BRIEFING PAPER ON THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM)

Africa is currently engaged in a process of deep and fundamental reform and transformation, as illustrated by the formation of the African Union (AU) and the establishment of its socio-economic development programme, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

The Constitutive Act of the African Union sets out the core values and principles that the continent is committed to following. NEPAD seeks to implement these values and principles in a concrete manner and, in this regard, has identified good governance as one of the conditions for sustainable development and growth. In order to promote good governance and the attainment of peace and stability, the APRM has been developed under NEPAD.

The primary purpose of the APRM 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 peer learning, the sharing of experiences and the reinforcement of successful and best practice, as well as the identification of deficiencies and an assessment of needs for capacity building. It has never been intended and will not be used as a sanctioning mechanism.

Participation in the APRM is voluntary and open to all members of the AU. It is envisaged that participation in the APRM will expedite social, economic and political reforms, consolidate democracy and sound economic management, enhance transparency and the accountability of leaders and deepen trust and cooperation among governments and countries and between leaders and their people.

Arrangements for operationalising the APRM were completed in 2003, including the determination of criteria, standards and indicators and the modalities for operationalising the process. The NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) gave its final approval of the APRM documents on 9 March 2003 and these were presented to the AU Summit in Maputo in July 2003.

The core documents constituting the APRM are the following:

(a) The APRM base document presented to the AU Summit in South Africa in July 2002;
(b) The Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance endorsed at the same Summit;
(c) APRM Organisation and Processes;
(d) Objectives, Standards, Criteria and Indicators for the APRM;
(e) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for accession to the APRM; and
(f) Outline of the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Assessments and the Country Review Visit.

The APRM is composed of a number of parts. At the apex is the APR Forum of participating Heads of State, ie the peers. The Forum is responsible for considering the final country reports and making recommendations in this regard. Then there is the APR Panel of Eminent Persons consisting of independent and illustrious Africans recognised as experts in a number of fields of importance to the APRM process. An initial list of six persons to serve on the Panel was announced by the HSGIC at their meeting of 28 May 2003. A seventh member was then added at a later date. The Panel is responsible for the quality of the process and for securing the independence, objectivity, integrity and effectiveness of the APRM.

The names of the six initial Panel members are Professor Adebayo Adedeji (Nigeria), Dr Graca Machel (Mozambique), Ms Dorothy Njeuma (Cameroon), Dr Chris Stals (South Africa), Ms Marie-Angelique Savane (Senegal), and Mr Bethuel Kiplagat (Kenya). Mr Mourad Medelci of Algeria is the seventh member.

In support of the APRM process is the APR Secretariat, which is situated in South Africa. The Secretariat is responsible for supporting the Panel and the Forum and for coordinating preparations for country reviews. The information gathering work and technical assessments will be done by APR Country Review Teams. These will be constituted from a number of partner organisations, including the AU, the ADB, the ECA, and a pool of experts.

Twenty-four countries have signed up to the APRM to date and the AU Summits in Maputo and Addis Ababa in 2003 and 2004 called on all AU member states to sign the Memorandum of Understanding to join the APRM process. Two further countries have signalled their intention to join in the near future and it is expected that others will join once the initial reviews are finalised and discussed.

It is noteworthy that roughly fifty percent of the membership of the AU has joined in a relatively short space of time, as this is a revolutionary and unique process exposing countries to a comprehensive, in-depth and public review process. This clearly signals the new commitment that has emerged over the last few years in the AU to democracy, good governance, accountability and transparency.

The inaugural meeting of the APR Forum was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 13 February 2004. At this meeting. President Obasanjo of Nigeria was elected as Chairperson of the Forum and Mde Savane of Senegal was confirmed as Chair of the Panel of Eminent Persons. The Forum accepted three documents presented by the Panel, namely the Rules of Procedure of the Panel, the Work Programme and Budget, and a list of partner institutions. The first set of reviews was decided upon, namely Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Mauritius. South Africa is eighth on the list of countries to be reviewed and will be reviewed during 2005.

In preparation for this, the South African Cabinet has finalised a national review process, has designated the Department of Public Service and Administration as the national focal point and has appointed the DG in The Presidency as the national contact point. A national Chapter of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the AU has been established, comprising the twelve sectors of civil society and the private sector identified by the AU. This body provides a point of engagement with civil society and business for the APRM process, along with NEDLAC. A formal APRM national Council is also being established.

The first set of four reviews are currently being finalised and the reports on at least Ghana and Rwanda will be discussed at the Third meeting of the APR Forum on 19 June 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria. Seven more states have signalled a readiness to begin the review process, with Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Mali at the forefront of the next group. Country support visits to initiate the review process in Uganda and Nigeria have recently been concluded.

In terms of securing African ownership of the process, the First Forum in Kigali agreed that the core budget of the APRM needed to be funded by participating states. Many of them have now paid at least the minimum expected of $100 000 per country, some more, to finance the APRM process and the budget has been secured until the end of 2006. In terms of other costs, particularly at the in-country preparation level, an APRM Trust Fund has been established in partnership with the UNDP.

