AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM AT GLANCE

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LESSONS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APRM
NATIONAL PROGRAMMES OF ACTION Afeikhena
Jerome Governance Assessment for Accountable
Politics Windhoek, Namibia 2 to 5 November 2009

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Overview of the APRM

• Africa entered the new millennium with optimism
  and a commonly derived and broadly supported
  roadmap of how to overcome the development
  challenges of the last decades that were
  exacerbated by a range of factors including
  conflict, institutional decay, leadership and
  managerial deficit, endemic corruption and
  economic mismanagement.
• The Africas agenda for renewal and overcoming
  these development deficits includes advancing the
  basic values of democratization and good
  governance, which together constitute the key
  requirements for sustainable development.
• The APRM which is turning out to be the most
  innovative aspect of NEPAD is a self-monitoring
  instrument voluntarily agreed to by member states
  of the African Union.

Overview
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Overview of the APRM

• Its primary purpose is
• To foster the adoption of policies, standards
  and practices that lead to political stability,
  high economic growth, sustainable development and
  accelerated sub-regional and continental economic
  integration through sharing of experiences and
  reinforcement of successful and best practice,
  including identifying deficiencies and assessing
  the needs of capacity building.
• It is unprecedented in scope and mandate, even
  compared to the OECD that invented modern Peer
  Review. It covers four broad areas, namely
• Democracy and Political Governance
• Economic Governance and Management
• Corporate Governance and
• Socio-Economic Development.

Overview
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APRM Principles

• National ownership and leadership by the
  participating country are essential factors
  underpinning the APRM process.
• It is designed to be open and participatory. The
  core guiding principles are transparency,
  accountability, technical competence, credibility
  and it should be free from manipulation.
• The APRM is not a score-card exercise, meant to
  exclude or punish countries. There is no
  conditionality attached to the mechanism.

Overview
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African Countries Participating in NEPAD and the
APRM

• HSGIC
  APR Forum

Burkina Faso Benin Djibouti Lesotho Malawi Sierra
Leone Sudan Tanzania Uganda Zambia
Algeria Angola Republic of Cameroon Congo Egypt Et
hiopia Ghana Gabon Kenya
Mali Mauritius Nigeria Mozambique Rwanda Sao Tome
Principe Senegal South Africa
Tunisia Libya Botswana
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The APR Processes

• Stage One comprises the establishment of the
  national focal point sending out of the
  questionnaire by the APR Secretariat the
  development of the countrys self assessment
  based on the questionnaire and preliminary
  Programme of Action and the submission of these
  to the APR Secretariat. At this stage the
  Secretariat also prepares a Background Paper on
  the Country for comparison with the self
  assessment.
• Stage Two the country review team visits the
  country to undertake wide consultations with
  stakeholders.
• Stage Three is the drafting of the report by the
  country review team.
• Stage Four is the submission of the Country
  Review Teams report to the APR Secretariat and
  the APR Panel and Review by the Forum
• Stage Five which is the final stage of the APR
  process involves making public the countrys
  report and related actions.

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Stages of the APRM
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Operational Structure of the APRM

• The overall responsibility of the APRM is vested
  in the Committee of Participating Heads of State
  and Government of the Member States of the APRM
  (APRM Forum.
• A Panel of Eminent Persons APRM Panel appointed
  by the Heads of States oversees the conduct of
  the APRM process and ensures its integrity.
• The APR Secretariat provides the secretarial,
  technical, coordinating and administrative
  support services for the APRM.

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Structures of the APRM
APR Forum
National APRM Commission
National APRM Focal Point
APR Panel
TRIs
APR Secretariat
National APRM Secretariat
Strategic Partner Institutions

• Country Level

Continental Level
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Structures to manage the process at country level

• A National Commission with broad stakeholder
  representation should ideally be in place to
  interact with the support mission team.
• A trend seems to emerge that includes a Focal
  Point and Governing Council supported by a
  Secretariat as well as Technical Research
  Institutes.
• While uniformity may not be easy to achieve
  based on the contexts of countries, national
  ownership and broad-based stakeholder
  representation are key features required for
  these institutions.

