New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)

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NEPAD Secretariat
Half Way House
P.O. Box 1234
Midrand, 1685, South Africa

Tel: 27 11313 3893
Cell: 27 835636248 Fax: 27112063893

Website: http://www.nepad.org

Estherine Lisinge, Environment Advisor, estherinef@nepad.org

Description

Founded in 2001, NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), is an initiative of the African Heads of State and Government (HSG) based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development, including poverty eradication and at the same time participate actively in the world economy and body politic. To achieve its objectives, NEPAD designed a multi-faceted program of action consisting of a vision, a perspective and outlines of a plan for the redevelopment of Africa. It clarifies the objectives and approach to development projects being appraised, further developed and negotiated between partners in Africa and the rest of the world. These objectives and ideas have been modified from time to time to accommodate the new situation as it develops.

The priority areas of the program of action include:

• Creating peace, security and stability, including democratic governance, without which it is impossible to engage in meaningful economic activity
  
• Investing in Africa’s people through a comprehensive human resource strategy
  
• Harnessing and developing Africa’s strategic and comparative advantages in the resource based sectors to lead the development of an industrial strategy
  
• The diversification of Africa’s production and exports
  
• Increasing investments in the information and communication technology sector to bridge the digital divide
  
• The development of infrastructure including transport and energy
  
• Developing financing mechanisms.

Japan-JICA is funding 38 projects in infrastructure covering water, transport, energy & ICT and India’s US$200 million credit line, secured through the NEPAD process, is being accessed by African countries. A credit line of US$18 million has been extended to the Government of Senegal for the purchase of 350 TATA buses. Similarly a credit line of US$40 million has been extended to the Government of Angola for rehabilitation of the Moçamedes Railway. Negotiations are at an advanced stage for extending a US$27.70 million line of credit to the Governments of Mali and Senegal for the acquisition of railway coaches and locomotives from India. The World Bank / GEF have allocated a grant for investment in sustainable land management over the next 4 years to African countries. The sum of US$700,000 grant has already been approved to allow the NEPAD Secretariat and FAO work with African countries and identify activities under the 4-year program. The NEPAD Secretariat has received seed funding from the World Bank amounting to US$348,000 to develop a tracking system that will monitor the commitment of African countries in allocating 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture within a period of 5 years.

Track Record

Having been in existence only since 2001, it is not entirely possible to quantify NEPAD’s progress since transforming a continent is a long-term process that cannot be achieved in just four years. Transformation processes can take decades or even generations. In the case of Africa this is an even more complex task, given that it is a continent of countries that have to be transformed. The following can be cited as some of the achievements of NEPAD.

Leadership: NEPAD has installed in African leaders, a sense of ownership of the continent’s socio-economic renewal agenda and zeal to transform the continent. NEPAD’s policies, priorities and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) are now an approved framework for Africa’s development nationally, regionally and internationally.

Programs: NEPAD has began rolling out several programs while preparations and consultations for others such as the Comprehensive Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) have been concluded. Development partners and multilateral institutions such as the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have been mobilized to provide significant support to the CAADP.

The regional communities and national governments have identified high priority projects and early actions. Governments have also committed themselves to increasing national budget allocations for agriculture to 10 percent per annum over the next five years.

The NEPAD ‘Fight Against AIDS’ plan provides an overarching strategy to address HIV and AIDS and mitigate its impact on the continent. It is incorporated into all NEPAD programs. As a result, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the 3 x 5 AIDS Treatment Strategy have emerged among others.

Science and technology: NEPAD has established centers of excellence to augment science and technology. The International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi hosts one of the NEPAD centers of excellence in biosciences. Other hubs are being established at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa to specialize in health . The National Agricultural Organization in Egypt will specialize on the linkage between health and agriculture. Senegal is expected to host a hub for West Africa. NEPAD is in the process of identifying centers of excellence for water science and technology in cooperation with UNESCO alongside the governments of Canada and France.

At a generic level, a civil society desk has been established at the NEPAD Secretariat to provide a one-stop focal point for civil society. At a sector level, all programs are being implemented in consultation with relevant civil society groups. For example, civil society participation is an integral part of the African peer review process. However, the level and extent of civil society participation in the implementation of NEPAD programs is largely dependent on the capacity of civil society groups. All Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are now working with the NEPAD Secretariat and other partners, such as the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), to develop a program addressing the capacity constraints of the RECs identified over the past three years.

Environment: In recognition of the environment as key to attaining sustainable development, an initial 10-year plan was developed to address the region’s environmental challenges through a consultative and participatory process under the leadership of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in cooperation with the NEPAD secretariat, the African Union and other players including African researchers, intellectuals, practitioners and research institutions.

