THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE
An overview on the African development and planning experiences as well as
implementation of the pan-African frameworks (Lagos Plan of Action, Abuja
Treaty, NEPAD, CAADP, PIDA, etc.),
Executive Summary
Global development policies and strategies were not successful in
achieving the development of the African continent since many
countries became independent in the 60s and this is been seriously
felt in Africa than in any other part of the world. This situation did
not help the African continent and its leaders to fulfill their needs in
eradicating poverty and putting Africa in the path of economic
development.
Successive
strategies
such
as
the
structural
adjustment programs (SAP) have made Africa to become more
vulnerable on challenges that the continent is facing. With the
above in mind, African leaders agreed to adopt a comprehensive
regional approach that was initially based on collective self-reliance.
Therefore
following
a
series
of
consultations
and
in-depth
considerations of' the economic problems of the continent by
African Ministers and selected experts, African Leaders adopted at
the 16th'Ordinary Session of the OAU, held in Monrovia, Liberia, in
July, 1979 the "Monrovia Declaration of Commitment of' the Heads
of State and Government of the OAU on the guidelines and
measures for national and collective self-reliance in economic and
social development for the establishment of a new international
economic order".
1
In adopting the Declaration, the Ministers and Experts were aware
of the pressing needs to take urgent action in order to provide the
political support necessary for the success of the measures to
achieve
the
development
goals
and
of
rapid
economic
self-reliance
growth.
They
and
self-sustaining
therefore
commit
themselves to promote the economic and social development and
integration of African economies in order to facilitate and reinforce
social and economic intercourse and to establish national, subregional
and
regional
institutions
which
will
facilitate
the
attainment of objectives of self-reliance and self-sustainment
It is from this that a number of pan African frameworks were
conceptualised such as the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA), the Abuja
Treaty, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); The
Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme, (CAADP), The
Programme of Infrastructure for the Development of Africa (PIDA).
This paper is therefore seeking to explore the processes and raise
concerns on what went right or wrong in order to assess what can
be learned from past and present implementation experiences of
these frameworks in order to prepare Africa for brighter future
without excluding the implication of women in Africa’s Development
Initiative as per the Abidjan Declaration
Level Panel on Women Empowerment.
2
related to the 1st High
Background:
In its key note address at the African Forum for Envisioning Africa
held in Nairobi, Kenya, 26 – 29 April 2002, Prof Adebayo Adedeji
gave a comprehensive assessment of the economic situation of
Africa between 1960 and 1975 and provided a summative
assessment of what followed thereafter from the Lagos Plan of
Action (LPA) to the New Partnership for African Development 19802000.
He alluded that African leaders made a series of attempts from
1970s to craft their own indigenous development strategies and
policies in line with the problems at hand. It is with this in mind
that a number of strategies were conceptualised in the 1980s and
early in the 1990s in order to address the recurrent problem of
poverty faced by the African continent. These strategies include
inter- alia:
 The "Monrovia Declaration of Commitment of' the Heads of State and Government of the
OAU on the guidelines and measures for national and collective self-reliance in economic
and social development for the establishment of a new international economic order"
(1979)
 The Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, 1980-2000 and the
Final Act of Lagos (1980)
 Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986-1990 (APPER) which was
later converted into the United Nations Programme of Action for Africa’s Economic
Recovery and Development (UN–PAAERD) (1986)
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 The African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme for SocioEconomic Recovery and Transformation (AAF-SAP) (1989)
 The African Charter for Popular Participation for Development (1990)
 The United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UNNADAF. 1991)
 The Abuja Treaty adopted by the OAU in 1991, came into force on 12 May 1994
It is under these strategies, that Africa has tried to come out from
the scourge of poverty that is affecting the African continent. The
aim of this paper is to assess the contribution that these strategic
frameworks had had on the transformation of our continent and
what is in for the generation to come and the legacy that these
strategies are laying down for 2063 and the place of women in the
transformation of economic apparatus as well as their participation
in decision-making processes. It worth reminding this audience that
African women are unable to fully participate in the economy for a
number of reasons linked to their social status. In order to craft a
Common Position that is focused on economic upliftment, it will be
necessary to formulate clear positions on the barriers to reducing
women’s poverty by 2063. These include: lack of access to sexual
and reproductive health services including to HIV prevention and
treatment; lack of access to quality education for girls and for many
boys; violence and conflict, which deepen women’s poverty; and
lack of access to political and social participation. In addition, the
African Women’s Common Position needs to examine the issue of
resource mobilisation to address the deep-seated challenges for
African women’s development.
