The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) peer review mechanism (PRM) is a voluntary process and nine countries have already signed up for the review, Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, the chairman of the Nepad Steering Committee, said on Wednesday.
”Ghana is likely to be the first candidate of the peer review mechanism. We should appoint the independent panel of experts in the next two months and the process should start shortly thereafter,” Nkuhlu said.
Nkuhlu told the second African Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg that right from the start, Nepad saw the need for partnerships with business and the need to create a stable investment climate for business.
”That is why there is so much focus in the Nepad documentation on corruption and corporate governance, which are impediments to investment and sustainable development. Part of the purpose of the peer review mechanism is to show why countries such as Botswana and Tanzania are able to attract foreign investment to their mining sectors, while other countries are not able to do so,” he said.
The Nepad Secretariat together with Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and South Africa’s Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) are hosting the AIF.
”Another part of the peer review process is to be build capacity in African countries as many lack the capacity to do long-term planning, formulate laws that encourage economic growth and then enforce those laws. That is why the peer review will engage the Parliament, civil society and business in the countries involved,” Nkuhlu said.
Building on the success of the ground-breaking Commonwealth-Africa Investment Forum held in Abuja, Nigeria, April 2002, the Johannesburg AIF explore the means for delivering cross-border development projects.
Stressing the need for some ”quick hits” to encourage progress, the sessions will focus on key investment issues including infrastructure development and finance; expanding regional markets; information and communications technology; and agriculture. – I-Net Bridge