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The Twelfth Summit of the Heads of State and Government Implementation
Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
was held in Algiers, Algeria, on Tuesday, 23 November 2004, at the invitation of H.E President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, President of the Republic of Algeria. The Summit was chaired by H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The following dignitaries attended the HSGIC Summit:
- His Excellency, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the Democratic People's Republic of Algeria;
- His Excellency, Mr. Festus Mogae, President of the Republic of
Botswana;
- His Excellency, Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo;
- His Excellency, Mr Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of
Egypt;
- His Excellency, Mr. Ahmadou Toumani Toure, President of the Republic of Mali;
- His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria;
- His Excellency, Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda;
- His Excellency, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South
Africa;
- His Excellency Mr Fradique Bandeira Melo De Menezes, President of the Republic of Sao Tome & Principe;
- His Excellency El-Hadj Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone;
- His Excellency, Mr. Didjob Divungi Di Ndinge, Vice President of the
Republic of Gabon;
- His Excellency, Mr. Moody Awori, Vice President of the Republic of
Kenya;
- His Excellency Lupando AKF Mwanpe, Vice President of the Republic of Zambia;
- His Excellency, Mr Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal
Republic of Ethiopia;
- His Excellency, Professor Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson, African
Union Commission;
- Mauritius, Mozambique, Tunisia, Libya, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Angola, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania were represented;
- Partner institutions including ADB, OSAA, UNDP and UNECA were in
attendance;
- Regional Economic Communities (RECs) including ECCAS, CEN-SAD and
SADC were also present;
- The Members of the Panel of Eminent Persons (APR Panel) and NEPAD
Steering Committee also attended.
Welcome & Opening
President Bouteflika welcomed his colleagues, and informed them of his
pleasure in receiving them. He noted that since the launch of NEPAD three years ago, it was most opportune to devise additional mechanisms to fast track its implementation. He reminded the Summit that NEPAD is a multidimensional and long term strategy of Africa's development, anchored on the principle of self-reliance at national level. It has since become the regional and international rallying programme of development for Africa.
President Bouteflika pointed to the important role of RECs in this process
and the importance of analyzing developments in Africa that may impact negatively on NEPAD, including regional conflicts, and other crises that tend to hinder Africa's progress. He emphasized the importance of capacity building to enable Africa to mobilize itself to face new challenges, particularly those pertaining to peace, democracy, and governance. He also cited the many African countries that are now implementing economic and financial reforms, as well as those that are undertaking programmes of regional integration through the implementation of priority projects of NEPAD.
In concluding his welcoming address, President Bouteflika noted that NEPAD
partnerships are already bearing fruit, as evidenced by increased assistance in such areas as Health. He added that the positive economic gains being recorded in some countries need to be sustained and deepened if poverty eradication and employment creation is to become a reality.
The Chairman of the HSGIC, President Olusegun Obasanjo, welcomed all Heads
of delegation and participants to the 12th Summit of the HSGIC. On behalf of the Implementation Committee, he expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Bouteflika and the Government and People of Algeria for hosting the meeting. He also congratulated President Bouteflika on his re-election as President of Algeria in the April 2004 election. He thanked President Bouteflika and his other colleagues that have remained the pillar of NEPAD, and its principles. On behalf of his colleagues, President Obasanjo also welcomed President Mubarak to his maiden attendance at the Summit and emphasized that the purpose of the Summit was to reaffirm the importance of NEPAD and the need for new strategies for furthering NEPAD objectives.
President Obasanjo noted that NEPAD had created a lot of expectations, and
that people were getting anxious to see the tangible benefits of NEPAD. He
called on the Summit to focus on how to fast track programme implementation to the same extent as is happening in the areas of conflict prevention and peace building.
Congratulatory Message President Mogae: The Summit congratulated President
Mogae of the Republic of Botswana for his resounding success in the 2004 elections.
Adoption of the Agenda: The Chairman introduced the agenda, which was
adopted without amendments.
Progress Report by Prof. W. Nkuhlu, Chairman of the NEPAD Steering Committee: The Summit noted the report by Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu, which covered the period since the last HSGIC Summit held in Addis Ababa in July 2004, including an assessment, and lessons learnt in the past three years since the adoption of NEPAD.
The report highlighted the SADC NEPAD High-level Seminar which was held in
Mauritius in August 2004, whose key outcome was the decision to establish a
group called "the 4+1", for the purpose of fast-tracking the implementation
of NEPAD in the sub-region.
The Summit also noted the ECCAS NEPAD Implementation Seminar, which was held in October 2004 in Libreville, Gabon and aimed at giving momentum to the implementation of NEPAD in Central Africa. The seminar, which was attended by civil society, development partners including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, galvanized support for agreement on NEPAD priorities for the ECCAS sub-region.
Prof. Nkuhlu reported that national NEPAD chapters had been launched in
Lesotho and Zambia, in September 2004, demonstrating increasing ownership,
support and enthusiasm for NEPAD and informed the Summit of the Pan-African
Parliament's support to the implementation of NEPAD and its programmes, including the APRM.
