Report of the Commission for Africa: What is new?

Journal of Development Studies

Volumn 41, Issue 6, 2005, Pages 1126-1132

  Kayizzi Mugerwa, Steve ^a  

^a INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 23944435749     PISSN: 00220388     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00220380500187943     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. See, for example, the April 2005 issue of the magazine New African. The Commonwealth Secretariat [2005] noted that the report 'ticks the right boxes', but added that 'there is still a huge gap between positive recommendations and real change on the ground'.
2. The list of reports or frameworks is long. Below are the most significant: The Lagos Plan of Action, 1980, supported by the Organization of African Unity;
3. Accelerated Development for Africa: An Agenda for Action (the Berg Report), 1980, of the World Bank;
4. Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery, 1985, of the United Nations;
5. The African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment, 1989, endorsed by African governments and supported by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa;
6. and the recently launched, under the auspices of the African Union, New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).
7. The report of the Commission for Africa is mentioned in Labour's election manifesto, 2005, 'Britain forward not back' as the basis for future UK support to Africa. However, Kenya's Shadow Education Minister, Ruth Oniang'o (See SciDev.Net, 2005, on the report of the Commission for Africa), in commenting on the report, wondered: 'Why should Tony Blair love Africa more than we Africans do ourselves? What happened to patriotism?'
8. Many of those commenting (see, for example, the postings, 14 March, 2005, on the SciDev.Net (London) on the Report of the Commission for Africa), noted that the adoption of the report by the G8 meeting in July 2005 will be the real test of its usefulness and possible impact.
9. See DFID's UK White Paper on International Development from 1997, Eliminating World Poverty: a Challenge for the 21st Century.
10. In Uganda, remittances from expatriate Ugandans known locally as 'nkuba kyeeyos' (street sweepers) has exceeded coffee export incomes in the past decade. The importance of remittances has been noted for many other African countries.
11. By focusing on 'the importance of freedom in cultural spheres', the UNDP [2004] Human Development Report on 'Cultural Liberty' did a much be tter job of putting culture into the broader context of development.
12. Probably the most commonly cited example of this gap is the fact that the green revolution is yet to happen in Africa - while sustained manufacturing activities have only taken off in a handful of countries.
13. Still, it is ironic that while Africa is in need of trained manpower, it continues to export thousands of its professionals to Western countries - often, as in the case of nurses, in response to advertisements from hospitals in advanced countries. This would be another variation of aid funds ultimately benefiting the donor country.
14. The Kenyan government has in recent years hinted that donors were not fair in their assessment of its performance in the area of governance. In their view, neighbouring countries (read: Uganda and Tanzania) were not doing much better.
15. Typically, governments see this as blatant interference in their internal affairs. The debate usually fizzles out quickly - until the next mini-crisis.