4
leading to equality.
NEPAD involves
obligations both from the rich and poor countries. It is premised on the
assumption that African states would make commitments to “good governance,
democracy and human rights.”5 At the same time African states are expected
to make concerted efforts to prevent and resolve situations of conflict
and instability on the continent. Further, they are expected to create
conditions conducive for “investment, growth and development in critical
sectors,”6 which are outlined in the NEPAD Programme of Action, whose
priority include: infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and ICT.
TOP
The New
Partnership for Africa’s Development was born on October 23, 2001, in
Abuja, Nigeria.5
The basic
document of NEPAD derives from an earlier document called “The New African
Initiative (NAI)”.
The NAI was a
result of a merger of two parent documents called The Millennium
Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) spearheaded by South
Africa's Thabo Mbeki, together with Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo and
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and the “Omega Plan",
which was the brainchild of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.6
The Omega
Plan, drawn up and heavily promoted by President Abdoulaye Wade, focuses
particularly on the need for huge infrastructural programmes in Africa
funded by Western capital.7
The
Implementation Committee of Heads of State, chaired by President Obasanjo
of Nigeria, adopted the revised NEPAD document (October 2001 edition) as
the original text “embodying the philosophy, priorities and implementation
modalities of the Initiative.”
8
TOP
As alluded to
earlier, NEPAD is a holistic, comprehensive and integrated strategic
framework for the socio-economic development of Africa. The NEPAD document
provides a vision for Africa, a statement of the problems facing the
continent and a Programme of Action to deal with these problems in order
to realize the vision.9
As noted earlier,
NEPAD has been described as a "Marshall Plan for Africa". It strives to
attract the level of investment and support poured into post-war Western
Europe. But its salient points are its emphasis on African ownership of
Africa's problems and solutions.
The
project commits African countries to set up and police standards of good
governance across the continent, to respect human rights and work for
peace and poverty reduction. In return for this, African governments
expect enhanced partnership through increased aid, private investment and
the reduction of trade barriers by the rich countries.
The primary
objective of NEPAD is to eradicate poverty in Africa and place the
continent on the road of sustainable development. It also aims to bring
Africa to the global market place.
10
TOP
The overarching
principles of NEPAD, inter alia, aim to:
-
promote
accelerated growth and sustainable development;
-
eradicate
widespread and severe poverty; and
-
halt the
marginalisation of Africa in the globalization process11
The issues raised
above can further be broken down into the themes taken up below:
-
strengthening
mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution at the
sub-regional and continental levels and ensuring that these mechanisms
are used to restore and maintain peace;
-
promoting and
protecting democracy and human rights in the individual countries and
the continent and developing clear standards of accountability,
transparency and participatory governance at the national and
sub-national levels;
-
restoring and
maintaining macroeconomic stability, especially by developing
appropriate standards and targets for fiscal and monetary policies;
introducing appropriate institutional frameworks to achieve the above;
-
instituting
legal and regulatory frameworks for financial markets and auditing of
private companies and the public sector;
-
revitalizing
and extending the provision of educational, technical training and
health services, with high priority given to tackling HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other communicable diseases;
-
promoting the
role of women in social and economic development by reinforcing their
capacity in the domains of education and training via the development of
revenue generating activities and the facilitation of access to credit
and by ensuring their participation in the political and economic life
of their societies;
-
building the
capacity of states in Africa to set and enforce the legal framework, as
well as maintain law and order;
-
promoting the
development of infrastructure, agriculture and diversifying it to
include agro-industries and manufacturing to serve both domestic and
export markets”; and
-
creating
conditions that make the African continent a preferred destination both
for domestic and foreign investors.12
TOP
Priority areas of NEPAD
The priority
areas of NEPAD, inter alia, include the following pivotal issues:
-
Peace and
Security - Conflict, Prevention, Management and resolution;
-
Political
Governance and Democracy;
-
Economic and
Corporate Governance including Banking and Financial Standards;
-
Human Resource
Development- Education and Health;
-
Regional
Infrastructure Development including Information and Communications
Technology (ICT), Energy, Transport, Water and Sanitation;
-
Regional
Cooperation and Integration;
-
Agriculture and
Environment;
-
Market
Access and Export Diversification; and
-
Enhancement
of Capital Flows.13
As a result of
its overarching vision, principles and its specified goals NEPAD is then
expected to lead to the following outcomes:
-
economic
growth and development and increased employment;
-
reduction of
poverty and inequality;
-
diversification
of productive activities, enhanced international competitiveness and
increased exports; and
-
accelerated
African economic and eventual political integration.14
While the
rationale for NEPAD briefly given above is valid and convincing, the
following important questions are raised in the context of discussions on
NEPAD:
1.
One
problem raised is the commitment of donors to allocate significant
resources outside international assistance (ODA) for which there are
budgetary provisions.
2. Another
problem is that NEPAD might compromise the ODA which has become an
integral part of the budgetary provision of many African states. Hence
some African leaders might be worried about lending their full support to
NEPAD on the grounds of fear that NEPAD might replace the regular
development aid.
