7th Africa Governance Forum – "Building the Capable State in Africa"

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

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Seventh Africa Governance Forum (AGF7)

The Seventh Africa Governance Forum (AGF7) will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 24-26 October 2007 under the theme, "Building the Capable State in Africa."

The choice of the theme, "Building the Capable State in Africa" was a recommendation of the Sixth Africa Governance Forum that was held in Kigali in 2006 on the implementation of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

At the Kigali Forum, lack of capacity-of state institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector and of other non-state actors was identified as constituting the greatest constraint to governance and development delivery in Africa.

It was underlined that in Africa, where institutions are particularly weak, a capable state remains indispensable for effective service delivery, good governance and development oversight as a whole.

In this respect, the specific objectives of the Seventh Africa Governance Forum will be to:

1. Deliberate on the meaning and definition of a capable state appropriate to the African context and its linkages to peace, security, good governance, and development.
2. Take stock of the experiences and lessons learnt from the  efforts at meeting the capacity challenges in Africa including internal and external factors that have facilitated and/or hindered building the capable state
3. Brainstorm on the prevailing capacity development challenges and opportunities for building the capable state in Africa and their implications to Africa and its development partners.
4. Identify the nature and types of capacity required in a variety of state and non-state actors in the African context, how to ensure ownership of the process of building capable states by all relevant stakeholders
5. Discuss how Africa can effectively respond in putting in place an African owned and led strategies for building the capable state and the nature of partnerships that will be required.

Thirty African countries have been invited to take part in AGF7. These countries were selected on the basis of linguistic and geographic balance, best practice and post-conflict experience. They are Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Mali and Togo from West Africa; Comoros, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius, Sudan and Uganda from East Africa; South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, and Zimbabwe from Southern Africa; the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon from Central Africa; Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia from North Africa; and Central Africa and Chad from Central Africa invited as observers.

An Issues paper and seven technical thematic papers have been commissioned.. The papers are on the following themes:

1. Redefining the role of the state and development challenges in Africa
   
2. Developing institutional and human capacity for public sector performance
   
3. State legitimacy and leadership
   
4. Strengthening state performance through decentralized governance
   
5. The role of Women and non-state actors
   
6. Globalization and state capacity
   
7. The role of women in building the capable state in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

These papers have been used as technical input into the national consultations that have been undertaken in the participating countries culminating into country reports summing up their respective national experiences in capacity development and building capable state.  These national reports together with the technical papers will form the basis for the deliberations and experience-sharing at the Forum as well as for elaborating comprehensive and sustainable strategies and programmes for building the capable state in Africa

The fact that Africa remains capacity-challenged notwithstanding the considerable effort and resources invested, underlines the need for a  deep reflection  and new approach-one that recognizes and gives space to Africa’s leadership in defining capacity in a manner that anchors the concept and its application in the continent’s critical needs addressing its linkages to policies and institutions and how these interact to impact on the ability of continent to meet its peace, governance and development challenges.