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

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

The Governance Landscape

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

The Governance Landscape areas of focus-1 Voice and Accountability Political Stability and the Absence of Violence Government Effectiveness Regulatory Quality Rule of Law Control of Corruption World Governance Index

The Governance Landscape areas of focus-2 Leadership Decision making and decisions Capacity Learning Monitoring Evaluation Corrective action OECD

The Governance Landscape leadership concerns Eligibility Selection process Powers

The Governance Landscape decision making concerns Decisions should be: Vision and mission driven Lawful Transparent Accountable Participatory Inclusive Consensual Responsive Equitable Source: OECD

The Governance Landscape capacity concerns Conditions for effective and efficient organisations: Mission and Objectives Human resources (personnel) Human capital (knowledge) Financial resources Systems and procedures Time

The Governance Landscape monitoring concerns Scope Frequency Method

The Governance Landscape evaluation concerns Scope Timing (duration since implementation) Method Internal or external

The Governance Landscape learning Objectives of learning: Improved governance performance Improved governance framework Institutions Objectives Strategies Indicators Targets

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms outline Purpose Governance Assessment and Benchmarking Governance improvement Plan Implementation Learning Monitoring Evaluation Corrective action

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms Framework Objective Internally driven Externally driven Accession Compulsory Voluntary Membership rules Compliance Incentives Sanctions

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms governance assessment 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

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms improvement plan-1 Issues focus areas Objectives common Strategies single diverse

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms improvement plan-2 Interventions Indicators trend aspirations targets

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms implementation Completion Quality Time Cost

The Structure of Governance Improvement Mechanisms learning-1 Monitoring Implementation Evaluation Efficiency Effectiveness Corrective action

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

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism

The APRM as a Governance Assessment and Improvement Mechanism framework Objectives Positive reputation Attract FDI Attract ODA Improved socio-economic development performance Accession voluntary Membership rules minimal incentives sanctions

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism objectives and strategies Questionnaire design promotes Global codes and standards Common objectives Common strategies

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism focus of questionnaire The objectives and questions in the questionnaire are mainly concerned with: Decision making and decisions Institutional mission Leadership

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

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism comprehensiveness Institutions included in governance assessment Government Executive MDAs Judiciary Legislature Business Civil Society not included

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism governance assessment: format 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

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism benchmarking The questionnaire does not make benchmarking mandatory included in Mauritius NPoA

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism improvement plan NPoA structure Issue Objectives Required action Monitorable indicator Means of verification

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism learning-1 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

APRM: Achievements and Challenges

APRM Achievements and Challenges importance of governance 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges governance assessment-1 Achievements APRM demonstrated that governance could in principle be assessed categorically and quantitatively leadership decisions capacity learning

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

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 R&D 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges development and governance-1 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges development and governance-2 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges APRM focus 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges governance improvement 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-1 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-2 Characteristics of African countries* Average country population - 16 mn Per Capita GDP - Africa -US$ 1,009 * 2010

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-2 Characteristics of APRM member countries* Average APRM member population size - 20 mn Per Capita GDP - US$1,219 * 2010

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-2 Characteristics of non-APRM member countries* Average population = 11mn. Per Capita GDP Non-APRM - US$1,276 Per capita GDP non-APRM countries (excluding Botswana and Libya) - US$961 * 2010

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-3 Challenge: Increase number of new accessions Countries yet to accede 40% of countries 11% of continental GDP Politically unstable

APRM Achievements and Challenges accession-4 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges leadership-1 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges leadership-2 Challenges Continued successful interventions require: Regional institutions with strong levers e.g. diplomatic financial geo-political military Infringements from relatively vulnerable countries

APRM Achievements and Challenges decisions-1 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges decisions-2 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.

APRM Achievements and Challenges capacity-1 NPoA appear to require significant additions to GDP: From a high of 21% in Burkina Faso to 0.2% in South Africa

APRM Achievements and Challenges capacity-2 Total Cost of NPoA US$bn Annual cost of NPoA GDP (at start of NPoA) 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 South Africa 1.99 0.50 255.00 0.20

APRM Achievements and Challenges capacity-3 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges capacity-4 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)

APRM Achievements and Challenges capacity-5 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges Reporting 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges institutionalising learning 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

The APRM as a Governance Improvement Mechanism institutionalising learning-2 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges common governance perspective 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

APRM Achievements and Challenges common governance perspective Thank you