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'Nepad could fizzle out'
20/10/2002 18:51 - (SA)
Mariette le Roux
Johannesburg - The New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) ran the risk of faltering if steps were not taken immediately to put its objectives into action, a conference of continental finance ministers warned on Sunday.
"This is definitely the time for action. If there is no action,
Nepad will fizzle out in a very short space of time," United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) spokesperson Peter da Costa told reporters in Sandton, Johannesburg.
He said this was one of the points mentioned in a draft
ministerial statement compiled during a conference of African
ministers of finance, planning and economic development on Nepad - held under the auspices of the ECA this weekend.
To protect Nepad from an early death, the ministers agreed on
several steps, including getting a good governance peer review
system underway as soon as possible - probably early next year.
They also undertook to urgently look at possible regional
cross-border projects such as infrastructure development, and
getting civil society and the private sector involved in Nepad
early on, Da Costa said.
Another priority would be to incorporate the global ideals of
Nepad into the planning and policies of every African country.
The final ministerial statement is to be presented to African
heads of state prior to the next meeting of Nepad's implementation committee in Abuja, Nigeria, next month.
Other proposals in the draft included clarifying the objectives
of Nepad.
Da Costa said the development plan was often regarded as a list
of projects.
"Nepad is a framework for collaboration and co-ordination rather
than an implementation agency," he said. "It is not a source of new resources for Africa, but rather a mechanism to create space to engage stakeholders beyond government."
The draft statement stressed the need for Africa to mobilise resources within itself for Nepad to go forward, rather than
looking at donors.
It also underlined the importance of poverty reduction
programmes and concentrating on long-term growth rather than
short-term macro-economic performance.
The ministers furthermore emphasised the need for HIV/Aids to be
included in Nepad's programmes as it posed a major threat to the
continent's development.
The draft called on donors to "get their act together", Da Costa
said, "particularly in the areas of quality and volume of support, moving from tied aid to untied support based on Africa's own priorities".
It also criticised a World Bank and International Monetary Fund
mechanism, called the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative,
set up to improve debt relief.
"They (the ministers) want Africa as a whole to think about a
new approach to addressing the debt issue," Da Costa said.
The conference, initially scheduled to close on Monday, was now
expected to end on Sunday afternoon.
It was attended by more than 60 ministers and about 500 other
participants, including central bank governors, academics,
researchers and civil society and private sector representatives.
This was the largest gathering yet on Nepad at policy making
level since the plan was adopted by the African Union in July.
- SAPA
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