The process was supported by UNEP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Funding has been secured for the appointment of experts in each REC. RECs have began developing sub-regional Environment Action Plans based on the framework of the NEPAD Environment Action Plan. The key partners in this program include the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The African Stockpiles Program (ASP), which seeks the removal of obsolete pesticides and associated chemicals in Africa, is also being rolled out.

The NEPAD Environment Action Plan has identified poverty and environment; forests; health and environment; wetlands; marine and coastal environment; climate change and invasive species as significant issues that require focus.

NEPAD has identified sub-regional organizations such as CILSS and ECOWAS for West Africa; the Arab Maghreb Union for the Maghreb countries in North Africa; IGAD for the Horn of Africa; ECCAS for Central Africa and SADC for Southern Africa to coordinate action programs and centers of excellence based on core competences in thematic issues as implementing agencies. These issues include: a) Integrated management of water resources: SADC secretariat (Directorate of Infrastructure); b) Sustainable land use (agro-forestry and soil conservation); the Institute of the Sahel/ the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel (INSAH/CILSS); c) Rational use of rangelands and development of fodder crops: (Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources of AU, Nairobi); d) Ecological monitoring, natural resources mapping, remote sensing and early warning systems: African Organization for Mapping and Remote Sensing, Algiers); e) Promotion of new and renewable energy sources: National Agency for Renewable Energy of Tunisia and Environment Development Action in the Third World (ENDA, Dakar); f) Development of sustainable agriculture: AU/Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (SAFGRAD), Ouagadougou).

Challenges

The main challenge for NEPAD in relation to the environment is how to successfully implement the environment action plan and address the following issues; combating land degradation, drought and desertification, conserving Africa’s Wetlands, prevention, control and management of invasive alien species, conservation and sustainable use of marine, coastal and freshwater resources, combating climate change in Africa and trans-boundary conservation or management of natural resources. These are detailed under the NEPAD Action Plan for Environment Initiative and diverse programs and activities on implementation identified. The Action Plan outlines collective and individual responsibilities and actions of African countries to ensure sustainable use of natural resources through partnerships with the international community in recognition of the commitments of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

NEPAD faces the challenge of mobilizing resources at the international, regional, sub-regional, national and local levels to implement the Action Plan. But this challenge also presents opportunity for others to develop joint activities that create synergies between NEPAD and sub-regional treaty-based organizations, NGOs and research institutions. Opportunity also exists for creation of an environmental watch organization on implementation of NEPAD’s initiatives; creation of a long term ecological monitoring network upon NEPAD’s recommendation; and, the need to popularize the Action Plan on Environment in all sectors of government(s) especially line ministries, wider civil society, institutions and other partners.

Other challenges include the need to strengthen and sustain progressive political leadership. In addition, a need to build the capacity of African institutions—national Governments, RECs and the AU to take advantage of improved access to resources and enhance delivery of social services to meet the MDGs. Further, there is need to address the continent’s health crisis and human resources issue by strengthening the health systems delivery and mitigate migration of health professionals.

Another challenge is that of ensuring that additional contributions to the International Development Association and the African Development Fund are directed to infrastructure taking into account the need for active engagement by African governments and RECs to effect change. In addition, NEPAD faces the challenge of strengthening the private sector and attracting more foreign direct investment without ignoring the development of domestic debt and equity markets. This requires accelerated policy and regulatory reforms as well as greater support to small and medium enterprises. The NEPAD Business Group should lead the process while the NEPAD Secretariat must be strengthened in this regard. Speeding up the implementation of the APRM is equally a challenge which in part includes convertig the promises of the highly industrialized countries into concrete actions such as increasing development assistance, harmonizing and simplifying aid procedures and phasing out trade distorting agricultural subsidies.

Finally, there is need to address impediments to the effectiveness of development assistance in particular, the broad consensus, including within the OECD and its Development Assistance Committee, that the effectiveness of development assistance has been compromised by the perception that Africa lacks the capacity to absorb and effectively use increased funding. At the heart of the problem is the fact that funding has often been done piecemeal by individual donors for short-term single programs that carry heavy transaction costs and often require parallel infrastructure to be set up. But Africa must, in turn, commit itself not to divert its own resources out of sectors that receive increased development assistance, accelerating growth, conflict avoidance and peace building, governance and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, fine tuning the development paradigm (the role of Public-Private Partnerships) and strengthening delivery by regional institutions.

Opportunities

The major opportunity derived from the challenges outlined above is the holistic approach in implementing the NEPAD program. The implementation of the Action Plan for Environment presents opportunity for NEPAD and its cooperation partners (multilateral, bilateral and foundations) for concerted efforts and wide participation. Enormous prospects exist for many organizations and individuals to join in implementing the plan.

Lastly, opportunity exists to create a conducive environment to implement identified measures through capacity-building; technology transfer; public awareness; political support; incentive measures and integration of adaptation into national development plans and policies; and, the implementation of identified measures is vital.