A guidelines document and questionnaire has been sent to all the participating states to assist them to start the process of internal evaluation and preparation ahead of a visit by a technical assessment team. This constitutes the start of the five-phase review process.

The review process includes engagement with all stakeholders in a country, ie government, opposition parties. Parliament, business and civil society, and the outcomes of the reviews will be made public at the conclusion of the review process. The process of engaging key stakeholders will begin an exchange of information on good governance, and thereby demystify policy-making processes and build trust among all stakeholders in the pursuit of national development goals.

Reviews will be anchored on technical assessments conducted by independent professional organisations and individuals with the necessary expertise.

Capacity building is critical for African countries to be able to implement their development strategies. Capacity building includes institutional, human and financial capacity.

In Paragraph 23 of the NEPAD base document the following is stated - "Today the weak state remains a major constraint to sustainable development in a number of countries. Indeed one of Africa's major challenges is to strengthen the capacity to govern and to develop long-term policies. At the same time, there is also the urgent need to implement far reaching reforms and programmes in many African countries".

Experience throughout the world shows that one of the important determinants of economic success is a capable state that is effective in creating and sustaining conducive conditions for economic growth and development. Therefore, one of the top priorities in initiating the renewal of Africa is to ensure that every country has an effective government that is capable of discharging its duties and responsibilities. That is why the APRM process will focus on accelerating the reform and transformation of public service institutions and increasing their effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. It is also the reason why, apart from political, economic and corporate governance, the review process will also examine aspects of socio-economic delivery and performance.

Various generic action plans have been developed under NEPAD, for example on infrastructure, ICT, agriculture, health and education. These now have to be implemented at the country and sub-regional level. This process requires capacity for such tasks as project preparation and the operationalisation of projects.

The APRM, amongst other things, can serve to identify specific capacity deficiencies that are impeding a state's ability to meet its commitments. The necessary support can then be mobilised to assist a state to overcome these identified constraints to implementation. International partners should be urged, therefore, to consider providing support where such needs and deficiencies are identified and in terms of the Programme of Action drafted by a country during the APRM process to map out the way forward in achieving its commitments and obligations.

The overarching goal of the APRM is for all participating countries to accelerate their progress towards adopting and implementing the priorities and programmes of NEPAD, achieving the mutually agreed objectives and compliance with best practice in respect of each of the areas of governance and development. This can only be achieved through the sustained efforts of the country itself. It requires that each country carefully develop a Programme of Action, with time bound objectives, that is linked to the national budget. This will serve to guide all stakeholders in the actions required by them to achieve the country's vision and commitments.

The effectiveness of the APRM will inevitably depend on the level of commitment by the individual participating countries. Each of the countries that have acceded to the APRM must see this as an opportunity. They will have to take ownership of their national process, and ask themselves: What can we do to get the most out of this process? How can the APRM assist us in overcoming our country-specific bottlenecks? And, how can we best include all key stakeholders to allow the process to be truly inclusive?

Luckily, many of the countries participating in the APRM have had some experience with poverty reduction strategies, like the PRSPs, Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks [MTEF], public finance management, and other areas of governance reforms. By sharing these experiences and by building capacity amongst themselves, they can enhance the awareness and acceptance of their common destiny and become partners in Africa's development.

The experience gained in carrying out the first four reviews will also provide invaluable lessons for countries following the first four, particularly relating to the optimum manner of domestic structuring and coordination to ensure the effective involvement of all key stakeholders. In this regard, the Second APR Forum was held in Algeria on 23 November 2004, preceded by a two day Workshop. The Forum reviewed progress in operationalising the decisions of the First APF and examined initial experiences with the APRM process, as emerged from the Workshop. Challenges that were identified relate to issues of financing national processes, the setting up of national structures and focal points and ensuring a fully participative process.
Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana made presentations to the Workshop and discussion largely focused on the questionnaire sent to countries for self-assessment, national structures and preparation of a national programme of action. As regards the questionnaire, it was noted that, despite the need to retain common, universal norms and standards, there was scope to adapt the questionnaire to cater for domestic particularities, as it is an indicative rather than definitive document. Elements of the questionnaire are quantifiable and technical, while others are subjective and involve perceptions. The need for a glossary defining terms and concepts was identified, as was the need to include issues relating to regional integration efforts, conflict prevention, management and resolution measures, access to resources and property/land rights, all of which are currently missing from the document. As regards national structures, there are differences in approach. Some have created new structures, while others use existing structures. However, certain principles are important, such as the need for broad popular participation, inclusivity, independence and transparency. Unresolved issues relate to the permanence and sustainability of structures and the challenge posed by the costs and lack of resources associated with the process. Lastly, the need to link the national programme of action to existing national development plans, PRSPs and the Millennium Development Goals was noted. On the positive side, the countries reported on the usefulness of the process in identifying areas for attention and in promoting self-awareness.

In conclusion, the APRM is both significant and revolutionary. It addresses the fundamental issues of credibility and sustainability of policy reforms in an objective, transparent manner. It is revolutionary in that it breaks new ground. It is much more comprehensive than the OECD peer review process. There is just nothing like it in the world and it will undoubtedly play an important role in promoting and nurturing the revival of Africa.