The Summit noted the TICAD-Africa Investment Conference which was held in
Japan in October 2004, in order to discuss additional measures for increased development assistance to Africa, as well as noted the outcomes of the 3rd Africa Partnership Forum meeting, hosted by the USA in October 2004. The meeting was attended by the NEPAD Steering Committee, Executive Secretaries of RECs, and two Commissioners of the AU Commission. An important development from the meeting was that Africans spoke with one voice, and mobilized partners to further support the implementation of Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). As a result, USAID is now supporting the implementation roadmap of CAADP.
Briefing by the President of the ADB, Mr. Omar Kabbaj: The President of the
ADB, Mr. Omar Kabbaj, briefed the Summit on the Bank's support in the implementation of NEPAD. He highlighted the importance of ownership of projects by countries and RECs, and noted that the ability of the Bank's support largely depends on the resources made available to the Bank. Mr. Kabbaj also highlighted the fact that the gestation period of regional infrastructure projects is very long, in part due to issues of peace and security, and harmonization of regulations; and partly because of the need to ensure that projects meet international standards of technical and financial analysis.
The HSGIC noted, with gratitude, the contribution of ADB to NEPAD,
particularly in the preparation, design, and implementation of infrastructure projects. The HSGIC requested the ADB to continue supporting NEPAD and to take steps to increase the speed of implementation of infrastructure projects.
Broad Assessment of NEPAD Implementation in the 3 years; Summing up the
lessons learnt in implementing NEPAD in the past three years, Prof. Nkuhlu
emphasised three (3) major factors for the successful implementation of NEPAD. These are:
- capacity building at all levels, particularly the strengthening of
ownership as well as integration of NEPAD programmes into national and subregional development plans;
- project preparation support for regional integration projects; and
- more effective engagement of the private sector and multi-lateral
development institutions to accelerate the pace of implementation, as well as increased development assistance flows.
Fast Tracking NEPAD implementation
Noting the progress made in implementing NEPAD to date, the Summit called
for:
- Increased support for the speedy implementation of the CAADP;
- Each sub-region to select a few flagship programmes for immediate
implementation, and to prepare timetables for their implementation;
- Support for the effective implementation of programmes, under the
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) including the e-school initiative, the East African Sub-marine System (EASSy) project, and the
broad-band connectivity. The Summit re-affirmed their commitment to the
implementation of the Optic Fibre, and called on the World Bank, and other
partners, to speedily implement this priority project.
- Accelerating the implementation of the Shared Water Basins initiative, namely, the Nile, Senegal, Volta, Niger, Lake Chad, Lake Victoria and Kagera, Congo, Zambezi, Okavango and Orange/Senqu river basins; and
- Accelerating the implementation of sub-regional electricity interconnectivity for each of the sub-regions, including the gas pipeline in
West Africa, Oil Pipeline in East Africa, the Mphanda-Nkua project, WESTCOR
including Inga 3 and the Grand Inga Study.
Summit Decisions on measures to accelerate NEPAD implementation
In addition to the above call, the Summit adopted the following decisions
to fast track NEPAD implementation:
- The urgent need to enhance capacity of RECs to become agents of
development and effective agencies for the implementation of regional
initiatives and programmes.
- The need to develop the capacity of national governments to internalize NEPAD values and principles and to integrate these into national
development agenda and plans, as well as a review of national budgets with a view to ensuring compatibility with NEPAD priorities so as to facilitate the ability of countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
- The establishment of NEPAD Implementation Task Teams in every subregion following the SADC example. These task teams are to include NEPAD
Steering Committee members. The task teams will work strategically with the Steering Committee members to determine the capacities of RECs as well as ensure implementation of identified projects.
- The need to maximizing contributions to the Project Preparation
Facility by G8 countries and other development partners using the African
Partnership Forum (APF) The Summit noted that Canada has already contributed US$10m to the US$100m required for the facility.
- The need to increase the participation of private sector in NEPAD
through Public-Private Partnerships, and by so doing, limiting the indebtedness of countries. The Summit also called for increased engagement with development partners for grants to fund the preparation of multicountry projects.
Engagement with the International Community
The Summit noted the need to capitalize on international events in order to
strengthen international political will to meet the commitments already made by the international community.
The G8 Africa Action Plan: The Summit agreed to use the window of opportunity presented by the United Kingdom's (UK) Chairmanship and Presidency of the G8 and European Union respectively to move the G8 countries to increase the tempo of implementation. It agreed that more work should be undertaken to ensure the G8 Summit in June 2005, takes a decision on the cancellation of debt. The Summit also agreed that, in relation to the implementation of the G8 Africa Action Plan, and the ongoing work of the UK Commission for Africa, Africa must insist on decisions that will facilitate delivery on commitments and implementation of programmes of these plans.
