The APRM As A Governance Improvement Mechanism

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The APRM As A Governance Improvement Mechanism

• Paper Presented During Workshop on
• Harmonizing the Mauritius National Plan of
  Action (NPoA) with the existing development
  strategies and Medium Term Expenditure Framework
  (MTEF)
• at
• Domaine Les Pailles, La Canelle Rouge, Mauritius,
  
• from 23 to 24 April 2012.
• by
• Dr. Adotey Bing-Pappoe

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Outline

• The Governance Landscape
• The Structure of Governance Improvement
  Mechanisms
• The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism
• APRM Achievements and Challenges

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• The Governance Landscape

4
The Governance Landscape
definitions

• The traditions and institutions by which
  authority in a country is exercised (Daniel
  Kaufmann -The Worldwide Governance Indicators)
• The exercise of political authority and the use
  of institutional resources to manage society's
  problems and affairs. (The World Bank)
• Decisions that define expectations, grant power,
  or verify performance (Wikipedia)
• The allocation, redistribution, and uses of power
  in institutions, organisations, and associations
  i.e. governments, businesses, and civil society

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The Governance Landscape

• Voice and Accountability
• Political Stability and the Absence of Violence
• Government Effectiveness
• Regulatory Quality
• Rule of Law
• Control of Corruption
• World Governance Index

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The Governance Landscape

• Leadership
• Decision making and decisions
• Capacity
• Learning
• Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Corrective action
• OECD

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The Governance Landscape

• Eligibility
• Selection process
• Powers

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The Governance Landscape

• Decisions should be
• Vision and mission driven
• Lawful
• Transparent
• Accountable
• Participatory
• Inclusive
• Consensual
• Responsive
• Equitable
• Source OECD

9
The Governance Landscape

• Conditions for effective and efficient
  organisations
• Mission and Objectives
• Human resources (personnel)
• Human capital (knowledge)
• Financial resources
• Systems and procedures
• Time

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The Governance Landscape

• Scope
• Frequency
• Method

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The Governance Landscape

• Scope
• Timing (duration since implementation)
• Method
• Internal or external

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The Governance Landscape

• Objectives of learning
• Improved governance performance
• Improved governance framework
• Institutions
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Indicators
• Targets

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• The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Purpose
• Governance Assessment and Benchmarking
• Governance improvement Plan
• Implementation
• Learning
• Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Corrective action

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Objective
• Internally driven
• Externally driven
• Accession
• Compulsory
• Voluntary
• Membership rules
• Compliance
• Incentives
• Sanctions

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Focus
• chosen governance themes
• Comprehensiveness
• institutions included
• Format
• official data collection
• expert opinion surveys
• popular surveys
• Benchmarking
• choice of indicators
• compilation and publication of results

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Issues
• focus areas
• Objectives
• common
• Strategies
• single
• diverse

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Interventions
• Indicators
• trend
• aspirations
• targets

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Completion
• Quality
• Time
• Cost

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

• Monitoring
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Corrective action

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The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms
learning -2

• Objectives of learning
• New or raised governance targets
• New or amended governance indicators
• New or higher governance objectives
• New missions
• New institutions

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• The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

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The APRM as a Governance Assessment and
Improvement Mechanism

• Objectives
• Positive reputation
• Attract FDI
• Attract ODA
• Improved socio-economic development performance
• Accession
• voluntary
• Membership rules
• minimal
• incentives
• sanctions

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• Questionnaire design promotes
• Global codes and standards
• Common objectives
• Common strategies

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• The objectives and questions in the questionnaire
  are mainly concerned with
• Decision making and decisions
• Institutional mission
• Leadership

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism
Democracy and Political Governance Economic Management and Governance Corporate Governance Socio-Economic Development Total
Institutional Mission 11 0 7 3 21
Leadership 1 0 1 0 2
Decisions 13 16 7 3 39
Capacity 3 0 0 1 4
Learning 0 0 0 0 0
Total 28 16 15 7 66
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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• Institutions included in governance assessment
• Government
• Executive
• MDAs
• Judiciary
• Legislature
• Business
• Civil Society not included

