NEPAD: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts

Abstract

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) embodies a united vision of a continent on the move, at a time of unprecedented international interest in proposals to move the world's least developed region forward. Speaking at the opening session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development which began in Johannesburg this morning, Mr. K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of conference organizer the Economic Commission for Africa, attributed the current mood of optimism to the exceptional level of political unity shown by Africa's leaders. Stressing that more work was needed to fully explain NEPAD to Africans, Mr. Amoako debunked four myths: NEPAD, he stressed, was a robust framework that would not usurp national decisions or force any country into a straight jacket. Furthermore, NEPAD was open to every country and recognized diversity among countries. Most of the resources required for NEPAD's implementation are targeted for domestic resource mobilization. And peer reviews can only take place when a country volunteers to be reviewed. Actions African countries must take to translate the principles and objectives of NEPAD to country level actions; - Actions Africa's development partners must take to support the principles and objectives of NEPAD; and - How the APRM can be operationalized to track and monitor the performance of individual African countries.