Forum on Governance in Africa

FORUM ON GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
Co-organised by the Commission of African Union (CAU)
and the Alliance to lay new Foundations on governance in Africa
Addis-Ababa, from 24 to 26 November 2005

Context : Africa’s governance crisis

Since the 1980s, the African continent has been involved in major political, economic and social change processes (e.g. democratisation, withdrawal and decentralisation of the State, rise of civil society, etc.). At regional and sub-regional level, integration processes are taking place while the creation of the African Union (AU) reflects the determination to move forward in constructing an African citizenship and defining a new partnership with the rest of the world (amongst others through NEPAD). On the whole, populations aspire to more democracy, transparency, justice and room to develop their own initiatives.

Paradoxically, this slow yet real revival of Africa’s social conscience, manifested in a greater demand for democracy, has not been driven by a concomitant push for economic, political, social and cultural reforms. On the contrary, in many places the continent is caught in a negative spiral of poverty, insecurity and institutional instability. Africa is confronted with a governance crisis, reflected in the lack of legitimacy and effectiveness of its public institutions and their actions.
Governance presents itself as a key challenge for Africa’s future. Yet how can this cause effectively be advanced? It will be not be sufficient to enunciate new norms or produce action plans, based on solid analysis. Getting better governance in Africa will require profound changes in attitudes and aptitudes of the actors. This is a precondition for elaborating and implementing new forms of managing public affairs, based on values, references and principles that are known, recognised and agreed upon by all players in society.

The Forum aims at constructing a Pan African alliance for change
Both the African Union Commission and the Alliance for changing governance in Africa recognise that strategies aimed at transforming the way in which societies and public affairs are managed, will require a long-term perspective. This meeting of minds led to the decision to co-organise this Forum. From its creation, the African Union has promoted the vision of a « an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its people, a dynamic force in the world ». In this framework, the African Union Commission is involved in the development of common governance instruments, including a Convention to prevent and fight against corruption and above all, an African Chart on Governance. From its side, the “Alliance for changing governance in Africa” --an informal initiative born out of the work done in West and Central Africa by the Network for dialogue on governance in Africa since 1999 onwards-- seeks to connect African and non-African actors in a process of reflection and action on the topic of governance in Africa and on ways and means to change the management of societies and public affairs..
The aim of the Forum is to link the action of the African Union on governance with the numerous initiatives and innovating experiences that are being proposed and implemented by a variety of actors (e.g. state agencies, local governments, civil society, private sector, economic and social partners, regional organisations). The task at hand is to construct a pan African alliance for changing governance in Africa, under the political leadership of the African Union.

Objectives of the Forum: dialogue and action on governance
The Forum is conceived as the first step in the process of constructing this pan African alliance. In this perspective, it has defined four main objectives for the meeting:
• To identify the limits and structural bottlenecks for governance in Africa and agree upon priority actions needed to improve governance ;
• To develop a common platform of priority areas and specific actions ;
• To build commitment among African and non-African actors to support a new framework for dialogue and concerted action, in partnership with the AUC;
• To facilitate a better coordination and collaboration between partners and actors involved in the strengthening of governance in Africa.
Added value and expected results
Governance has been the subject of many debates, studies and conferences. Recently, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has done comprehensive work on the topic . The Forum wants to make the best possible use of this existing material so as to ensure a genuine added value compared to previous dialogue processes. This added value is seen to lie in four main areas (and expected results):
• Linking and promoting synergies between different categories of actors. A wide range of interesting and innovating initiatives are going on in Africa, yet these experiences are not always known, let alone properly linked to similar initiatives elsewhere. The Forum seeks to better articulate actors engaged in governance as well as promising initiatives from the five regions with a view to elaborate shared governance agendas.
• Priority focus on implementation. There is no shortage of reform plans related to governance. Yet their effective implementation tends to seriously lag behind. The Forum will focus on the profound reasons explaining this gap between policy and implementation. It will seek to identify promising dynamics as well as ‘drivers of change’ that may help to accelerate the implementation of new forms of governance.
• Launching a dialogue process over time. The Forum of Addis Ababa at the Africa\n Union (29-31 October) is not a self-standing, one-off exercise. It is the starting point of a process aimed at constructing a pan African alliance for effectively changing governance in Africa. An ongoing dialogue at different levels (local, national, regional), including with external partners, is key to reshaping and moving the governance agenda.
• Articulation with the action of the African Union. In order to make progress, it is also essential to ensure the political leadership from the AU. To this end, the Forum will seek to establish a close link with the AU’s Strategic Plan and with the programming and implementation of the Commission’s future governance programmes.