NEPAD Agency
About NEPAD
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an African Union strategic framework for pan-African socio-economic development, is both a vision and a policy framework for Africa in the twenty-first century. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders, to address critical challenges facing the continent: poverty, development and Africa's marginalisation internationally.
NEPAD provides unique opportunities for African countries to take full control of their development agenda, to work more closely together, and to cooperate more effectively with international partners.
A history of NEPAD can be found here and details of NEPAD's governance structures can be found here.
A detailed list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about NEPAD can be found here.
The NEPAD Agency
NEPAD has strengthened its programme by transforming its secretariat into a more focused implementation agency, namely the NEPAD Agency.
This development is the result of NEPAD's integration into the structures and processes of the African Union (AU) as per the AU Assembly decision at the February 2010 14th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Click here to access the decision.
This is the first time that an African regional initiative has been institutionalised in the form of a development agency within the AU family. The Agency is the institutional vehicle for implementing the AU development agenda of NEPAD.
The Agency – whose offices will carry on being based in South Africa as was the case with the Secretariat – offers a more practical and technical focus on the NEPAD goals and on important development projects across the continent.
The mandate of the NEPAD Agency?
Designated as the technical body of the African Union, the core mandate of the NEPAD Agency is to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of regional and continental priority programmes and projects and to push for partnerships, resource mobilisation and research and knowledge management.
The strategic direction of the NEPAD Agency is based on the following thematic areas:
- Agriculture and food security;
- Climate change and natural resource management;
- Regional integration and infrastructure;
- Human development;
- Economic and corporate governance; and
- Cross-cutting issues of gender and capacity development.
The Agency is financed through the statutory budgets of the African Union Commission (AUC), voluntary contributions from AU member states, and additional budgetary support from development partners and the private sector.
The desired key outcomes of the NEPAD Agency's interventions?
The Agency's objectives include:
- Strengthened regional and continental integration to achieve sustainable economic growth and development;
- Enhanced capacity of member states and RECs to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the NEPAD programme;
- Implementation of effective growth strategies and poverty eradication programmes to accelerate African development goals through high-quality sector and cross-sector programmes and projects;
- That Africa achieves desired implementing capacities for active engagement on the global stage in all respects;
- That the NEPAD Agency becomes the knowledge hub on the continent;
- Partnerships based on equality, mutual respect, accountability and responsiveness are forged between Africa and development partners for better delivery of AU/NEPAD development goals; and
- Civil society and the private sector become an integral part of the development processes.
Click here to download the "What is the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency?" brochure
Information provided by NEPAD