Africa's Decade of Change - Reflections on 10 years of NEPAD

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), we express profound gratitude to African leaders, governments, stakeholders and partners for the critical role they have played in ensuring the continued relevance of Africa’s flagship development program.

2012 signals the beginning of the second decade of NEPAD. Its 10th anniversary presents an op­portunity to celebrate NEPAD’s successes and reflect on both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. After a decade of charting its own path to development under NEPAD, Africa is experienc­ing a rebirth and renaissance, as well as optimism and inspiration as a result of the steady growth that is unfolding on the continent.

After nearly two decades of failed structural adjustment programmes, NEPAD was founded in 2001 as a response to Africa’s economic marginalization and need for national strategic development capacity. NEPAD has since matured into the development program of the African Union, providing strategic thinking and linking programme design and implementation to building implementation capacity at all levels. It is premised on moving from the old development model to a new paradigm based on ownership, leadership and partnership for the achievement of development goals.

The key dimensions of NEPAD are two-fold – Accountability and Regional Integration. First, the program is based on Africans taking the lead in efforts to achieve the development vision espoused in the AU Constitutive Act and the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals, rather than exclusively relying on foreign aid. Second, special focus is accorded to regional integration as a sine qua non for Africa’s inclusive growth and development. Various achievements over the last ten years have shown that Africans can successfully address and overcome their own development challenges. NEPAD’s track record shows that it can consolidate and build upon these successes in the decades ahead. African leaders, private sector, civil society, media, academia and development partners recognize that NEPAD is on track and have all contributed to its success. We count on their continued commitment to crown this journey with success.

In its first decade, NEPAD formulated a number of continental policy frameworks, including the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Plan (CAADP), the Short Term Action Plan (STAP) for infrastructure and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), the Consoli­dated Plan of Action in Science and Technology, the Environment Action Plan (EAP) and the Capac­ity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF), all of which are being implemented at national and regional levels. Africa has also made significant advances in promoting good governance under the umbrella of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which was established as part of the NE­PAD strategy. NEPAD’s sectoral priorities laid a foundation for the transformation agenda enshrined in NEPAD and adopted by African Heads of State and Government in 2001.

Today, Africa is “moving beyond aid” to achieve self-sustaining, private sector-led inclusive growth and development. Internally generated revenue, for example, improved from US$141 billion in 2002 to US$520 billion in 2011. Overall, domestic revenue represented 84 per cent of total financing sources for Africa in 2009. Across the continent, the frontiers of development are being re-defined by new opportunities, emerging actors and creative relationships through which Africa is embracing new orientations and innovations.

A key objective of NEPAD is the paradigm shift from aid to development effectiveness. This shift gives due recognition to the inter-linkages between South-South cooperation, financing for develop­ment and capacity development. Equally important is the empowerment of women and developing the potential and capacity of Africa’s youth. The AU and its NEPAD program remain vital to all of these objectives.

Following its integration into the AU structures and processes, NEPAD is poised to facilitate the implementation of regional and continental programs and projects in close collaboration with the AU Commission and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). NEPAD will continue to focus primarily on the priority sectors identified at its inception, particularly agriculture and food security, infrastructure, as well as human development.

African countries and their development partners, particularly the United Nations, continue to ac­tively support the AU and its NEPAD programme. The UN’s continued system-wide support shows that its belief in NEPAD’s contributions to sustaining the continent’s socio-economic development remains as strong as ever. Support from other development partners has also been of critical impor­tance. It is our hope that the next decade will witness greater collaboration and enhanced partner­ship for accelerating NEPAD’s implementation, including through a forward-looking strategies for the Post-2015 United Nations Development Agenda.

As a reflection of the strength of Africa’s shared development vision, the African Union recently and successfully formulated comprehensive common positions for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (Busan, Korea) and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), emphasizing core NEPAD priorities. These united positions contributed significantly to the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation and Rio+20 Outcome that address the sustain­able development challenges facing the continent and acknowledges the particular importance of Africa in the development agenda. As the international community works to develop the Post-2015 Development Agenda and implement the Busan Global Partnership and Rio+20 Outcome, NEPAD priorities provide the solid platform for a new, dynamic development agenda that incorporates Af­rica’s development needs.

This publication is a reflective commemoration of NEPAD and a look ahead at what is to come, both for NEPAD and the continent at large. The next decade of development in Africa must be driven by renewed efforts towards increasing ownership and maximizing Africa’s own internal potential, re­sources and talents for the continent’s development. Many challenges and opportunities lie ahead. Africa will only succeed if it continues on its path of comprehensive political and socio-economic reforms, hinged on the core values of strong African ownership, leadership and value-driven part­nership.