NEPAD - an African dream gone awry?

THE New Partnership for Africa's Development was formed by African leaders, in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 2001.

The prime movers of the NEPAD project were Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olesugun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. NEPAD is basically a promise by African leaders, based on shared vision and beliefs, to urgently:

• eliminate poverty on the African continent;

• work towards the sustainable growth and sustainable development of every country on the African continent; and;

• actively participate in the global economy and political structures.

In layman"s parlance, therefore, NEPAD can be defined as an economic programme aiming at growth and sustainable development, eliminating poverty and ultimately empowering Africa to benefit from globalisation.

Indeed, as a concept, NEPAD is a brilliant programme; coming from Africa for the benefit of Africans living on the African continent and in the diaspora. NEPAD, at least on paper, is a vision and a programme of action for the socio-political and economic development of Africa.

I have absolutely no problem in accepting the concept of NEPAD as a welcome visionary approach in the management of the African body politic. However, it is my humble view that before embracing the very noble concept of NEPAD, Africa should go back to basics first.

As a starting point, Africa should first of all rid itself of political mistrust and intolerance, rampant corruption, poor governance and general abuse of basic human rights at a national level. If Africa fails to go back to basics first, the dream of NEPAD, like several other African dreams before it, will never see the light of day.

The concept of NEPAD is very tempting on paper. But then, Africa should not just conceptuliase brilliant ideas and programmes that are never followed by any serious implementation process. Put alternatively, African leaders should not only talk the talk but they should also walk the talk. For the dream of NEPAD to be realised, Africa should immediately reject its fragmented and half-hearted commitment to the international Bill of Rights as incorporated in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.

NEPAD will always remain a pipedream if Africans fail to make it synchronise and harmonise with the basic values and notions enunciated in the African Union Charter. Almost six years after the formation of NEPAD, there is absolutely nothing one can identify, on the African continent, as having benefited from the NEPAD concept.

The African continent remains the poorest continent under the sun. Basic human rights continue to be flouted with reckless abandon by African dictators and rulers. Crises in Africa are continuing instead of dwindling. For instance, the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Western Sudan continues unabated. The African Union exists but what has it done to assist the helpless victims of state terrorism in the Darfur region? What has the African Union done about the worsening human rights crisis in Zimbabwe? Opposition politicians, trade unionists, student activists and now even lawyers continue to be "bashed" and abused but again; there is deafening silence from the African Union. And we seriously think and dream that NEPAD will help eliminate poverty on the African continent?

In order for the dream of NEPAD to be realised, the African Union should drive the concept more seriously. NEPAD should thus be aggressively driven by the African Union itself and not by the five or so African leaders who sanctioned it in October 2001. NEPAD should be accepted as a wholly African agenda and it must locate its core interest in the whole of Africa in order to benefit all Africans; be they living in Africa or in the diaspora. In my humble view, NEPAD should be legally reconstituted as part and parcel of the African Union Charter.

All members of the African Union should be compelled to be members of NEPAD. NEPAD should not be a voluntary exercise. It is a notorious fact that dictators always shun to become voluntary members of any institution where the observance of basic and fundamental human rights is strictly enforced and monitored. Put bluntly, dictators thrive in an environment that is not transparent and also in an environment that does not have any serious punitive measures against public officials who abuse basic human rights. It does not come as a surprise therefore that only ten of the SADC countries are full members of NEPAD. Zimbabwe is not one of them.

The crucial tool of NEPAD is the African Peer Review Mechanism. This tool should make African leaders commit themselves to behave responsibly when it comes to the observance of democratic values, sustainable economic management and conflict resolution. I make no apology in strongly advocating that NEPAD should make it compulsory for other African countries to interfere in undemocratic political systems such as the one presently obtaining in Zimbabwe.

Of course, dictators will always raise the argument of national sovereignty. My own view is that national sovereignty is not and cannot be absolute. There are basic standards and norms of good governance to which every member of both the African Union and NEPAD should be made to adhere . Hence, my argument that NEPAD should be made an integral part of the African Union. If a country is a member of the African Union, it should also become automatically a member of NEPAD and thus; submit itself to the African Peer Review Mechanism. Anything short of this will make NEPAD a complete white elephant.

I respect the NEPAD concept because at least for the first time in history, Africa is seeking to look forward and forget the past; not asking for foreign aid but for partnership. As Africans, our destiny is in our own hands. We should move ourselves away from being underdeveloped and excluded in a globalising world.

Surely, why should the majority of Africans continue to live in poverty and squalor when the African continent is endowed with so many natural resources? Why should we allow African dictators to continue to plunder our resources and to stash their loot in secret bank accounts in developed countries in Europe and North America? The time for African is NOW! Africa should refuse to be used and abused. Africans should wake up and smell the coffee! Put simply, Africa should refuse to be poor.

Whilst I accept that the developed world, particularly Europe, helped in the pauperisation of Africa, especially during the era of slavery and colonialism, we as Africans should now take responsibility of our own political and economic emancipation.

Yes, I agree that the G-8 has been part of Africa’s problems and thus it must be part of its solution. But as Africans, we should see to it that the NEPAD dream does not go awry NEPAD marks a new beginning for Africa. As Africans, we must see to it that within a specific time frame, the NEPAD dream is realised. Failure is not an option.