"The New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD, is a long-term vision of an African-owned and African-driven development initiative, deserving full support from the African Development Bank, as Africa's premier development finance institution", President Kabbaj said in his opening statement at a sensitization seminar of Bank staff on NEPAD activities in Tunis Monday.
The Bank if organizing a NEPAD week the Bank from 11 to 15 July 2005 in Tunis.
The second sensitization workshop will be held from 13 to 15 July. Its purpose is to review progress in the implementation of the NEPAD Short Term Action Plan (STAP). This plan, formulated by the ADB in collaboration with the NEPAD Secretariat and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), was adopted by the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) and endorsed by the African Union in June 2002.
The Bank and the NEPAD Secretariat undertake yearly reviews of the progress in the implementation of the STAP. These reviews are carried out in a participatory manner. They include a stakeholder workshop, which is held at the end of the review to validate the draft reports that are the outcome of various consultations carried out with the RECs, implementing agencies, and development partners.
The review for the year 2004 has been completed and preliminary reports have been prepared: it is in this context that the Bank is organizing the workshop. Its main objective is to discuss with the stakeholders the review results; the stakeholders will validate the analyses, conclusions and recommendations of the review, and agree on roles and responsibilities, and on the way forward.
The workshop will be attended by participants from the African Union, the NEPAD Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Sector Organizations, River Basin Organizations, Implementing Agencies, Development Partners, and the Private Sector.
The workshop will also provide the opportunity to follow-up on the recommendations and action plans agreed at the Abuja workshop on 'Mechanisms for Capacity Building of RECS and Speeding up Implementation of NEPAD STAP Projects' that was held on 7-8 March 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria.
In this regard, President Kabbaj commended the progress already made. "The most visible success in the implementation of STAP is the increasing number of projects that have been approved, and that have now entered the implementation stage. The Bank has contributed significantly to this success", he recalled. The total STAP projects financed by the Bank and other developing partners, during the past three years, amounts to almost three billion US dollars, which represents 27% of the total estimated cost for the STAP. Taking into account the projects currently under consideration for financing by ADB would bring the percentage financed to over 33%.
________________
NEPAD philosophy
• NEPAD represents a commitment by African leaders to the continent's revitalization and renaissance in the 21st century. NEPAD's goal is to infuse new energy, establish solid partnerships, and create a stronger basis for the sustainable development of the continent. The initiative calls on African leaders to take individual and collective responsibility for addressing the inter-locking problems of poverty and underdevelopment on the continent, by creating and sustaining appropriate policy environments in their respective countries.
• It also calls for a new global partnership with the international community based on shared responsibility and mutual interest and accountability. In all, therefore, NEPAD can be seen as a long-term vision of an African-owned and African-driven development initiative, deserving the full support from the African Development Bank, as Africa's premier development finance institution.