4
This formulation of a Common Position that is grounded in
the realities of African women’s lives is critical to encourage
African
their
states
and
commitments
their
to
development
development
partners
in
to
general
increase
and
to
women’s rights and gender equality in particular. This report
therefore provides an overview
on the African development
and planning experiences as well as the implementation of
the pan-African frameworks under which the place of women
should be considered.
Summative Assessment
In his analysis, Prof Adebayo posited that, the Lagos Plan of Action
was the culmination of a four-year long effort, initiated and led by
the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) , to undertake an
agonizing review of the development paradigms and strategies that
Africa had pursued since independence in 1960. He argued that,
the review was prompted by the United Nations General Assembly
which called upon the ECA, together with other regional economic
commissions to undertake an assessment of long-term development
trends covering the period 1960 to 1975. Prof Adebayo further
inferred
that,
the
above
strategic
frameworks
for
Africa’s
development were criticized and opposed by the Bretton Woods
institutions probably because of their own interest in Africa. This
can also be justified because of over dependence and limited
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political base of African leaders. The implementation of most of
these strategic frameworks were challenged
because of lack of
political will and capacity which prompted African leaders to
abandon their own strategies in pursuit of what were dictated by
the Donors countries. This situation therefore is a limiting factor on
all decisions that could be taken to free the continent from its
overreliance on donor support.
However, considering the "Monrovia Declaration of Commitment on
the Guidelines and Measures for National and Collective Selfreliance in Economic and Social Development for the Establishment
of a New International Order" and which, inter-alia, calls for the
Creation of an African Common Market as a prelude to an African
Economic Community; and the Lagos Plan of Action as well as the
Final Act of Lagos of April 1980 reaffirming the Commitment
of
African leaders to establish, by the year 2000, an African Economic
Community in order to foster the economic, social and cultural
integration of our Continent, the Abuja treaty was adopted by the
African Union
in
1991 to establish the African Economic
Community that came into force on the 12 May 1994.
The Abuja treaty paved way to a number of initiatives among which,
the creation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD)
6
NEPAD initiative is a merger of two plans for the renewal of Africa’s
economy.
The
merger
was
possible
between
the
Millenium
Partnership for Africa’s Recovery Programme (MAP) and the OMEGA
Plan for Africa’s development during an OAU Summit in Sirte Libya
March 2001.
NEPAD has set four objectives to take Africa out from the scourge of
poverty; these objectives are considered to eradicate poverty,
promote growth and sustainable development, integrate Africa in
the world economy and accelerate the empowerment of women.
However, this paper argues that besides developmental objectives of
NEPAD, NEPAD was initially met with a great deal of skepticism
from much of civil society in Africa as playing into the
Washington Consensus model of economic development. In
July 2002, members of some 40 African social movements,
trade unions, youth and women's organizations, NGOs, religious
organizations and others endorsed the African Civil Society
Declaration on NEPAD rejecting NEPAD; a similar hostile view
was taken by African scholars and activist intellectuals in the
2002 Accra Declaration on Africa's Development Challenges.
Part of the problem in this rejection is related to the process by
which NEPAD was adopted. It is argued that the process is
insufficiently participatory and civil society was felt excluded
from the process that created NEPAD.