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• Data collection methods
• Periodic Formal Self-Assessments
• APRM Questionnaire
• expert opinion
• stakeholders
• public opinion
• Reports - Annual and bi-annual

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• The questionnaire does not make benchmarking
  mandatory
• included in Mauritius NPoA

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• NPoA structure
• Issue
• Objectives
• Required action
• Monitorable indicator
• Means of verification

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• Monitoring
• The systems for monitoring of the NPoA were
  developed by national governing councils post
  NPoA
• Evaluation and Corrective Actions
• weak evidence of corrective actions from
  progress reports submitted

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• APRM Achievements and Challenges

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• APRM raised awareness of importance of the
  decision dimension of governance especially
• transparency
• accountability
• rule of law
• Challenges
• To deepen that understanding to take in the whole
  governance landscape
• leadership
• decisions
• capacity
• learning

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APRM Achievements and Challenges
governance assessment-1

• Achievements
• APRM demonstrated that governance could in
  principle be assessed categorically and
  quantitatively
• leadership
• decisions
• capacity
• learning

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APRM Achievements and Challenges
governance assessment-2

• Challenges
• To institutionalise benchmarking by
• for each APRM objective develop quantifiable or
  categorisable indicators to be used in the
  self-assessment. e.g
• CG enabling environment and effective regulatory
  framework
• new businesses registered annually
• contribution of businesses to fiscal revenues
• proportion of local registered firms in each
  enterprise size category

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APRM Achievements and Challenges
governance assessment-3

• Challenges
• for each APRM objective develop quantifiable or
  categorisable indicators to be used in the
  self-assessment. e.g
• EGM macroeconomic policies for sustainable
  development
• relative share of primary, secondary and tertiary
  sectors in economy
• share of public and private RD in GDP
• number of patents issued
• SED self reliance in development
• proportion of multinational plans in national
  development plan
• proportion of national plan financed by national
  budget
• Benchmarking used as basis of NPoA design

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• APRM combined governance assessment with
  socio-economic development assessment
• This showed the deep connection between the two
  what and how, ends and means
• Challenges
• Clarify further the distinction
• development is about outputs of goods and
  services
• governance is about established processes

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• The NPoA focus could be said to be on governance
  through development
• some governance projects are development
  projects that are necessary to improve governance
  e.g
• computerisation of court records to speed up
  trial times etc
• Challenges
• To raise the profile of improved governance
  through improved systems and organisation

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APRM Achievements and Challenges
Country Governance Socio-economic Development
Ghana 96.1 3.9
Kenya 92.8 7.2
Benin 66.9 31.7
Nigeria 60.0 40.0
Burkina Faso 44.0 56.0
Mauritius 32.0 68.0
South Africa 18.3 80.3
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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• NPoA - the first steps in institutionalising
  improvements in governance performance and
  socio-economic development
• Challenges
• To institutionalise governance improvement plans
  linked to benchmarking, through
• choice of objectives
• choice of indicators
• choice of targets

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• APRM accession
• 33 out of 55 African countries or 60 of African
  countries
• 81 of African population living in APRM member
  county
• 89 of African GDP produced in an APRM member
  country

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Characteristics of African countries
• Average country population - 16 mn
• Per Capita GDP - Africa -US 1,009
• 2010

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Characteristics of APRM member countries
• Average APRM member population size - 20 mn
• Per Capita GDP - US1,219
• 2010

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Characteristics of non-APRM member countries
• Average population 11mn.
• Per Capita GDP Non-APRM - US1,276
• Per capita GDP non-APRM countries (excluding
  Botswana and Libya) - US961
• 2010

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Challenge Increase number of new accessions
• Countries yet to accede
• 40 of countries
• 11 of continental GDP
• Politically unstable

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Challenges
• Keeping and increasing number of active members,
  by
• providing for possibility of different strategies
  to achieve similar objectives
• delivering identifiable regular benefits e.g.
• targets to be striven for

