Skilled People and Strong Institutions Transforming Africa

Most African countries have engaged deep reforms towards transformation of their economies through the domestication of Agenda 2063 especially its first 10-year Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Capacity is a defining factor of success in the implementation of these agendas. Capacity development is a defining parameter for a successful implementation of this continental development agenda, to be delivered through a national and continental architecture comprising countries, regional and continental institutions.

To respond to the continent’s capacity development requirements over the next five years, President Alassane Ouattara and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in cooperation with the African Development Bank will host on 30 June – 01 July 2016 at the Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, the launch of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)’s Strategy for the period 2017-2021 and the 25th Regular Meeting of the ACBF Board of Governors. The Conference will include a Donor Pledging Session and will attract African governments and the continent’s development partners.

The ACBF Strategy for 2017-2021 is anchored on the Foundation’s vision of an Africa Capable of Achieving its Own Development, and aims to produce skilled people and strong institutions that will transform Africa. The Strategy builds on the experience accumulated and the lessons learned by the Foundation over the past 25 years as a leading institution in capacity building and its deep rooting in Africa’s development realities.

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Africa’s evolving capacity development landscape

Despite good progress since the turn of the century, capacity deficits remain a major challenge facing African countries in their quest for sustainable development. Those deficits continue to prevent them from implementing their development strategies and policies and from achieving their desired development outcomes. According to the Africa Capacity Report 2015, produced by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), weak capacity in its various dimensions is still a problem of the continent. Indeed, ACBF’s consultations with a broad cross-section of African governments, private sector, civil society, and development partners show that capacity constraints are most visible in addressing the continent’s major problems.

According to the 2015 Africa Capacity Index, 73% of 45 African countries have medium capacity and 9% have low capacity, while only 18% have high capacity. An ACBF study on the capacities needed to implement the African Union’s Agenda 2063 shows serious gaps in critical technical skills to implement the Agenda’s first 10-year plan. For instance, Africa could have a projected gap of as many as 4.3 million engineers and 1.6 million agricultural scientists and researchers. The study also shows that leadership capacity is particularly important for implementing global, continental, and national strategies – but that it is woefully lacking across the continent. Without an urgent and concerted effort to address this conundrum, Africa will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2063, or national development strategies.

Other impediments to achieving the continent’s long-term strategic goals and realizing the ambitious targets in Agenda 2063 include the lack of a systematic approach to creating, using, and retaining capacity. Such an approach would encompass individual, institutional and organizational capacity and an enabling policy, legal, and regulatory environment.

To address this challenge in the next five years, ACBF proposes to build on its strong track record of achievement as the leader in capacity development – and to intensify, in its Strategy for 2017-2021, efforts to fulfill its vision of “an Africa capable of achieving its own development.” For this, ACBF would accelerate and scale up:

• Developing critical technical skills – emphasizing in equal measure, capacity development, capacity retention, and capacity utilization.

• Building key institutions of development – to ensure greater effectiveness, implementation, and sustainability.

• Developing leadership capacity and changing the mindset – to implement global, continental, and national strategies.

ACBF’s Strategy for 2017-2021 builds on the experience it has accumulated and the lessons it has learned over the past 25 years as a leading institution for capacity building. As a pan-African organization, ACBF must continue its journey of moving beyond “simply” providing grants to durably establish itself as a trusted advisor, facilitator, and broker to support capacity development in Africa.

The Foundation will realize this strategic aspiration by providing substantive advisory and capacity development services. This constitutes a major shift from ACBF’s being perceived mostly as a “go-to place for funding” to being the “go-to place for capacity development support.”

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Message from the Chairperson of the AU Commission on the occasion of the Pledging Conference for the ACBF

Delivered by the AU Representative, H.E. Madame Josephine-Charlotte Mayuma Kala

It gives me a great pleasure to read to you this message of support and solidarity from the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Dr. Nkosasana Dlamini Zuma, who due to preparations of the upcoming African Union Summit scheduled for 10-18 July 2016, in Kigali, is unable to attend this very important meeting.