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NEPAD has also been criticised by some of its founding
members such as the former Senegalese President Abdoulaye
Wade, who accused NEPAD of wasting hundreds of millions of
dollars and achieving nothing. It is argued that, NEPAD is weak
on decision-making and often lack to capacity to implement
framework. However, the program has been approved by those
who initially were very critical, However, there more and more
less controversies related to NEPAD and its programs have
become more concrete. The aim of promoting greater regional
integration and trade among African states is accepted by
many.
NEPAD therefore is longing for investment by facilitating capital
flows and funding for development of the entire continent. For that
NEPAD decided to implement CAADP and the Programme of
Infrastructure for the Development of Africa (PIDA) that are
considered to ignite the development of Africa. The CAADP was
created to support agriculture in Africa as a strategy to support
economic development, however, experience have shown that, the
implementation of this program was faced with a number of
challenges in many African countries. One of the challenges is lack
of finance to small farmers to improve their strategies in the
production of Casava and lack of implication of women who
continue to be marginalised.
The PIDA was created through the merging and restructuring of
African Union Commission (AUC) and NEPAD Secretariat .In the
IPPF report of 2009, it is argued that, the African Union
8
Commission (AUC) with the support of the NEPAD Secretariat and
the African Development Bank (AfDB) submitted a request to the
NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF) in July
2009 for financial support towards the cost of undertaking the
Sector Studies for the Programme for Infrastructure Development in
Africa (PIDA). The IPPF report posited that, the request was related
for a grant amount of USD 2 million to the African Union
Commission (AUC), to co-finance the PIDA sector studies and fill
the financing gap in the study cost estimates.
The report inferred that, the overall goal of PIDA is to promote
socio-economic development and poverty reduction in Africa
through improved access to integrated regional and continental
infrastructure networks and services.
The report further argued that, PIDA offers a platform for fast
tracking socio economic development and integration on the
continent as it focuses on the regional approach to infrastructure
development which advances the benefits of economies of scale as a
key engine for such integration, improved intra African trade and
increased participation in the global economy. It was equally
revealed to that report that, the economies of scale from through
shared production, management and operation of transnational
infrastructure
network
and
services
will
result
in
reduced
production and transaction costs, and enhance competitiveness of
businesses, with positive impact on foreign direct investment flows
to the continent; and on the rate of economic and social
development.
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It is with the above in mind that in July 2010 the new PIDA was
officially launched by African leaders. It is argued that, the PIDA
will bring together and merge various continental infrastructure
initiatives such as the NEPAD Short Term Action Plan, the NEAD
Medium to Long Term Strategic Framework (MLTSF), and the AU
Infrastructure Master Plans initiatives into one coherent program
for the entire continent.
The objective of the PIDA is to establish a framework strategy for
infrastructure development at the regional and continental level
covering all the four key sectors of Transport, Energy, Transboundary Water, and ICT. PIDA will be the AU/NEPAD key
planning/programming
document
guiding
the
continental
infrastructure development agenda, policies, and investments
priorities in the key sectors for 2011 – 2030.
The AfDB will be responsible for implementing the Programme for
Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) through its department
of regional integration. The AfDB’s role as Executing Agency covers
the
responsibility
administrative
for
contractual,
management
of
financial,
the
technical
programme
and
including
responsibility for procurement procedures, in conformity with its
existing regulations, budget management and disbursements.
The PIDA is supposed to be managed by the regional economic
communities. They will work closely with the respective Member
States, specialized agencies of the AU and sectoral organizations.
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The PIDA budget, estimated at 7.8 million Euros, is financed by the
European Union, Islamic Development Bank, the African Fund for
Water and the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
However, beside all these good concepts, Prof Adebayo in referring
to Kankwenda ( 2000) convincingly argued that African Leaders
preferred Lacking the resources and the will to soldier on selfreliantly, they abandoned their own strategies, including the two:
The United Nations Programme of Action for Africa’s Economic
Recovery and Development (UN–PAAERD) (1986) and the United
Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s
(UN-NADAF. 1991) which were crafted jointly with the international
community under the aegis of the United Nations. Instead, the
implementation of exogenous agenda has, perforce, been pursued
because of the operation of the development merchant system
(DMS) under which foreign-crafted economic reform policies have
been turned into a new kind of special goods which are largely and
quickly financed by the operators of the DMS, regardless of the
negative impact of such policies on the African economies and
polities.
