New Partnership for Africa’s Development: thirteenth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support

The present report, submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 69/290, coincides with several global milestones relevant to the agenda of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), including the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the 20-year review of implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the prospective adoption of the post-2015 development agenda and the 2015 United Nations climate change prospective agreement, as well as the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Beyond those global milestones, 2015 is also a landmark year for Africa’s development, with the adoption of the African Union Agenda 2063, the long-term, strategic vision for the continent’s transformative development over the next 50 years, and its first 10-year Implementation Plan (2014-2023).

The report highlights actions taken by African countries towards achievement of the aims of NEPAD, including increased investment and regional coordination in infrastructure development and regional integration, innovative projects related to agriculture development and climate change adaptation, and strengthened efforts to improve national and regional health-care systems in the wake of the Ebola outbreak. To achieve further progress, however, the continent will need to overcome challenges in all of the NEPAD priority thematic areas and adapt the NEPAD priorities to the new strategic thinking of the African Union.

Despite extensive efforts in domestic resource mobilization, the report identifies inadequate financing as a major challenge in all sectors and underlines the need for greater investment by African countries and their development partners, as well as for greater efforts to spur private sector investment and public-private partnerships in the region. The report emphasizes the need for African countries to achieve economic transformation through industrialization and diversification. It also stresses the need for the international community to complement the continent’s efforts, including through increased financial support, technical assistance and capacity-building, and emphasizes the need for Africa’s priorities to be reflected in the post-2015 development agenda.