1 Conference on the Political Dimensions of Poverty Reduction- the case of Zambia' organised by the University of Zambia (UNZA, Lusaka) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) Holiday Inn, Lusaka 9-11 th March 2005

2 Contextualising PRSP Approach in Africa Examining 6 years of experience with PRSPs What is really new? Does it add value? Does it create ownership? Broader political economic process onto which PRS is grafted has to be considered Economic globalisation Question: in what respect is Africa integrated/marginalised in the global economy? More policy space or autonomy in Africa? Africa is navigating without a compass PRSP: lofty ideals/goals in an envt where policy space is shrinking

3 Response to the Challenge and PRSP ‘Gambles’ Response to challenge in Africa 1) Embrace economic globalisation 2) Muddle through: do everything by accident 3) Guided embrace of globalisation: environment of shrinking political space and autonomy to act independently Four major gambles in the PRSP Approach: Government will take poverty more seriously (political will) Promises to enhance gov – civil society interaction Promises to increase gov accountability Democratise donor-recipient relations

4 Managing expectations: PRSP is not a ‘magic bullet’ 1) Politics Considerable consensus that PRSP approach provides unique opportunity to reduce poverty, increase service delivery, etc. 2) Expanding space for broad range of social actors BUT: experience shows poor timeframe for consultations: not about joint decision-making 3) Process is complicated and time intensive Translating policy commitments into indicators, plans and goals Did not emerge from comprehensive analysis of poverty (issues of analysis) 4) No visible re-orientation of lending policies

5 Managing expectations: PRSP is not a ‘magic bullet’ 5) In no country has there been a broad debate about alternate policies Content remains the same (growth, stability, etc) Policies of redistribution are missing 6) Given magnitude of challenge, external pressure for reform not been matched by resource flows Harmonising and simplifying donor support has been disappointing Principle of national ownership: being undermined by the separate reporting requirements of different donors.

6 National Ownership Is national ownership equivalent to national empowerment? Real national ownership is an outcome of a number of factors 1) Political dimension: Real political commitment from the top to push public sector reform, decentralisation, etc. However, ownership tends to be narrowly defined resulting in ownership concentrated at the top. Need for similar commitment at lower levels of government and across sectors (broadening and deepening - mainstreaming). All phases of policy process require leadership at the top changing system of governance from the top; 2) Most governments do not allow citizens to participate in policymaking Prior engagement with government. Government suspicious about engagement with civil society: constraint on opening up space. Civil service resistance to participation and consultation (view it as a pain on the neck)

7 National Ownership 3) Technocratic/institutional dimension: capacity to implement state reforms: High quality PRSPs with donor funding Regulatory/legal capacity: produces Technical capacity: specialised abilities Extractive/taxation capacity Administrative capacity Capable state Capacity is clearly lacking in many states Domestic accountability in public financial management: difficulty of linking to budget Accountability in a weak state: capacity issue Hypocritical to talk about ownership in donor-gov relations Loan conditions, SAPs Need “policy space”: increasing policy options

8 Concluding thoughts Where to from here? Hinges on improving efficiency and effectiveness of state Institutional machinery needs to be revisited Priorities Civil service reform: low capacity due to low wages, poor working conditions - affects responsiveness. Should focus on using existing capacity. Judicial reform Public expenditure Decentralisation: getting closer to local level critical for legitimacy Conclusions PRSP does offer opportunity BUT requires strong state – a capable state Problem in Africa: development never really started – have a confusion of agendas Are opportunities BUT requires development of state capacity