A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

However, as this era marked the beginning of the implementation
of the integration process with the AU, this era
was one of significant institutional uncertainty and some
turbulence. Prof. Mucavela was also not helped by the fact
that he was still periodically asked by his national government
to attend to various domestic matters and often was
recalled to Maputo for related consultations.
During this era, President Wade of Senegal, one of the
founding patrons of NEPAD, whose support for NEPAD
had begun to wobble toward the end of the Nkuhlu era,
became one of its most ardent critiques sighting lack of
delivery, focus and African ownership as his main points
of contention.
Feedback from a June 2007 Ad Hoc Expert meeting convened
in Dakar, Senegal by the U.N. Economic Commission
for Africa under the theme “Meeting on Challenges
and Prospects in the Implementation of NEPAD 5 ” noted
that:
“Five years after its ratification, there have been successes
in publicizing the new development vision and getting
buy-in from African leaders. Progress in implementation,
however, has been slow. . . .
Since ratification in 2002, NEPAD has initiated various
programmes to achieve its core objectives, to build peace
and security, improve economic governance and public
administration, invest in priority areas, including infrastructure
and human development. It has also been successful
in bringing African development problems to world
attention, generated international support for Africa and
galvanized leaders to change their thinking about what
comprises good governance and sustainable development.
In spite of these positive outcomes, several challenges
remain in meeting NEPAD targets. Among these is the
structure of NEPAD itself, lack of African ownership,
political factors, and economic and capacity constraints.
These challenges, if not seriously addressed, could stall or
reverse the progress made so far.
The less than strong relationships among the various components
of NEPAD, member states and RECs make it difficult
to implement NEPAD. This is the case when there is
5 RCM Africa 2007, Challenges and Prospects in the Implementation
of NEPAD, pp. vii-viii
2. The Evolution of NEPAD A Decade of NEPAD
no mechanism to mediate conflicting interests among the
parties. The problem is further exacerbated by the lack of
incentive mechanisms to get the RECs and member states
to implement NEPAD programmes. Coordination of the
many activities and participants also poses a challenge to
effective implementation.
The political difficulties African governments face in
making current sacrifices in exchange for possible future
benefits pose an obstacle to the effective implementation
of NEPAD. This lack of immediacy and urgency in the
demonstration of political will is further complicated by
the existence of prior commitments that sometimes conflict
with NEPAD principles, and the weakness of the capacity
of institutions to carry out the set tasks. Economic factors,
including financial and capacity constraints, lack of ownership
by the average African, and lack of both economic
and social infrastructure make it difficult to implement a
comprehensive programme such as NEPAD, effectively.
Increasingly African development practitioners, AU supporters
and NEPAD strategists called for clarification of the
roles and relationships between the Secretariat of NEPAD,
the regional economic communities, the member states,
and the AU itself. The NEPAD Secretariat, which was still
heavily dependent on donor support and lacked adequate
staff resources and independent financial resources, struggled
to deliver against the huge expectations established
when NEPAD was launched.
Although externally institutions such as the World Bank,
bilateral partners and the U.N. system of institutions continued
to talk about and work toward NEPAD alignment,
on the continent the disinterest of President Wade, the end
of term of Pres. Obasango of Nigeria, and the pending end
of term of President Mbeki, left NEPAD without its most
ardent supporters within the AU.
In December 2007, with the belief held by many that the
organization was treading sideways, Prof. Mucavele was
recalled to Mozambique.
11