BRIEFING BY DEPUTY MINISTER S VAN DER MERWE

PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CAPE TOWN, 1 AUGUST 2007

1. INTRODUCTION

South Africa continues to actively engage the NEPAD process at a national, regional, continental and international level. The following paper will, firstly, highlight the key challenges and priorities for the implementation of NEPAD during 2007/8. Secondly, the paper will aim to map out the progress made within South Africa on initiatives being undertaken to internalise NEPAD as an approach to socio-economic and sustainable development. Thirdly, it will focus on progress made in translating the SADC RISDP as the regional expression of NEPAD. Fourthly, the paper will highlight continental initiatives aimed at meeting the NEPAD priority areas including an overview of progress noted on the continent coupled with the challenges that still exist in effectively implementing NEPAD will be listed. Lastly, the paper will briefly refer to some of the key continental developments regarding the African Peer Review Mechanism.

2. KEY SOUTH AFRICAN CHALLENGES AND PRIORITIES FOR 2007/8

In order to provide capacity and political support for the implementation of NEPAD Programmes the key issues are:

· Interact with key continental and international partners and stakeholders to generate/access support (financial, technical and institutional) for the implementation of NEPAD and utilise every available forum for this purpose.

· Take stock of the myriad of international pledges of support for the implementation of NEPAD, as well as the various sectoral NEPAD plans, strategies, programmes and projects to see what actions should be prioritised by South Africa to ensure a focused and specific rollout on a set of key actions.

· Ensure that each AU member state and the RECs align national and regional development programmes with NEPAD

In order to facilitate the implementation of NEPAD priority sectors (infrastructure, agriculture, environment, tourism, ICT, health, human resources, and science and technology) and their integration with AU and SADC processes, the key issues are:

· Finalisation of the NEPAD Implementation Strategy for South Africa (NISSA)

· Examining priority projects one by one to identify blockages and impediments to implementation and taking steps to overcome them.

· Ensuring that Parastatals are properly engaged to ensure that they support identified priorities in terms of the African Agenda.

· Developing a programme to engage the South African business community to support the NEPAD agenda and to engage, invest and do business on the continent.

· The need to identify and prepare projects to bankable stage, particularly in South Africa and SADC.

· Establishing and managing a project Database on an ongoing basis nationally, and in the SADC and NEPAD Secretariats.

· Implementing key NEPAD HSGIC and Steering Committee decisions.

· Together with others to continue to promote close cooperation and engagement between the AU Commissioners and the NEPAD sectoral advisors to ensure that there is congruence and coordination between the work of the Commission and the Secretariat in the priority sectors.

3. PROGRESS MADE ON THE NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF NEPAD

3.1 Development of a National Strategy:

On 19-21 April 2006, the South African National NEPAD Strategy Workshop was held in Sandton aimed at discussing the national NEPAD implementation strategy. The second workshop included all civil society, business and labour key stakeholders, as well as representatives of government at various levels. It emerged strongly during the Workshop that the South African leadership role in NEPAD should be enhanced especially in the SADC sub-region and that NEPAD should be made more relevant to South Africa as a whole including at provincial and at local levels.

It was further emphasised that the primary focus for South Africa during the next five years should be on the mobilisation and alignment of resources and institutions nationally, regionally, continentally and internationally. To this end, it is of vital importance that the NEPAD Implementation Strategy of South Africa (NISSA) is defined to serve as the 'base document' in the development of the national NEPAD sub-strategies. A further consultation was also undertaken with civil society in November 2006 in this regard.

The Guidelines Document for the Development of a National Strategy for NEPAD that served as the framework document for the Workshop was endorsed by the Workshop and is being converted into a draft National Strategy (“The Draft National Implementation Strategy for South Africa” (NISSA) for consideration by the Cluster and Cabinet. A NEPAD Outreach Programme is also being finalised.

3.2 NEPAD Science and Technology Initiatives:

The Department of Science and Technology has reported on the following initiatives:

• Implementation of the NEPAD Science and Technology Plan of Action adopted in 2005
• The African Laser Centre facilitating continental/ joint programmes on laser technology.
• The NEPAD African Biosciences initiative is being implemented by four regional networks of centres of excellence throughout the continent. Activities focus on research and development in the areas of human health, animal health, industrial and mining bio-processing and environmental remediation.
• Expansion of the African Mathematical Institute (AIMS) into a network of regional centres spread across the continent.