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APRM Master Questionnaire
Democracy and Good Political Governance (9 Objectives) Economic Governance and Management (5 Objectives) Corporate Governance (5 Objectives) Socio-Economic Governance (6 Objectives)
30 International instruments and Standards/ 16 Regional instruments and Standards 15 Standards and codes 9 Standards and codes 10 Standards and codes
1. Prevent and reduce intra- and inter-country conflicts. 1. Promote macroeconomic policies that support sustainable development 1. Promote an enabling environment and effective regulatory framework for economic activities 1. Promote self-reliance in development and build capacity for self-sustaining development
2. Constitutional democracy, including periodic political competition and opportunity for choice, the rule of law, a Bill of Rights and supremacy of the Constitution. 2. Implement sound, transparent and predictable government economic policies 2. Ensure that corporations act as good corporate citizens with regards to human rights, social responsibility and environmental sustainability 2. Accelerate socio-economic development to achieve sustainable development and poverty eradication
3. Promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights, civil and political rights as enshrined in African and international human rights instruments 3. Promote sound public finance management 3. Promote adoption of codes of good business ethics in achieving the objectives of the corporation 3. Strengthen policies, delivery mechanisms and outcomes in key social areas including education and combating HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases
4. Uphold the separation of powers, including the protection of the independence of the judiciary and of an effective parliament 4. Fight corruption and money laundering 4. Ensure that corporations treat all their stakeholders (Shareholders, employees, communities, suppliers and customers) in a fair and just manner 4. Ensuring affordable access to water, sanitation, energy, finance (including micro-finance), markets, ICT, shelter and land to all citizens, especially the rural poor
5. Ensure accountable, efficient and effective public office holders and civil servants 5. Accelerate regional integration by participating in the harmonization of monetary, trade and investment policies 5. Provide for accountability of corporations, directors and officers 5. Progress towards gender equality in all critical areas of concern, including equal access to education for girls at all levels
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APRM Master Questionnaire
Democracy and Good Political Governance Economic Governance and Management Corporate Governance Socio-Economic Governance
6. Fighting corruption in the political sphere 6. Encourage broad-based participation in development by all stakeholders at all levels
7. Promotion and protection of the rights of women
8. Promotion and protection of the rights of children and young persons
9. Promotion and protection of the rights of vulnerable groups including internally displaced persons and refugees
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Status of Implementation of the APRM thus Far
Cape Verdes accession in June 2009 brings to 30
the total number of AU member countries that have
so far acceded. Mauritania was suspension on 25
October 2008 for the unconstitutional change of
government following the 6 August 2008 coup that
ousted its democratically elected President This
represents about 76 per cent of the African
population. We look forward to the 23 other
African countries joining the fold.


Green Reviewed Countries Orange Other
Participating Member Countries Grey
Non-Participating Countries Red- Suspended
Countries
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APRM Member Countries by Region
Region Countries
Central Africa (5) Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and São Tomé and Principe
East Africa (5) Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
North Africa (3) Algeria, Egypt, Sudan
Southern Africa (7) Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,South Africa, Zambia
West Africa (9)10 Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Cape Verde
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STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION

• So far, 17 out of the 30 member countries have
  launched the process.
• Twelve countries have been peer reviewed by the
  APR Forum. (Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa,
  Algeria, Benin, Uganda, Nigeria and Burkina Faso,
  Mali and Mozambique and Lesotho)
• Mauritius and Ethiopia has just completed their
  Country Review Missions. Kenya II is scheduled
  for November 2009.
• Tanzania has submitted its CSAR and NPOA to the
  Secretariat. Zambia is also slated on the Work
  Plan for Peer Review this year.

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APRM Country Review Missions
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APRM Country Review Missions
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Examples from the Pioneer Countries- Ghana

• 6 Best Practices including
• An oasis of peace and tranquility in a sub-region
  perpetually in turmoil.
• Unique processes for fostering democracy such as
  the Annual Governance Forum and the Peoples
  Assembly
• Main Challenges
• Low representation of women in politics
  corruption decentralisation and chieftaincy
  disputes which have been quite rife in recent
  year.
• Others are bloated cabinet - 88 ministers in
  all weak internal capacity for economic policy
  making weak oversight by Parliament and heavy
  dependence on external aid.

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Rwanda Review Process

Best Practices including The highest proportion
of Women in Parliament (49) in the in the world
efforts in providing social services especially
free education and using ICT strategy to
transform the country into a service-based
economy. Main Challenges Aid dependence - about
90 of the capital expenditure funded externally
Relations with its neighbours in the Great Lakes
region which has been a source of conflict and
the issue of legitimacy and trust in the
Gacaca.
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Kenya Review Process

• 9 Best Practices including
• Kenyas role in pacifying her neighbours
  considerable degree of freedom in exercising
  political and civil rights promotion of
  decentralisation reduction in the prevalence
  rate of HIV/AIDS and firing of 29 judges to
  clean up the Judiciary.
• Main Challenges
• Delay in adopting a new constitution to replace
  the colonial era charter inability to redress
  the colonial legacies ethnicity endemic
  corruption weak parliamentary oversight poor
  representation of women in key positions and
  high incidence of poverty.