She has nonetheless requested me to actively participate in your deliberations and to report back to her as she is keenly interested in the outcome of this exercise, given that the African Capacity Building Foundation is a strong and highly valued partner, particularly in the new context generated by the adoption and implementation of Africa’s long-term vision for social and economic transformation, Agenda 2063.

As we all know, 9th February 2016 marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the African Capacity Building Foundation by African countries, bilateral and multilateral development partners.

During the last two decades and a half, the ACBF has provided innovative and cutting edge support on capacity development in Africa. Its work has been exemplary and we take this opportunity to commend its current and past leadership for all that has been achieved. ACBF has done sterling work within its terms of reference.

With the resolute support of some 40 African countries, members of ACBF, a significant number of bilateral and multilateral development organizations, the achievements of ACBF spans many areas in capacity development which were well documented during the 3rd Pan-African Capacity Development Forum held in Harare, Zimbabwe 3-5 May 2016.

Since its inception 25 years ago with the mandate to lead in the building of sustainable human and institutional capacity for good governance and development management in Africa, the ACBF can be said to have accomplished her mission with such a short time. Its key achievements include:

• Designing and implementing capacity development programmes in support of the continent’s public sector with focus on development management, including macro-economic and financial management

• Designing and implementing capacity development programmes in support of the growth of Africa’s science and technology institutions

• Developing the African Capacity Indicator Tool – which is used to assess the capacity levels of African countries

• Provision of funding through the Africa capacity building fund to African think tanks- as of date, such support has nurtured or contributed to the existence of about 25 think tanks. That is these think tanks owe their existence to the African capacity building foundation. ACBF enjoys the confidence of the African think tanks and has been entrusted in being their secretariat.

• Organizing of Pan African Capacity Development fora where practitioners, scholars, the private sector, civil society organizations meet to review and chart out the strategies for Africa’s socio-economic development.

As mentioned earlier, the African continent is now implementing agenda 2063 and its first ten year implementation plan. This is a bold forward looking vision and framework to guide the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years. Agenda 2063 represents an Africa confident in itself, and one convinced that by taking ownership of its own development it can create a future free of disease, want, hunger, civil strife and one based on expanded freedoms for all her women, men, youth and children.

Indeed the vision of ACBF: “Africa capable of achieving its own development” is compatible with the spirit and thrust of agenda 2063.

It is therefore not surprising that ACBF played a seminal role in helping the African Union define the capacity imperatives for agenda 2063, an area identified as one of the critical success factors for agenda 2063. The ACBF has facilitated the preparation of capacity building needs for AU organs and the regional economic communities for the implementation of the roles assigned them. In addition, it has prepared a report on the division of labor between the AU organs and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) with respect to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the African agenda.

We take this opportunity to thank the executive secretary for this very important support and contribution.

As we embark upon the challenging task of implementation, I would like to mention also that ACBF has now joined African Union Commission (AUC) and the NEPAD Agency, together with the traditional partners AfDB and UNECA, to work along-side the RECs and in the Bahir Dar Agenda 2063 Ministerial Follow-up Committee, tasked by African Union Heads of State and Government to oversee implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063.

To conclude, it is clear that greater demands are henceforth being placed on ACBF to fulfill its role in this partnership in support of Agenda 2063. ACBF will need to intensify its support to creating the requisite capacities for the joint implementation of agenda 2063 and the SDGs through the first ten year implementation plan, and do so with innovation and sustained action.

Going forward, the ACBF has been tasked with the responsibility of coordinating the efforts to develop the institutional and human capacities for the implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and its first ten year implementation plan.

It goes without saying that not only will additional resources be needed by ACBF, but crucially also sustained partnerships with African countries and bilateral and multilateral organizations. We therefore urge all partners to respond positively to enable ACBF to rise up to the new challenges.

We wish you all a very successful meeting.

Thank you.