3.3 NEPAD ICT Initiatives:

The Department of Communications has reported on the following initiatives:

• With regard to the NEPAD ICT Broadband Infrastructure Network, the Department of Communications (DoC) has briefed South African telecoms operators and potential investors on the Network.
• It is anticipated that construction of the cable will take 18 months to complete from time of contracting. The expected date of completion is December 2008.
• An agreement is being finalised between the e-Africa Commission and the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund for equity investment and funding for the project.
• South Africa is in the process of ratifying the Protocol, which is in line with the national ICT policies, including the Electronic Communications Act.

• With regard to the NEPAD e-Schools Project, in April 2007, the Departments of Communications and Education and the PNC on ISAD successfully launched the pilot phase of the South African NEPAD e-Schools programme.

3.4 NEPAD Health Initiative:

The Department of Health has reported on the following initiative:

• A NEPAD Coordination Unit has been established within the Department of Health (DoH) to facilitate links with SADC and AU as well as harmonisation and coordination of DoH programmes in line with the AU, NEPAD and other international Health Strategies and the MDGs. The key activity for this financial year shall be the strengthening the NEPAD Accelerated Malaria Control Programme for Africa (NAMCA).

3.5 NEPAD Good Governance Initiative:

The National Treasury has reported on the following initiative:

• The National Treasury is a member of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI). CABRI is a pan-African network of senior government officials in ministries of finance and planning. CABRI's primary objective is to promote the importance of efficient and effective management of public finances to foster economic growth and enhance service delivery for the improvement of living standards of people living in Africa. CABRI is owned by 26 African member states and the South African National Treasury houses the CABRI Secretariat. While CABRI is not a NEPAD project, CABRI's objectives are in line with the objectives of NEPAD which seeks to establish African ownership of policy design, build up resourcefulness of its people, encourage partnership between people across Africa and accelerate continental integration.

3.6 NEPAD Education Initiatives:

The Department of Education is in the process of developing a scholarship to provide bursaries for deserving students from the African Continent who do not have access to higher education institutions.

3.7 NEPAD Agricultural Initiative:

The Department of Agriculture is aligning its activities to the NEPAD Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) priorities. The Minister of Agriculture has approved posting of an Agriculture Attaché to Addis Ababa Mission to attend to sector issues with the AU.

4. PROGRESS MADE ON THE REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF NEPAD

The SADC Regional Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) has been the SADC region’s response to implementation of NEPAD Programmes and has reiterated the synergies between the two. To this end, activities in terms of the NEPAD sectoral programmes have been built into each of the sectors of the SADC work programme under the RISDP. Furthermore, the SADC and NEPAD Secretariats had both appointed focal points to expedite co-operation between the two institutions. However it has been noted that an information gap still exists between the two Secretariats and should be addressed.

4.1 RISDP / NEPAD Project Implementation at Regional Level

Progress has been made with regard to implementation of NEPAD at a SADC level. The SADC Infrastructure and Services Project Profile (dated February 2007) classifies the following projects (amongst others) as part of the NEPAD Short Term Action Plan (STAP) projects:

• The Western Corridor Power Interconnector Project (WESTCOR). Westcor focuses on linking power systems in Southern Africa that will help to increase regional energy capacity and transmission;
• The Study on the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) in which nine SADC countries are already being surveyed;
• Implementation of trade facilitation activities in the SADC Region aimed at the provision of advisory services and technical support along selected regional corridors;
• Support for the implementation of International Maritime Organisation Conventions focussing on coordinated and effective implementation including, capacity building regarding safety and security;
• Tourism Training Needs in SADC that are aimed at establishing the status of training needs, gaps and the availability of tourism training services in the region

With respect to the above there are of course challenges that relate to implementation, capacity and resources.

