African political and business leaders took a small step this week to move the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) off the drawing board, agreeing a shared responsibility to put its bold policies into action.
But some delegates at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa summit expressed concern over its slow implementation and the lethargy of many African states about making Nepad work.
More than 700 government, business and civil society representatives met in the east coast city for a three day summit to discuss progress achieved on Nepad.
President Thabo Mbeki, current president of the African Union (AU), emphasised that Africa was moving forward.
Speaking on Friday — the final day of the summit — he made a firm commitment that concrete progress would be made to bring peace and security to Africa, making the continent attractive for investment.
This included the resolving conflicts and tensions, over the next year, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Liberia, Burundi and Zimbabwe.
”We will make those advances on the African continent.”
Various Nepad projects would be implemented over that period.
”Those who have been impatient, who have thought something that effectively started two years ago must be producing results now, will see those results.
”Results that will give this message of Africans doing something to take charge of their own lives,” Mbeki said.
Although there were no firm commitments from business, the heads of some of Africa’s largest companies accepted a responsibility to help drive the process, and to set an example for good corporate governance on the continent.
Adebayo Ogunlesi, global head of investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston, said it was important that African business and investment institutions set the standard for others to follow.
The continent was beginning to create African corporate giants that could lead the investment drive and show the rest of the world there were attractive opportunities in Africa.
Nepad’s goals, he stressed, would not be achieved without partnership between government and business.
Ogunlesi said the meetings held at the summit clearly showed there was ”something different about Africa now than [in] years before”.
In 2002, the business community gave Nepad a ringing endorsement, but had wanted to see moves on implementation.
A survey conducted ahead of this week’s gathering found that while 80% of those who attended last year’s meeting were now more optimistic about the economic outlook for Africa, three out of four were growing impatient with Nepad’s progress.
US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s senior vice president Robert Mallett said business delegates had stressed the importance of companies setting standards for governance.
South African policies should be used as a benchmark for companies across the continent, and workshops were being held to share these experiences, he said.
But, Ghana-based Ashanti Goldfields chief executive Sam Jonah warned that investment would not flow to Africa unless the right political strategies were in place.
In that sense there was no alternative to Nepad, but unless those principles — of good governance, democracy and the rule of law — were vigorously implemented, benefits would be seriously undermined.
”Unless we gear our efforts at creating the conditions that will stop capital flight, and just as importantly will stop brain drain… all efforts to bring foreign direct investment here will be futile,” he said.
Speaking earlier, South African Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin heralded a closer working relationship on Nepad between the Africa and the G8 group of industrialised countries.
This included monthly meetings, and a recent commitment by the G8 to give African countries greater access to their markets.
”One should not underestimate the contact between the Nepad Implementation Committee and the secretariat, and the G8.”
Replying to a statement that the WEF summit had not produced any firm outcomes, he said that this closer relationship with the G8 and with business was exactly what the meeting was about and what Nepad required.
However, not all the delegates were happy with the progress achieved in making Nepad work.
Ghanaian private sector development Minister Kwamena Bartels told reporters much still had to be done by African countries and international partners to make Nepad work.
Some Africans leaders had not delivered, in particular on the peer review mechanism.
But, he said, the recovery plan must not be allowed to be held back by the poor performance of those countries — a feeling shared by most participants at the meeting.
Only 15 of the 53 member countries in the AU have so far signed up for Nepad’s peer review mechanism, which will allow for progress in adhering to Nepad’s policies to be monitored.
The annual summit will be held in Maputo, Mozambique, next year. – Sapa