The Sunday Mail
Agenda 2063 emanated from a desire to chart a new chapter in Africa’s socio-economic development and transformation that was expressed during the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) celebrated in 2013. Indeed, by 2013, the African Union (AU) found itself in a new conducive environment. Colonialism had been greatly defeated and apartheid dismantled; member states were better organised with major advances including sustained high economic growth performance for over a decade, good governance and building of democratic institutions, conflict management and resolution, among others.
Moreover, Africa today has well-functioning and better-organised regional economic communities (RECs), which are recognised as pillars of the pursuit of a common vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”
These factors were further supported by the additional experience gained from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), availability of new development and investment opportunities that have started seeing many countries in Africa booming, emergence of new alliances (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa —Brics), and the changing global context that brought globalisation and information technology revolution, which Africa needs to adapt to but also be a key player in.
What remained was for the AU to put in place a viable long-term continental strategy to realise the ideals of the Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.
Agenda 2063 builds on the pan-African movement and the struggle against colonialism to accelerate past and existing strategic frameworks including, most notably, the Abuja Treaty and Nepad.
A central tenet of Agenda 2063 is the imperative of learning from failures, building upon successes and best practices, and what has worked in Africa so as to forge a new paradigm on African development based on home-grown solutions.
In their 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration, the African leaders pledged to focus their attention on eight key areas, which they pledged to integrate in their national plans and in the development of the Continental Agenda 2063 through a people-driven process.
The eight areas were:
- African Identity and Renaissance
- Continue the struggle against colonialism and the right to self-determination of people still under colonial rule
- The Integration Agenda
- Agenda for Social and Economic Development
- Peace and Security Agenda
- Democratic Governance
- Determining Africa’s Destiny
- Africa’s Place in the World
The Agenda 2063 was therefore intended to be a well-conceived plan for the realisation of the common vision for the next 50 years when the AU will be celebrating the OAU centenary. The task of developing the Agenda was entrusted to the African Union Commission, working with the Nepad Coordinating Agency (NPCA) and in close collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
In developing Agenda 2063, the African leaders further instructed the AUC and collaborating institutions to put in place a people driven process. Accordingly, extensive consultations with key stakeholders within and without the continent have been taking place.
They include the private sector, African academics and think tanks, government planning experts and development specialists, civil society organisations, African Diaspora, RECs and AU organs, youth, women, media groups, and web based consultations.
From the consultations seven aspirations have been distilled that represent what Africans want to see addressed in the Agenda2063. These are:
1. A prosperous Africa based on inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth
2. An integrated continent, politically united based on the ideals of Pan Africanism
3. An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law
4. A peaceful and secure Africa
5. An Africa with strong cultural identity, values and ethics
6. An Africa where development is people-driven, relying particularly on the potential of the youth and women, and
7. Africa as a strong and influential global player and partner
Thus, the Agenda 2063 goals, targets and strategies are derived from these aspirations as well as from the eight priority areas enumerated in the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration and the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
Currently, the technical work which is co-ordinated in the AU Directorate of the Strategic Policy Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Resource Mobilisation (SPPMERM) is ongoing by undertaking a review of national, regional and continental plans, analysis of current situation, trends and scenarios, studies on how Africa can finance its development in order to inform Agenda 2063; and ensure that it is truly a strategic framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development that helps to optimize the use of Africa’s resources for the benefit of all Africans.
Mr Mandla Madonsela is the director of strategic planning monitoring evaluation and resource mobilisation of the African Union Commission