4.2 Regional Challenges in implementing NEPAD:

4.2.1 Defining NEPAD and RISDP programmes/projects

The challenge is to ensure that a specific NEPAD project must have the potential to be expanded into a regional or continental project. Carefully selected current programmes / projects should be packaged and relabelled as NEPAD programmes/projects. By implication, a RISDP project must be designed from the onset as a regional project, instead of a national project having the potential to be expanded into a regional project. The IRPS Cluster, as the national NEPAD coordination committee, must be responsible for designating and/or accrediting NEPAD and RISDP programmes/projects within South Africa.

4.2.2 Communication and Information Sharing

The aim of communication and information sharing should be to promote awareness and understanding of NEPAD and RISDP in South Africa. This should be done through:

• Demonstrating the practical benefits of NEPAD and RISDP among South Africans;
• Profiling the implementation of key NEPAD and RISDP projects among South Africans;
• Facilitating maximum participation of all role players and stakeholders;
• Creating a platform for the establishment and sustenance of a communication and information sharing partnership among stakeholders to profile NEPAD and the RISDP in South Africa, the SADC region, the rest of the African continent and internationally.

5. PROGRESS MADE ON THE CONTINENTAL IMPLEMENTATION OF NEPAD

5.1 Continental Discussions on the Political and Strategic Direction of NEPAD

The 17^th Meeting of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) took place in Accra on 1 July 2007, within the margins of the AU Summit. The principal item on the agenda of the HSGIC was a discussion on the integration of the NEPAD Secretariat into the AU Commission, with the concurrent establishment of a NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency.

In proposing a way forward on the integration issue, President Mbeki acknowledged that the Brainstorming Summit that had been proposed by President Wade of Senegal in 2006, had not been held and highlighted the need for the Summit to be held in order to discuss amongst other issues, the recommendations on the integration of NEPAD into the AU structure and processes. The HSGIC agreed to defer the discussions on integration, which will take place at the Brainstorming Summit, to be held as soon as possible before the end of 2007.

Other issues that were discussed included the financial situation of the NEPAD Secretariat and the host agreements between the AU Commission and South Africa regarding the NEPAD and APRM Secretariats. Regarding the financial situation, it was agreed that member states needed to contribute towards the core budget of the Secretariat. The meeting was informed that Interim Host Country Agreements have been submitted to the AU Commission for its comments and should be finalised soon.

5.2 NEPAD Project Implementation at Continental Level

Progress has been made with regard to implementation of NEPAD at a continental level. The following initiatives (amongst others) have been undertaken:

• Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund: This is an exciting and unprecedented development As President Mbeki announced during his recent speech to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association:

“The Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund has been established to finance large scale African infrastructure development projects. Of critical and historic importance is the fact that the entirety of the capital of the fund, currently amounting to US $625-million, originates exclusively from within our continent.

We are confident that within the next 12 months the capital base of the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund will reach US $1 billion. Practically, we, as Africans, are making the firm statement that we are ready to rely on our resources to finance our own development focusing in the first instance on the critically important infrastructure projects already elaborated by NEPAD.”

• NEPAD Environment Initiative: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved an innovative $150 million program to support over 28 countries (including South Africa) across Sub-Saharan African initiatives to fight land degradation. This program is directly related to the implementation of the land degradation thematic area of the environment initiative of NEPAD. The $150 million investment by GEF is expected to catalyse close to $1 billion in co-financing, marking it as the single-largest effort aimed at restoring soil fertility and preventing land degradation on the African continent. GEF resources can only be access through countries providing co-financing and this may prove to be challenging for some countries.

• Establishment of the African Environmental Facility: A meeting was held between delegations of AMCEN (African Ministerial Conference on Environment) and the senior management of the ADB on the establishment of this facility. The African Environment Facility would be a key tool in supporting the implementation of the environment initiative of NEPAD given the lack of resources available to Africa through the current multilateral environment funding facilities.

• NEPAD Tourism Action Plan: In collaboration with NEPAD, SADC and DBSA, RETOSA has conducted a study on the current investment conditions in the region. This is a strategic objective for the NEPAD Tourism Action Plan and a priority intervention area in the RISDP.

• NEPAD ICT programmes: The Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) has signed a grant agreement with the NEPAD e-Africa Commission, through the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), to support the NEPAD Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Broadband Infrastructure Programme. In the agreement, AFD will provide a 850 000 Euro grant to the NEPAD e-Africa Commission to support the development of a terrestrial broadband ICT network for the Central, Western and Northern Africa ICT Broadband Infrastructure Programme.

