Prof Sylvain H. Boko
Head, Regional Advisors Team/Development
Planning and Statistics Cluster
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
The APRM Imperative
 Commitment of African Heads of States to
 eradicate poverty
 place the continent on a growth and sustainable
development trajectory
 Democracy and Governance at the heart of the African
leaders’ and populations’ quest for social, political, and
economic renewal
 Hence the establishment of the APRM mechanism and
the signing of the basic APRM documents by the
HOSG in Abuja in 2003
The APRM as a Governance
Mechanism
APRM as a self-evaluation instrument voluntarily
adhered to by member states
Main Objective:
 Adopt policies, standards and practices to promote
democracy, political stability, economic growth and
sustainable development.
Thematic Focus include:
 Political Governance
 Economic Governance and Management
 Corporate Governance
 Socio-economic Development
The APRM as a Governance
Mechanism
 Official stages include:
 Country Self-Assessment and Preliminary National Programme
of Action
 Country Visit by Country Review Team
 Draft Country Report Prepared and Presented to Gov
 Final Country Report an Final NPoA sent to APRM Forum and
Country Peer Reviewed
 Country Report officially tabled at regional and sub-regional
levels 6 months later
 Unofficial additional stages include:
 Institutional Capacity building
 Harmonizing APRM with Pre-exisiting National Plans
 Implementation and Monitoring of NPoA
 Evaluation and Learning from NPoA
 Corrective Action
 Peer Learning
Benin at a glance
Indicators
Area
Population
Population Growth
Life Expectancy
HDI (2013)
112,673km2
9,983,884
3.20%
61.4 yrs
0.476
Benin Structure of the Economy
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
-1
GDP Growth Rate
Share Primary Sector
Share Secondary Sector
Share Terciary Sector
2012
Benin APRM Progression
0.5
0.3
Accession to MOU
1.7
MOU to NPoA
NPoA to Country Review
Country Rev to Peer Rev
1.3
Planning and Poverty Reduction
Strategy in Benin
 Initial year: 2000, followed by 2 more generations
 Outgrown from several strategic studies, including:
 The National Long-term Perspective Studies
 The “Benin-Alafia (Prosperity) 2025”
 National Strategic Development Orientations
 Latest: Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy covers
2011-2015
Aligning the Benin NPoA to the
GPRS
Components of the GPRS:
 Economic Growth and Transformation
 Infrastructure Development
 Human Capital Development
 Improving the Quality of Governance
 Sustainable et Equitable Development of the National
Space
The NPoA was built around the 4th component of the
GPRS
Aligning the Benin NPoA to the
GPRS
Benin NPoA Thematic Areas:
 Democracy and Political Governance
 Economic Management and Governance
 Corporate Governance
 Socio-economic Development
Implementing the APRM in Benin
2004: Signature of APRM MOU
2005: Establishing the APRM Independent
National Commission to launch APRM
Activities (97)
2006: Official Establishment of National
APRM Implementation Commission
2009: Establishment of the Current NGC (13)
National Focal Point: Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
4-member Executive Committee (Chair, First
Vice-Chair, Second Vice-Chair, Rapporteur)
Implementing the APRM in Benin
 Technical Committees, each supporting a thematic area
through technical studies (Aligned to 4 Technical Research
Institutions, or TRIs)
 Recruitment of a National Coordinator
 APRM cells installed in all 77 Districts and 6 Provincial
Prefectures of the country, insuring citizen engagement and
social accountability.
 In total 631 APRM representatives at the sub national level
 A focal point in each Ministry and each institution of the
Republic
 Civil Society
 Media
Implementing the APRM in Benin
 Training of Participants
 Social Mobilization
 Exchanges Visits
 Research (Interim Studies and Reports from RTIs)
 National Consultations
 Analysis of Interim TRI Thematic Reports and National
Consultation Reports (External experts/resource persons)
 Seminar to validate interim TRI thematic reports and results
of national consultations
 Releasing the Self-Assessment Report to public validation
 Finalizing self-assessment report and submission to APRM
Secretariat
 Review Missions and Presentation of the Peer Report
Financing APRM/NPoA
Implementation
Estimated Cost of NPoA: $2.34 bn
NPoA as % of GDP: 13
Govt Financing of NPoA: 10%
Initial Phase ($500,000):
 Govt of Benin: $50,000
 UNDP: $150,000
 ADB: $200,000
 ACBF: $50,000
 Hans Seidel Fund: $50,000
Financing APRM/NPoA
Implementation: Elements of a
UNDP et all APRM Support Project
Results
R1 : Capacity of the APRM CNG and its subnational
Components Reinforced and Functional
Budget en
USD
587 900
R2 : The APRM National Plan of Actions is Known and
Appropriated at all Levels
60 000
R3 : The Political and Administrative Constraints to the
Implementation of the NPoA are removed
281 000
R4: The Monitoring and Evaluation of the Implementation
of the National Plan of Actions is Carried out
683 000
R5 : The APRM is provided qualified personnel and
operational means to carry out its mission
4 190 100
APRM Evaluation
Reports/Assessments Results
 Positive impact on citizen’s engagement and social
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accountability
High level of political commitment and support
Knowledge of APRM activities around of the country
Challenges continue, including:
Lack of qualified personnel and capacity at the APRM
Secretariat
Lack of capacity to support the CNG
Misunderstanding between the current national focal
point and the CNG
Funding Instability
THANK YOU!!