UK Commission for Africa: The Summit commended the efforts of the UK
Commission for Africa to boost Africa's economic development by summoning the political will for the substantial enhancement of resource inflows, debt cancellation, and fostering the realization of the Doha Agreement, particularly in creating greater market access to African countries. The HSGIC called for a review of the draft report of the Commission before it is finalized, for possible input.
The Summit agreed on the following actions required at the international
level in order to fast track the implementation of NEPAD, namely:
- Increased development assistance to Africa;
- Cancellation of debt;
- Increased market access to the markets of the North by African
countries, without insistence on reciprocity;
- Pooling of resources provided by partners for the implementation of
NEPAD priorities;
- More effective engagement with the United Kingdom (UK) Commission for Africa, and the G8 countries in the implementation of the G8 Africa Action
Plan; and
- Effective utilization of the 5th Anniversary of the MDGs of the United Nations to achieve tangible results.
Resource Mobilisation
Prof. Nkuhlu thanked the African countries that have financially supported
the NEPAD Secretariat.
The Summit noted the fact that President Obasanjo, in his capacity as
chairman of the HSGIC, had been to key countries of the world to mobilize
resources for the implementation of NEPAD, namely, India and Japan. The Summit agreed that in future, such missions should be properly coordinated and should include the AU Commission, the ADB, and the NEPAD Steering Committee, in order to ensure effective follow-up. The meeting further noted that the Indian US$200 m is not on a concessionary basis, and may not be easy to access. Also, the US$1 billion promised by Japan can not yet be traced within the Japanese system.
Proposed Meeting of RECS, ADB, AND NEPAD Steering Committee in Abuja: The
Summit endorsed the call for a 2 day meeting of the Steering Committee, the
Executive Secretaries of all RECs, the President of the ADB, and the Chairman of the AU Commission before the end of January and on the side of the AU Summit in Abuja. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss mechanisms for capacity building of RECs and the need to fast track the implementation of key NEPAD infrastructure projects.
Pension Funds: President Mbeki informed the Summit of inroads being made in the exploration of the possible use of Pension Funds to support the
implementation of NEPAD programmes. He reported that the South African
Government Employee Pension Fund has indicated interest in funding some of the NEPAD projects, and that it would make much sense to do it in partnership with other Pension Funds of other African Countries. These are funds already in African hands, and could be used to finance NEPAD projects. The Chair will be duly informed of the progress in the next meeting.
Small Island States: The Chair informed the meeting that the AU and NEPAD have always paid special attention to the needs of small island states. The Summit agreed that Sao Tome and Principe should indicate the priority and
project concerns that they would like NEPAD to address, including capacity needs. NEPAD will follow-up on these matters. In addition, the ADB also would update its research on small island states, and convene a seminar to discuss the findings. The Summit will also be updated on progress on the matter.
Integration of NEPAD into AU structures and processes
The Summit decided that the Steering Committee and the AU Commission should
look into this matter, and thereafter the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, so as to report to the next AU Summit at the end of January.
Any other business
Corte d'Ivoire: President Mbeki briefed the Summit on progress being made in the resolution of the conflict in Corte d'Ivoire. He reported that he
would be visiting the country in a few days to present a detailed proposed
programme of action for resolving the conflict. He added that the matter would be discussed at the Peace and Security Council scheduled around 10th of December 2004.
Security Council Decision on Sudan: H.E. Vice President Awori of Kenya welcomed the continued support by the NEPAD leadership to peace efforts in Africa. He briefed the Summit on the status of the installation of a new
government in Somalia, and the amount required to settle the government, the first government in Somalia after 15 years. On Sudan, H.E. Awori reported that peace efforts in southern Sudan are complete, and that Somalia and Sudan can now come on board as free countries. However, the two countries still rely on the AU to keep the peace as well as help them to set up infrastructure. He noted that Somalia requires more than humanitarian help, it needs development, and this is where NEPAD comes in. In closing his briefing, Vice President Awori noted that Darfur is destabilizing the process of bringing peace to southern Sudan, and that the government requires both political and diplomatic support, as well as a protective force to assist in consolidating the new peace process.
Darfur: The Chairman reported on a stakeholder meeting on Darfur which is taking place in Abuja. The stakeholders have made progress in the areas of humanitarian and security issues. The two outstanding issues relate to
political and power-sharing, as well as economic. He was hopeful that agreement on the remaining two items would be reached quickly.
The Chairman thanked all those involved in peace processes in the continent, and noted that for the first time, the AU is not only mediating
in peace efforts, but is also making positive impact as an intervention force.
Great Lakes Region Report on Peace, Security and Development: The Chairman reported on progress being made in peace efforts in the Great Lakes
regions, and reported on a peace treaty that was signed by all parties in Mid-November in Tanzania.
Closure & date of next Summit
The next HSGIC will be held in Egypt on 18th and 19th April as agreed by
the Chairman of the HSGIC and H.E. Mubarak. The chairman thanked all participants, and closed the Summit.
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