Apart from strong commitment to maintaining peace in the continent, NEPAD set up a peer review mechanism where African countries are assessed based on their commitment to NEPAD’s prioritites particularly in areas of good political, economic and corporate governance. The meachanism was initially referred to as NEPAD peer review mechanism(NPRM) but was renamed Africa’s peer review mechanism(APRM) after few African leaders who were not initially part of the NEPAD process expressed huge enthusiasim about the initiative. The mechanism is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by African countries as a self-monitoring mechanism. It aims to put in motion a strategic re-orientation towards the validation of universal as well as African values and accelerate the process of intra-African cooperation and integration. Its mandate is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating countries conform to the agreed values in the following four focus areas: democracy and political governance; economic governance; corporate governance; and socio-economic development (APRM, 2003).
The APRM process entails periodic reviews of the policies and practices of participating countries to ascertain progress being made towards achieving the mutually agreed goals and compliance in the four focus areas already identified. National ownership and leadership by the participating countries are essential factors underpinning the effectiveness of the review program. The process is designed to be open and participatory and is guided by the principles of transparency, accountability, technical competence, credibility and is also free from manipulation. The review process is not meant to exclude or punish countries and there is no conditionalit...
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... continent as countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria, Benin and even Nigeria are all showing signs of improvement in good governance practices. Only recently the governor of Lagos state south west Nigeria visited Dubai and Singapore with his economic management team to study the highly successful economic models in these countries. Paul Kagame of Rwanda who has vowed to transform his country to Singapore of Africa has continued to pursue his economic reforms with huge zeal. Ghana on it part has become investor heaven and example of good governance in the continent. The investment friendly environment being created there is seriously prompting outsourcing from Nigerian investors. This new found zeal to pursue genuine development instead of waiting for hand outs from the developed countries has encouraged foreign investors willing to invest in the continent.
While the United States has a long-standing foothold on the oil in Africa, China has been dominating the other natural resources available for the past 20 years (Bhorat 2013). Additionally, the current perception of President Obama in Kenya seems to have changed dramatically over the recent years. While much of the letdowns were due to high expectations on the Kenya’s population, the general consensus was that President Obama has not done much to help improve the current state of the Kenyan economy. The current programs in Africa are programs that were enacted or established by President's Clinton and George W. Bush (Mwangi 2013). This has allowed the Chinese government to move in and expand operations in the region.
Priscilla. “The World Economy and Africa.” JSpivey – Home – Wikispaces. 2010. 29 January 2010. .
Africa in all its existence to Europe has relied on others to decide what’s best for them. Africa is now in a Western style mode. This does not mean it should be there but it is now. The government has to start taking advantage of today’s capitalist economy. Money tends to keep people of all nations happier. With money everyone is guaranteed food, a home and a better chance at democracy.
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
Fifty-eight years after the signing of the Charter, the world has changed dramatically. Its universal character and comprehensiveness make the United Nations a unique and indispensable forum for governments to work together to address global issues. At the same time, there remains a large gap between aspiration and real accomplishment. There have been many successes and many failures. The United Nations is a bureaucracy that struggles – understandably – in its attempt to bring together 191 countries. It must come at no surprise, therefore, that a consensus cannot always be reached with so many different competing voices.
Referring to practical cases, this paper analyses all stages of the EIA Directive; furthermore it explores whether public participation is considered in each phase of the assessment and it explains why the public is involved only at certain stages of the EIA.
It is important to include and identify stakeholders in the policy development process. By doing so, the stakeholder ca...
Globalization has led to several substantial changes in global governance and the entities participating in governance activities. First, over the past 70 years, an increasing number of nations have signed onto international agreements. For example, when the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, it had no institutional structure; by 2009, though, more than 150 nations – accounting for 97% of world trade – were members of GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organization (Fidler, 2009). The World Health Organization, started in 1946, now comprises 194 member states and has nearly 150 country offices (Council on Foreign Relations, 2012). In both of these entities – and in others, such as the Genera...
The development of environmental regimes involves a five-fold process. The first process is the agenda setting and issue definition stage, which identifies and brings attention to an issue to the international community. Secon...
These tragic circumstances could have been partly caused by the massive economic dislocation caused by the slave trade and colonization of the 19th and 20th century (Hopkins 13). Colonial powers representing outside interest setup “extractive institutions” across Africa. These “Extractive Institutions” refer to those entities that exist for the sole purpose of pull resources out of a country. Now that many of the colonialist powers have left, these “European-style institutions” still exist well into the turn of the century.
According to the Commission on Global Governance (1995), global governance refers to “the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is the continuing process through which conflict or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative action may be taken”. Some main actors involved in the process of global governance include states, international organizations (IOs), regional organizations (ROs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Global governance implements in various issue areas including security, economic deelopment, environmental protection and so on. Different states and organizations have different or even conflicting interests. Yet as globalisation continues and the world becomes more inter-connected than ever before, global governance or cooperation among different actors is increasingly taking a more significant role in the international stage. Some critics view global governance quite negatively as they believe that the current system lacks efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper, however, I shall argue that global governance is carried out more effectively in maintenance of world security and promotion of economic development while less effectively in environmental protection and preservation. Thus, despite limitations of the existing mechanism, global governance is still largely a postive development in world affairs.
Starting with the 1972 UN Convention, environmental politics became a phenomena that swept across the world and the EU was not immune to this contagious excitement and began the process with seven unique Environmental Action Programs (EAP). The first program began in 1973 and had three major points: (1) the prevention, reduction and containment of environmental damage, (2) the conservation of an ecological equilibrium, and (3) the rational use of natural resources. This was a very traditional approach and would be expanded upon in the future but a...
The majority of the continent of Africa has not been as economically progressive as the other continents in today’s world. However, over the past few years, it has been rapidly growing. Although there have been multiple countries in Africa that have reflected a strong growing economy, such as South Africa and Botswana, there are many other countries that are still corrupt and are still struggling to grow as a nation. There are many challenges that are facing Africa currently. Some of these major challenges being, corrupt governments, vicious cycles of aid, and poverty traps. However, among these challenges, there still lies to be great opportunities for Africa within their technology and business sectors.
The reporting mechanism enables the Committee to engage in a constructive dialogue with State Parties which includes recommendations for improvement. However, the Committee, as a monitoring body, has no power to compel Parties to implement those recommendations. This has created an opportunity for State Parties to evade their responsibilities. It is an apparent frailty to the design, and this lack of explicit power has been a ...
: Development – covers the overview of the supervisory authority and the issues and solutions to the core