3. Yet
another problem relates to the issue of generating matching financial
resources by the developing African countries themselves. This challenge
is formidable, as it would require generating more financial resources
through tax reforms and the structural renewal of the administration and
revenue collection of many African states. Tax reform in itself is likely
to be received with raised eyebrows as it will involve introducing new tax
levies. Besides, some governments might be reluctant to do this specially
as the level of existing taxation is high and the state of impoverishment
is intense. Hence, NEPAD has to be introduced programmatically and
popularized for its long term benefits. One powerful argument for this is
that tax in many developing African state is an evenly distributed. A
second valid argument is that NEPAD is hoped to extricate Africa gradually
from excessive dependence on development aid.
4.
A
fourth source of anxiety about NEPAD is that most Sub-Saharan African (SSA)
states are mono-cultural economies that are dependent on a few primary
products. Hence generating resources through enhanced export revenue might
initially be an uphill tax.
5. A fifth
issue has to do with the level of indebtedness in which most sub-Saharan
African states find themselves. The ratio of debt to GNP and export
revenue for most sub-Saharan African states is very alarming. Introducing
more taxes while servicing debts might therefore be burdensome for many
SSA states. In fact, it might amount to a double or triple burden. Hence
a debt moratorium might be a precondition for making NEPAD work. This
failing, a radical form of debt reduction along the lines of the HIPC
initiative, but on a march higher scale would be necessary.
Nevertheless,
while the above issues have yet to be addressed in the context of NEPAD,
it can also be an instrument and a context for some other pending issues.
For instance:
1.
NEPAD can make it possible to introduce ways and means of compensating
poor developing states for loss of revenue due to the new rules of WTO.
This is necessary because the removal of STABECS and SYSMEN from the Lome
Convection in the new Cotonue Agreement which is guided by WTO rules is
likely to have dire implications for most of the African, Pacific and
Caribbean (ACP) states in which SSA countries have a significant
representation.
2. Another
issue relates to the question of the absorptive capacity of the African
states of the new resources generated by NEPAD in a meaningful and
efficient way, which can make a difference to the lives of ordinary
Africans. This, naturally, also involves the issue of setting priorities
and mapping out appropriate strategies for the implementation process.
3. A
problem related to the above has also to do with the issue of expertise
required to expedite the implementation process. Some technical
assistance might be required for this. But there is also the question of
insuring that the technical assistance made available by the development
partners is not too expensive. The aim of this is to insure that the
financial resources generated by NEPAD do not flow back to the rich
countries making NEPAD less efficient in dealing with the acute problems
of Africa.15
Nonetheless
despite the above issues of anxiety, it is encouraging that NEPAD has some
promising features.
TOP
One of the most
positive features of NEPAD is that it is developed, managed and owned by
Africans. Furthermore it is:
-
a
comprehensive and integrated development plan that addresses key social,
economic and political priorities in a coherent and balanced manner;
-
a commitment
that African leaders have made to the people of Africa and the
international community to put Africa on a path of sustainable socio
economic development.
Besides, NEPAD
brings the concept of a new partnership (with mutual commitments,
obligations, interests, contributions and benefits) with the rest of the
world in order to accelerate the economic development of the continent.
NEPAD can also
assist in the democratization of Africa via the "peer review mechanism".
Furthermore, NEPAD is hoped to help Africa enter into commitments and
obligations for the good of itself.
As
noted above, NEPAD could also stimulate Africa to generate resources
domestically by broadening the tax base.
Moreover, NEPAD
could be used to improve articulation among economic sectors within
countries and among members of the same economic bloc and Africa as a
whole.
The above can
result in enhanced mobility of people and goods and services among African
states. Further, NEPAD can be a vehicle for enhanced economic relations
through the improvement of terms of trade.
NEPAD can also
serve as an instrument for creating global constituencies of solidarity
which, in turn, can induce populations in the rich countries to see the
lop-sided and uneven nature of the current global economic relationship.16
TOP
Criticism of NEPAD
Heretofore, we
have looked at the weak and strong points of NEPAD. Clearly, the positive
points of NEPAD outweigh the points of anxiety. But, even the issues of
anxiety have raised issues of concern without being necessarily negative.
Nevertheless, NEPAD is not without its critics. Some of the criticisms
are legitimate and redeemable while others might arise because of fear of
the unknown. A list of issues on which NEPAD has been openly questioned
is given below:
·
The NEPAD
initiative was rushed and not participatory, giving the impression that
the drivers of the initiative seemed interested in getting the support of
the G8 and the International financial institutions rather than ensuring
an African ownership of the initiative;
· The NEPAD document should have been drawn through a transparent, wider and
participatory process;
· NEPAD proposes to continue using the old neo-liberal models of development
and economic policy framework which entail aspects of structural
adjustment policy packages that have failed Africa for long;
· The NEPAD plan does nothing to challenge the economic dominance of the
northern hemisphere, as it allegedly accepts the prescriptions of the
World Bank and IMF;
·
NEPAD will be
unable to honor its own commitments on good governance and human rights;
· The peer review mechanism will not be effective given the reluctance of
the AU and African leaders to criticize and ostracize one another; and
· NEPAD did not conduct sufficient consultations with the privet sector,
trade unions and civil society organizations during the drawing up of the
initiative.
17
Consultation with
the African private sector would have particularly been of great value as
this sector would have lent impetus to the efforts of NEPAD.
 
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