As an economic development program of the Africa Union, the New Partnership for Africa Development was adopted in July 2001 during the 37th Summit of the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU). With all its attendant pomp and fanfare NEPAD has not been seen to have tackled any of the development challenges facing Africa 1096 days after it was founded.
The New partnership for Africa Development was put on a performance scale a couple of days ago in South Africa. The development initiative was marked with a high-level NEPAD stakeholder dialogue with the theme: Building Greater Africa for a Greater Humanity. The event provided a forum whereby NEPAD could be objectively assessed and catalogued what it had achieved within its three-year life span.
President Thabo Mbeki expressed his aversion for making the dialogue another talk-show where truth and objectivity would be sacrificed. He urged delegates to shove diplomacy aside and speak frankly on the challenges facing NEPAD stressing "it is important indeed to clearly say what it is that needs to be done."
Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose country record is unimpressive according to a recent report by the Transparency International and despite his anti-corruption crusade, identified corruption as a strong obstacle to the success of NEPAD. He acknowledged that "corruption has been the bane of development and stability in Africa. Unless we adopt all possible strategies to enhance transparency, accountability, due process and fair competition, our efforts in other sectors of our political economies will be averted by festering corruption."
The Senegalese President and Vice Chairperson of NEPAD Heads of State Implementation Committee Abdoulaye Wade expressed his disappointment at the snail-like pace in implementing NEPAD projects, noting that "we are spending lots of resources on conferences and we still don't know our objectives. We need to manage time much better in implementing NEPAD projects."
Bad governance, poverty, corruption, conflicts, under-development, HIV/AIDS, malaria, insecurity, poor infrastructure, low productivity among others are the issues for which NEPAD was created to address. In reality many people are within the poverty line. Malaria and AIDS are sending millions to untimely death. Hunger and starvation are still dealing blows. The continent continues to record more large-scale conflicts arising from struggles for political power and control of resources. The number of those displaced continues to increase. Infrastructural facilities are decaying and the scourge of under-development is waxing stronger.
Ambitious as African leaders are in tackling myriad of problems, they are constrained financially. About US$64 billion is required for the implementation of NEPAD projects. The NEPAD Chief Economist, Dr. Mohammed Jahed, admitted that funds from donors have not been forth coming and hope of generating the targeted US$64 billion within the continent has not come to fruition. The seemingly aid-wary donors expected to contribute more than half of the funds are said to have folded their arms, leaving it to member countries to generate their own resources.
President Obasanjo has condemned Africa development partners who have failed to fulfill their promises and "not keeping to their promises to assist NEPAD, our partners will unwittingly be fulfilling the doubts raised at the beginning by some observers that we would not receive such support." The UN scribe Kofi Annan also toed the Obasanjo's path. Annan said NEPAD's programs and projects need "firmer and more coherent support" from international community to meet the serious challenges they continue to face.
The truth is in order for NEPAD objectives to be translated into reality more financial resource commitments are needed. The question is how NEPAD raises the fund. The donor community is unwilling to release the resources Africa envisaged to use to develop and salvage its economies. The fact today which many African leaders failed to realize is any development program largely depends on dole should not be expected to succeed. NEPAD has become a mere bowl in the hands of governments in the continent with which they seek alms.
Also it is difficult to imagine that a dependent program which is not well articulated at home can have any relevance for Africans which it is meant for. Aside funding, discussion about NEPAD is limited to officials in Washington DC, London, Paris, Tokyo etc and government officials in Africa states. Majority of people in Africa don't know what NEPAD is all about. NEPAD is not well known or understood in many parts. It has been observed that some leaders go to conferences on NEPAD, but fail to deem it fit speaking about it to their own citizens once they come back from the meets. Few Africa parliaments are said to have discussed the NEPAD's plans exhaustively.
Africa is naturally endowed. The fund to prosecute NEPAD agenda resides in Africa. However, various Africa government policies have not allowed its citizens to realize their potentials and de-freeze the locked assets in the continent. Many regulatory policies have continued to make many people perpetually poor. What Africans need is not cap in hand begging for fund from rich countries, afterall, as Peter Bauer clearly pointed out, the developed countries did not get financial support elsewhere in their development stages.
An economic program like NEPAD that relies on alms would find it difficult to achieve its objectives. What is important first and foremost is economic freedom and institutional reform. This must go side by side with a transparent government, the rule of law and not rule of men currently prevalent in many African countries, property rights protection and rules that dependable and predictable. This is the surest way to create wealth and improve the lots of millions of people already impoverished.