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• Instances of constitutional leadership in Africa
  on the rise
• Quality of constitutional leadership in Africa
  improving
• Threats to un-constitutional leadership mediated
  or challenged

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Challenges
• Continued successful interventions require
• Regional institutions with strong levers e.g.
• diplomatic
• financial
• geo-political
• military
• Infringements from relatively vulnerable countries

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• APRM credited improvements to national governance
  making for better decisions e.g.
• Ghana - Whistle Blower Act - 2006
• Kenya - new constitution (2010)
• less powerful president
• more powerful prime minister
• devolved power to regions
• judicial services commission
• Uganda - strengthening parliamentary oversight
  capacity
• Nigeria - Freedom of Information Act - 28th May
  2011

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Challenges
• Improved governance should lead to improved
  economic performance
• Governance assessment and improvement initiatives
  should fully embrace all three domains of
  society political, business, and civil
• Governance focus concerns to include capacity and
  learning, as well as leadership and decisions.

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• NPoA appear to require significant additions to
  GDP
• From a high of 21 in Burkina Faso to 0.2 in
  South Africa

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APRM Achievements and Challenges
Total Cost of NPoA USbn Annual cost of NPoA USbn GDP (at start of NPoA) USbn Share of starting GDP
Burkina Faso 4.9 1.23 5.80 21.10
Benin 2.34 0.60 4.60 13.00
Mauritius (2010-15) 3.4 0.68 9.70 7.01
Kenya 5.34 1.35 22.80 5.90
Ghana (200 3.65 0.71 12.70 5.60
Nigeria 20.0 5.00 146.90 3.40
Algeria 2.8 0.70 117.30 0.60
South Africa 1.99 0.50 255.00 0.20
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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• However not all NPoA projects came out of the
  self-assessment, many were pre-existing
  programmes
• therefore unlikely to be governance programmes
• therefore the total cost of NPoA did not all
  represent additional spending

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• Low ODA dependence of NPoA
• South Africa (0)
• Nigeria (0)
• Challenges
• To achieve implementation and maintain
  sovereignty in the face of high ODA dependency of
  NPoAs e.g.
• Benin (90)
• Burkina Faso (unspecified but high)

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Challenges
• Develop strategies to address high levels of NPoA
  dependence on ODA. Possibilities might include
• APRM development bonds financed by African
  Diaspora
• APRM development bonds financed by African
  counties with growing and significant sovereign
  funds e.g.
• Angola
• Botswana
• Equatorial Guinea
• Algeria

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• requirement for countries to report bi-annually
  and later annually broadly complied with
• requirement for countries to report using agreed
  matrix, less well adhered to
• Challenges
• countries to report according to agreed matrix
• countries to report using the same indicators as
  used in NPoA

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Achievements
• NPoA raised profile of monitoring, a prerequisite
  to learning
• Challenges
• To ensure that APRM monitoring of implementation
  is effective and efficient
• To strengthen and institutionalise learning
• regular evaluation of effectiveness and
  efficiency
• Parliamentary oversight capacity strengthened to
  necessary levels
• National Audit Institution capacity raised to
  appropriate levels
• National regulatory or oversight bodies, for
  corporates and civil society, given appropriate
  powers and resources

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The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

• recommendations for corrective action from
  evaluations are made public and given serious
  consideration
• To disseminate more widely best practices from
  CRRs
• Adoption/emulation of best practices between APRM
  member countries

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Summary of Challenges
• To establish the headline elements of an APRM
  governance framework including
• determination of governance themes
• for each governance theme formulation of related
  governance objectives
• specification of indicators (benchmarks) for each
  governance objective
• selection of related socio-economic development
  indicators (benchmarks)
• publication of benchmarking results of
  self-assessment
• Annual publication of APRM compiled Governance
  Indicators
• strengthening learning procedures in APRM process
  at country and continental level

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APRM Achievements and Challenges

• Thank you