• Chinese continental support for NEPAD: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the NEPAD Secretariat and the Secretariat of the China-Africa Forum at the end of a visit of the NEPAD Secretariat CEO (Prof Mucavele) to China at the invitation of the Chinese Government. The MoU aims to strengthen co-operation and exchange of information between the Secretariats and to explore means of supporting NEPAD, especially in human resource development. The Chinese Government handed over a cheque for $500, 000 to the NEPAD Secretariat. The donation is for a nursing and midwifery training programme in Tanzania and Kenya.

• NEPAD Food and Security Summit: A NEPAD Food and Security Summit, focussing on the availability, accessibility and affordability of food, was held in Abuja, Nigeria from 4-8 December 2006. The objective of the Summit was to review progress in the implementation of the 1996 World Food Summit outcomes as well as the 2003 Maputo Declaration for a 10% government budgetary allocation to agriculture by African countries to achieve food security for all.

• Programme on Governance and Public Administration: The establishment of a collective and continental “Programme on Governance and Public Administration” within the overall NEPAD framework represents a historic moment on the continent. Operating under the guidance of the Pan-African Ministers of Public Service, the programme embodies a commitment by the continent to revitalise governance and public administration through strengthening the capacity of state institutions. South Africa has held consultations with the UNDP, the African Governance Institute (AGI) and the African Management Development Institute Network (AMDIN) to explore possibilities of harmonising their programmes.

• NEPAD Broadband Infrastructure Project: The NEPAD Broadband Infrastructure Project, including the East African Sub-marine cable System (EASSy) was identified as one of the NEPAD ICT flagship projects by the NEPAD HSGIC in 2004. This is a private-public partnership initiative that involves 31 telecom companies and financial development institutions (FDIs). The following NEPAD Principles have been agreed upon as the basis of the EASSy Project:

· Collaboration amongst African countries.

· African ownership and leadership.

· Regional and continental integration.

· UN Millennium Development Goals and other goals and targets for the upliftment of Africa Society.

· Building competitiveness of African economies.

· Equality of ownership and participation by countries of the region.

· Co-operation in technology transfer and skills development among countries of the region.

5.3 Progress made on the African Continent due to adherence to the NEPAD Vision and Principles

There has been encouraging and significant progress registered during the last few years in a number of areas. These include:

• African Union: The AU is leading the resolution of conflicts and managing peace building in many countries. Budgets, mandates and leadership of key organs of the AU are being reinforced. NEPAD principles / commitments are giving strength and direction to these changes.

• RECs: Many RECs are working to align their programmes in line with NEPAD priorities and continue to include NEPAD implementation in the agenda of their Summits.

• AU Peace and Security Commission (PSC): The AU PSC has been established. This structure provides a framework for conflict prevention, management and resolution for peacekeeping and peace-building. The architecture of the PSC is based upon the formation of an African Standby Force, the development of a regional Early Warning System and a Common African Defence Policy. The new African season of hope that we see is because countries have embarked upon collective processes in conflict prevention and resolution and in reaching continental peace through the interventions of both regional and continental structures.

• Priority Areas: Agriculture, infrastructure, ICTs, science and technology, environment and regional economic integration, which were not among top priorities of the development agenda of international partners, have now become core issues. Furthermore, the successful development and launch of the Investment Climate Facility (a public-private financial facility) has taken place. Through NEPAD, African leaders have fundamentally changed the development paradigm.

• Health: The emergence of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria provides resources for the overarching strategy to address AIDS and its impact on development. This further adds to the NEPAD fight against AIDS. Increased support for integrated health systems to deliver programmes and new approaches to training and retention of health workers is emerging. Countries have moved to implement the NEPAD Health Strategy and partnership with the WHO continues to yield positive results.

• Infrastructural Development: In the past six years the African Development Bank and World Bank have increased priority to projects under the NEPAD Short Term Action Plan for Infrastructure Development. A number of regional infrastructure projects have been brought to the implementation stage. Infrastructure development has also been given a further boost by the UN Millennium Project and the Commission for Africa recommending increased development partner support for infrastructure development. Development Partners have since established the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa to meet priority infrastructure needs on the continent. We have also seen the recent launch of the Pan-African Infrastructure Fund.