Overview Progress So Far Lessons
Learnt Challenges
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South Africa Review Process

• In addition to some remarkable feats by South
  Africans, the report identified 18 Best Practices
  including
• Taking the parliament to the people the budget
  formulation process, self-reliance in funding
  development the JSE and triple bottom reporting
  and gender empowerment (Women constitute about 45
  of Parliament).
• Main Challenges
• Violent crime, violence against women and
  children capacity constraint and poor service
  delivery Racism and Xenophobia.

Overview Progress So Far Lessons
Learnt Challenges
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The National Programme of Action

• A major deliverable of the Review Process is the
  NPOA
• Real progress can only be guaranteed if NPOAs
  are implemented hence for the first time, Forum
  meeting in January 2009 was dedicated to progress
  in implementing NPOA .

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The National Programme of Action

• Inter alia, the POA is expected to present among
  others
• Clear, time-bound commitments on key governance
  and socio-economic development priorities over
  the next three 3 years, including the
  identification of key stakeholders for
  implementation, and the estimated budgetary
  implications and allocations
• Description of the national consultations that
  have taken place in developing the National
  Programme of Action
• Outline the feedback mechanism established to
  keep local stakeholders involved in the process
• Description of the capacity building and resource
  mobilization requirements for undertaking the
  Programme of Action and,
• Outline the implementation, monitoring and
  evaluation mechanisms for the Programme of
  Action.

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Budget of the NPOA in Reviewed Countries
Democracy and Political Governance Economic Governance and Management Corporate Governance Socio-Economic Development Total USD
Ghana 118,982,083 (2.4) 235,305,000 (4.7) 2,684,361,693 (54.7) 1,867,150,000 (37.3) 5,000,000,000
Rwanda 2,235,000 (1.4) 20,484,000 (13) 107,750,000 (67) 31,269,000 (19) 161,738,000
Kenya 8,829,000 (0.2) 45,772,000 (0.8) 4,946,658,000 (91.8. ) 387,145,000 (7.2) 5,388,404,000
South Africa R1.003 billion (7.2) R1.5335 billion (11.0) R 0.204 billion (1.5) R 11.161 billion (83.5) R13.9015 billion
Algeria 2,378,000,000 (40.5) 936,000,000 (16.0) 751,000,000 (12.8) 1,800000,000 (30.7) 5,865,000,000
Benin 586,370,000 (24.8) 7,340,000 (0.3) 1,004,260,000 (42.6) 758,120,000 (32.2) 2,356,090,000
Uganda 101,930,205 (2.1) 388,506,686 (8.0) 324,369,895 (6.7) 4,035,295,788 (83.1) 4,857,102, 574
Nigeria 5 billion (40) 4 billion (25) 3 billion (20) 8 billion (15) 20 billion
Burkina Faso 413,705,000 (10.5) 160,060,000 (3.3) 2,750,390,000 (56.0) 1,583,060,000 (32.3) 4,907,215,000
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Experience in implementing the NPOAs

• Demonstrable commitment by all countries that
  have gone through the review process. They are
  enthusiastically implementing the NPOA, in spite
  of several formidable challenges, some even
  before they were peer reviewed
• There are daunting challenges, including the
  establishment of appropriate national structures
  to monitor the NPOA, proper costing and ensuring
  that it is not a wish list (need for
  prioritization). No format until recently.
• Capturing key findings and conclusions of the
  peer review processes (overarching issues)
• Overlap between the NPOAs and other national
  initiatives sometimes, resulting in double
  costing of interventions. While NPOAs are not
  designed to be a substitute to other ongoing
  national initiatives such as the PRSPs or
  National Development Strategies (NDS), the
  comparative value added must be captured and
  disseminated.

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Key Challenges

• Rrequisite institutional mechanism are lacking
  in some countries to take forward the post-review
  process, since the Governing Council was
  disbanded immediately after the peer review
  exercise. In others, key stakeholders are not
  kept informed about the APRM process after the
  review process
• The monitoring and evaluation component needs a
  lot of development. (Country specific) and,
• Perhaps the major challenge is the capacity and
  resource gaps which are pervasive and there is
  need for additional resources to support the
  implementation of the NPOA.

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CONCLUSION

Key Lessons The APRM is a unique African
instrument that is trial-blazing and has great
potential as a tool to promote and strengthen
good governance. It is African in origin, African
inspired and African-owned. The experiences
from the APRM implementation process are very
encouraging. The process has been empowering in
ways that were not envisaged when it started. It
has spawned and strengthening a culture of
political dialogue in the countries .
Conclusion
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Conclusion

• The APRM is making it possible for countries to
  benchmark good governance in Africa on shared
  African and international norms and standards as
  well as for citizens to participate in the
  evaluation of how they are governed.
• It is show-casing African innovative thinking in
  governance.
• An area where the rest of the world can learn
  useful lessons from Africa.

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