Multiple stakeholders summoned in an inaugural meeting of the African Partnership Coordination Platform, co-hosted by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) . The process to lump together a coherent and coordinated African strategy has been started, to reap maximum benefit from its international partnerships as Africa has not responded in a well-articulated, comprehensive, coherent and strategic manner, towards its global partnerships and this has become the key obstacle to thy continent optimally benefiting from such partnerships.
Even worse, the situation is compounded by the lack of coordination and competition between national interest and regional interest, hence weakening Africa’s voice in its partnerships.
Welcoming the delegates, ACBF’s Executive Secretary, Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie said, “With the growing interest in the development potential of Africa and the expansion and fragmentation of the international field of operators, it was important to ensure that three crucial things happen: (i) the interactions work for the benefit of Africa; (ii) cooperation with partners leads to economic diversification and sustainable development in Africa; and (iii) Africa’s partners support the continent’s integration into the global economy, as espoused in Agenda 2063.
He further said, “He was happy to note that there had been a remarkable growth in the interest in Africa by traditional, new, and emerging development partners, and these interests have varied depending on the partner but generally they have ranged from political, social to economical nature. It has been observed that the key obstacle to Africa’s partnerships is the lack of a coherent strategy towards partners. As a result, the growing number of agencies operating in Africa and the multiplicity of coordinating, steering, working committees and groups throughout the African Union system, are increasingly posing serious challenges to the ability of the AU to carry out its overarching international role to ensure effective partnerships for Africa’s development.”
He pledged ACBF’s unstinting commitment to support initiatives that ensure Africa is better capacitated to progress faster into its development – initiatives that work closely with the AUC’s leadership, commissions and departments, especially the Partnership Management and Coordination Division (PMCD).
Supporting Prof Nnadozie’s concerns, Head of the AUC’s Partnership Management and Coordination Division Dr. Levi Madueke said, “It was critical to accelerate the process of continental development and integration, and as a result, it waspart of the AU’s mandate to drive continental development and integration by building synergies with other parts of the world, especially where maximum mutual benefits were derivable.”
He further said, “It is in this spirit that the AU, soon after its establishment, began to engage the international community to seek cooperation aimed at advancing the process of achieving its development and integration agenda. This motivation resulted in the establishment of relationships with various international bodies and groups, countries, and continents.”
Mr Chakurangeyi Mutodza, a Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry official who deputized for the new Foreign Minister, Major-General Sibusiso Moyo, agreed that the proliferation of partnerships over the years called for a unified and coordinated African approach, and therefore there was a critical need, as Prof Nnadozie had earlier submitted, to address the current lack of coordination and synergetic linkages between Africa and its foreign partners.