• ODA levels: The increased engagement with G8, OECD and EU countries has resulted in increased development assistance flows to Africa. Over the past five years, NEPAD has ensured increased ODA to Africa of an unprecedented level. But this also be understood with the context of the debt-servicing obligation of the LDCs. African leaders have placed the African Development Agenda high on their priorities. The 2005 Gleneagles G8 Summit was a turning point for African development and the relationship with key donors.

· African Economic Growth: On the economic front, trends that existed before are being reversed. The economic outlook for the African continent is the best it has been for many years. There is an increase in countries following sound macro-economic planning, policies and management. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 2007 Report on Africa states that, with regard to growing prospects for 2007 and the medium term outlook, Africa is expected to grow at a rate of 5.8% in 2007, slightly higher than the rate recorded in 2006 (5.7%).

5.4 Continental Challenges facing NEPAD Implementation:

While significant progress has been recorded in NEPAD implementation, a number of challenges still exist. These need to be tackled head-on in order to move forward on NEPAD. Key challenges include:

• Strengthening Political Leadership: It is important to strengthen and sustain progressive political leadership. South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Senegal and other pioneers of the African renewal need to continue strengthen political leadership of the RECs and the AU.

• Capacity Building: Building capacity of the African institutions - national Governments, RECs and the AU - is vital. African countries must be equipped to take advantage of improved access to resources. We need to reduce the number of groupings and eliminate multi-membership if RECs are to push economic integration effectively.

• Integration of NEPAD Priorities into national development programmes: We need to speed up integration of NEPAD indicative plans into national development programmes and/or the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, otherwise the MDGs will not be met.

• Increase multi-country infrastructure projects: We need to change the manner in which the ADB, World Bank, IMF and the EU support infrastructure development in African countries. These organisations need to address interconnectivity in Africa.

• Converting pledges by developed countries into concrete actions: We must ensure that the political commitments made by the development partners, especially the G8 countries, are translated into concrete actions

• Making ODA more effective: We must address the impediments to the effectiveness of development assistance. The effectiveness of development assistance has been impeded by perceptions that Africa lacks the capacity to absorb and effectively use increased funds. NEPAD calls for substantial portions of development assistance to go towards core budget funding to build the delivery capacity on which all public services and economic growth depend.

5.5 African Peer Review Mechanism

This is a flagship programme that has received international acclaim and the first set of reviews has been completed in Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria and South Africa. Twenty-six countries have acceded to the APRM. The APRM process is addressing corruption, poor governance and inefficient delivery of public goods and services to their citizens.

Of the twenty-six countries that have acceded to the APRM, thirteen have been engaged in the peer review process. Of these, five countries (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Algeria and South Africa) have completed the process. The remaining eight countries (Nigeria, Uganda, Mauritius, Benin, Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania) have received a Country Support Mission (CSM) and are in various stages of implementation. Countries that have acceded to the APRM, but are yet to launch APRM processes, are Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Malawi, Mali, Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zambia and Sao Tome & Principe.

The APR Panel agreed that lessons learnt from the five reviews done so far necessitates a Brainstorming Session. A Workshop/Brainstorming Session will be held in Algiers towards the end of October 2007.

CONCLUSION

The rationale for the continued promotion of NEPAD has not changed. African priority programmes have been developed and are ready for implementation. There is no lack of information on what the priorities are. What then needs to be done to take the process forward?

African people need to be convinced that NEPAD is relevant to them, can address poverty, can ensure sustainable socio-economic development and growth and can make a significant impact on the quality of their daily lives. People need to see tangible infrastructure projects, an agricultural revolution, and improved health and education delivery systems. It is in these areas that the greatest challenges for NEPAD are to be found. The scale and pace of delivery in these priority sectors remains frustratingly low.

As the Department of Foreign Affairs, we need to continue with the advocacy of NEPAD at national, regional, continental and international levels so as to muster effective and vigorous support for Africa's development programme. NEPAD is a long-term development programme. Critical success factors are enhanced political leadership, ownership by the people, strengthening the institutional human and financial capacity of national, regional and continental development institutions and increased support by the international community.