The purpose of the Questionnaire is two-fold. Firstly, to provide participating countries
with a format that can serve as a checklist to determine whether the various
stakeholders participating in the process have responded to their concerns. Secondly,
as a convenient summary to provide an overview of the results of their own selfassessment
processes.
The Questionnaire is divided into four major sections corresponding to the four focus areas in the “Objectives,
Standards, Criteria and Indicators for the APRM” document
-
Democracy and Good Political Governance
-
Economic Governance and Management
-
Corporate Governance
-
Socio-economic Development
In each focus area, the overall objective of the section is defined, followed by the components in terms of which
country action with regard to the overall goal will be assessed:
Objectives. The objectives define the essential elements of the overall goal that must be achieved in a
measurable way.
Standards and Codes. The Standards and Codes are those that have been approved by African countries,
individually or collectively, with regard to ‘how’ they govern themselves and manage their societies, economies
and socio-economic development. Kindly note that the standards and codes are provided for guidance and
reference. Countries will not be marked against whether they adhere to these or not, the purpose being to
ascertain their familiarity with these standards and codes and the extent of their application.
Questions. The questions serve to focus on what the country has done with regard to the objectives and the
codes, how it does it and with what results.
Indicators. The indicators are the type of evidence that is expected in the responses of countries. The
indicators serve to highlight aspects of the objective, standard or code that are generally recognised as
measures of performance and results.
The APRM Foundation Documents may be found at www.nepad.org or can be obtained from the NEPAD
Secretariat, P.O. Box 1234, Midrand 1685, South Africa or c/o DBSA, 1458 Lever Road , Halfway House,
South Africa (telephone + 27 11 313-3828, facsimile +27 11 313-3440).
Foreword
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is the Strategic Policy Framework and
Socio-economic Development Programme of the African Union (AU). The vision of NEPAD is “to
eradicate poverty and to place countries, individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable
growth and development, and at the same time to participate actively in the world economy
and body politic”. This calls for improved governance of all entities whether public or private as
well as action plans outlining realistic sustainable development targets, reinforcing successful
best practices, identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building in all
African Countries.
In an effort to enhance the quality of governance in Africa, the 6th Summit of the Heads of State
and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) held on 9th March 2003 adopted the
Memorandum of Understanding on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the
Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. This latter document,
which had also been endorsed by the inaugural Summit of the African Union (AU) held in
Durban in July 2002, contains prioritised and approved codes and standards in four focus
areas: Democracy and Good Political Governance; Economic Governance and Management;
Socio-Economic Development; and Corporate Governance. The HSGIC also adopted documents
that outline the core principles, processes and objectives of the APRM including the APRM Base
Document, the APRM Organisation and Processes Document, and the document on Objectives,
Standards, Criteria and Indicators for the APRM.
The APRM therefore is a self-monitoring mechanism voluntarily acceded to by Member States
of the AU with the aim of fostering the adoption of policies, standards and practices that will
lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated
regional and economic integration. It underscores the commitment to implement the codes and
standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate
Governance.
The APRM is open to all member states of the AU of which sixteen members have voluntarily
acceded at present including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia,
Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Republic of
South Africa and Uganda. A number of other countries have also indicated intention to join
and await the finalization of the formal prerequisites.
The overall responsibility of the APRM is vested in the Committee of Participating Heads of
State and Government of the Member States of the APRM (APR Forum]. The APR Forum held
its inaugural meeting in Kigali on the 13th of February 2004 and elected President Olesugun
Obasanjo of Nigeria as Chairperson.
A Panel of Eminent Persons [APR Panel] appointed by the Heads of State and Government
oversees the conduct of the APRM process and ensures its integrity. The composition of the
APR Panel is the following: Mrs Marie Angelique Savane (Senegal), Chairperson; Prof. Adebayo
Adedeji (Nigeria for West Africa]; Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat [Kenya representing East
Africa]; Dr. Graca Machel [Mozambique for Southern Africa]; Mourad Medelci [Algeria for North
Africa]; Dr. Dorothy Njeuma [Cameroon for Central Africa]; and Dr. Chris Stals (Republic of
South Africa also for Southern Africa region].
The APRM Secretariat provides the secretarial, technical, coordinating and administrative
support services for the APRM.
To facilitate the implementation of the APRM and to ensure the integrity of the process, the
APR Panel was called upon to develop tools, instruments, codes of conduct and guidelines to
govern the country review process. In this regard, the APR Panel with the assistance of the APR
Secretariat have developed the following documents: the Rules and Procedures of the APR Panel
and Secretariat; the Guidelines for Countries to Prepare for and to Participate in the APRM; the
Code of Conduct of the APR Country Review Teams; a draft MOU to be signed with participating
countries; and a draft MOU to be signed with partner institutions.
The APR Panel also requested that steps be taken to further refine the Objectives, Standards,
Criteria and Indicators of the APRM so as to ensure their technical soundness and make them
appropriate to the context of participating countries in all the four focus areas of the APRM. In
responding to this mandate, wide consultations were undertaken with diverse stakeholders
and Institutions, both regional and International working on relevant issues to develop a
questionnaire spelling out detailed criteria and indicators for assessment. Gratitude must be
extended to all who participated including the relevant organs of the African Union, the African
Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Africa Bureau of the
United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development, key regional resource institutions, individual experts and civil
society including women, trade unions, academicians and the media.
It is therefore a momentous juncture for the APR Panel to present this questionnaire. It must
be emphasized that the main purpose of the questionnaire is to assist countries to undertake
their self assessment and subsequently draft their Preliminary Programme of Action.
The questionnaire is also intended to promote national dialogue on development issues and to
facilitate the evaluation of countries on the basis of the realities expressed by all stakeholders.
It is therefore important that there be broad based representation at the National structure
coordinating the APR Process as well as wide dissemination of the questionnaire and active
participation of all stakeholders in providing responses to the questionnaire.
Taking into account possible capacity constraints in participating in the APRM and in
particular with regard to responding to the questionnaire, the APR Panel will lead a support
mission to each country prior to the commencement of the self assessment process to explain
the philosophy, rules and processes of the APRM and the objectives and use of the
questionnaire.
There shall also be Workshops at intervals during the continental review process to share
experiences on the review process which may lead to further refinement of the assessment
tools including the questionnaire.
It is anticipated that given the differences of levels of development, participating countries
would achieve the goals, objectives, standards and codes of the Questionnaire at various times
according to the context and historical development of each country.
On behalf of the Heads of State and Government who appointed us, the APR Panel of Eminent
Persons and all who have been involved in this process to date, I thank all stakeholders
participating in the APRM for their contribution to this renewed vision for Africa.
Yours sincerely,
Marie-Angelique Savanй
Chairperson of the Africa Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons
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