Assistance
is
readily
available
from
the
DMS
to
operationalising the paradigms emanating from its operators and
favouring the development route that it has mapped out for Africa,
including the mode of its integration in the global economy. African
governments are obliged to conform to the norms, whims and
caprices of the DMS. Needless to add that the overarching objective
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of the DMS is for the African canoe to be firmly tied to the North’s
neo-liberal ship on the waters of globalisation
In quoting Ake (1996), Prof Adebayo inferred that, in such
circumstances, even as indigenous effort is intensified to come out
with paradigms, strategies and policies that the Africans are
convinced are capable of forging their future in the right direction,
even as the opposition of their governments to the neoliberal model
of the structural adjustment programme becomes strident and even
as the process of globalisation has continued to breed violence and
conflict because it exacerbates poverty, inequality, environmental
destruction and unprecedented concentration of political and
economic power in the hands of a few while the majority are
marginalized, impoverished and excluded, Africa is firmly in the grip
of
the
orthodoxy
of
the
DMS.
Without
doubt,
sustainable
development in Africa will not begin until this struggle over
development paradigms, strategies and agendas is resolved in
favour of its people.
Conclusion
A number of strategies have been put in place in order to take
Africa out from the scourge of poverty. One of them is NEPAD. But
most have not taken into consideration the place of women in
decision-making processes. From the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA),
many other resolutions were taken to date to include women in
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Africa’s development frameworks, but results are yet to meet the
targets as most women remained abused and marginalised. But one
thing is important to know, there cannot be democracy unless the
voices of women are heard, there cannot be thru democracy unless
women are given the opportunity to take responsibility of their own
lives. This is why the current report is laying down a number of
recommendations that should be integrated in most resolutions
that advocate for the empowerment of women and the role they
ought to play related to AU agenda of 2063.
Recommendations
The determination shown by African leaders to press forward for
Africa’s Development is very important and significance. This
renewed effort to take the front seat in forging the future of the
continent is being highly advisable
However this must not be done
at the expense of principles enshrined in the LPA i.e. at the expense
of
principles
and
paradigms
without
which
structural
transformation and socio-economic diversification will continue to
elude Africa. As for the international community, they must move
from mere expression of solidarity and enter into a compact with
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Africa which will be in support of development goals mapped out by
Africa with the resources and policies of the international partners
being devoted to achieving those Africa-determined goals. Africa
must take all measurements to put the AU on a firm, solid and
sustainable foundation. This requires fundamental reshaping of the
political economies, the democratisatioan of the development
process and the ushering of a new national and regional economic
order. The African states and leadership must become, once again,
developmental.
 Members states should ensure that, all decisions and
resolutions taken at the AU and its organs should be
domesticated at regional and country levels in order to
facilitate their effective implementations prior to 2063
 Regional
Economic
Communities
should
serve
as
implementing agents in all decisions taken in meetings and
seminar.
 Organise several meetings and seminar
Post
2015
Agenda
for
Women
within
related to "The
the
Context
of
Economic Empowerment"; in support of 2063 Agenda
 From the related meetings and seminars, a Common Position
should taken during Abidjan declaration should be reinforced
and reviewed when it is possible. This should be based on the
realities of African women’s lives. This will certainly encourage
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African states and their development partners to increase their
commitments to development in general and to women’s rights
and gender equality in particular.
 Critically assess the current MDGs, specifically MDGs 3,
5 and 6, and identify impediments to progress made in
the implementation of gender related goals;
 Develop
an
African
Women’s
input
to
the
African
Common Position on Post 2015 Agenda;
 Incorporate the outcomes of High-Level Panel on Gender
to the African Common Position in support of the AU
2063 agend.
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