Assessing the catalytic role of the African charter and the African peer review mechanism in the realisation of the objectives set out in Africa agenda 2063 and the SDGs

Abstract

Africa Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals are undoubtedly the most comprehensive frameworks for Africa’s and the world’s development. These multi-facetted visions make a candid admission that without state capability this all-inclusive development plan will remain a worthless piece of paper. Throughout the continent, the process of building effective institutions capable of balancing and protecting competing interests without conflict or open warfare while avoiding state capture or fragility cannot be gainsaid. As Africa forges ahead with diverse developmental programmes to lift many from the shackles of grinding poverty and underdevelopment, calls are ringing out for a public administration that has been transformed into an effective, coherent, representative, competent and democratic instrument for implementing government policies and meeting the needs and aspirations of the African people as encapsulated in the African Agenda 2063 as well as in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. This article explains the reasoning behind and the utilitarian characteristic of the Charter and the APRM as the two instruments which are presented as veritable tools for enhancing state capability and advancing the ethos of good governance in Africa. Effective implementation of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs obligates coordinated actions from different institutions and stakeholders at national and subnational levels. The key postulation is for Agenda 2063 and the SDGs to succeed and realise their visions, there has to be a transformed leadership corps, the utilisation of peer review mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, institutions, and active citizenry. Agenda 2063 and the SDGs have to contend with Africa’s traditional weaknesses which include poor implementation, limited resources, and limited skills or capacity. In all these the elephant in the room is the African public administration. It needs to be reformed and adapted to the current needs of the continent as well as global trends and developments. Hence the need to acquaint all stakeholders with their responsibilities and exposing them to new ideas and good practices in governance and above all, promoting professional ethos and practices. The opportunity to act on this recognition in a direct manner and through a continental framework has arisen within the context of the Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. Given their strong focus on public administration, the Charter and the APRM are impact instruments for the realisation of the desired capable developmental state in Africa.