Twelve states sign NEPAD peer-review document

The heads of 12 African countries agreed on Sunday to have their governments undergo peer reviews with regard to governance as part of efforts to make sure the objectives of a new initiative meant to spur development in Africa are met.

The agreement was signed in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, at a meeting of the implementation committee of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Representatives of 18 African countries, including eight presidents, attended the meeting, held to discuss practical steps for realising the development blueprint.

Under NEPAD - initiated by South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo, Senegal’s Abdoulaye Wade and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika - African countries are expected, through good governance, to provide conditions favourable to the injection of massive foreign investment to spur development.

"Twelve of us have now signed the document of intent," Obasanjo, who was the host and chairman of the meeting, told a news conference at the end of six hours of deliberations. "That means that when the legal document is ready, 12 of us will be ready for monitoring."

The signatories were Algeria, Angola, the Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa. Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia did not sign for what officials said were procedural reasons.

"We spent a lot of time on the African Peer Review Mechanism," Obasanjo said. "It is meant to clarify our vision and action if we are to eradicate poverty in our continent."

The NEPAD implementation committee is scheduled to meet again in February 2003, when it will prepare a meeting to be held by midyear with the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries, officials said.