Wikiprogress Africa

jeudi 30 mai 2013

The MDG Report 2013:Assessing the Progress in Africa Towards the Millenium Development Goals

The MDG Report 2013: Assessing progress in Africa Towards the Millennium Development Goals concludes that while Africa is the world's second fastest growing region, its rate of poverty reduction is insufficient to reach the target of halving extreme poverty by 2015. The report, which focuses on the issues and challenges regarding food security, asserts that such as malnutrition and hunger among children are obstacles to achieving the target. 

Among its recommendation, the report addresses the need to transform Africa's agriculture improved livelihoods and economic empowerment through better politcies and  and heavy investment in improved seedlings, irrigated farming, use of fertilisers and increased access to finance.


The report can be downloaded  here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

mercredi 29 mai 2013

The 2013 Data Report: Financing the Fight for Africa's transformation (en français)

À moins de 1000 jours de la date-butoir des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement et dans un contexte économique mondial difficile, bien des États pauvres et à moyen-revenu ont fait des progrès importants dans l’atteinte de ces objectifs. Ce rapport de l’ONG, ONE, montre les disparités importantes dans les pays d’une même région, particulièrement en Afrique subsaharienne, qui entrave la moyenne de ces blocs régionaux.

Pour atteindre ces objectifs à temps, ce rapport de ONE examine les progrès des États individuels dans la poursuite des 8 Objectifs Millénaires pour le Développement, avec une emphase sur l’Afrique subsaharienne, et compare ces progrès aux dépenses encourues par les gouvernements africains et les bailleurs de fonds internationaux dans trois domaines, aptes à réduire la pauvreté : la santé, l’éducation et l’agriculture.


Ce rapport souligne l’importance de bâtir un momentum afin d’atteindre les cibles dans les deux ans et demi à venir. Une collaboration entre les gouvernements africains, les gouvernements donneurs et les parties prenantes internationales sera impérative pour financer et s’assurer de la transparence et de la responsabilisation politique dans l’utilisation de ces ressources pour le développement.

Le rapport intégral est disponible ici


Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

The 2013 Data Report: Financing the Fight for Africa's transformation

At less than 1000 days from the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals and with a challenging global economic environment, many poor and middle-income countries have made and are making steady progress towards the achievements of these targets. This report by the NGO ONE, shows that disparity between countries hinders the average performance of regions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

In order to achieve the target on time, the ONE’s 2013 DATA Report examines the recent progress of individual countries against eight MDGs targets, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and compares this progress against African government and donor spending in three key poverty-reducing sectors: health, education and agriculture.

The report stresses the need to build a momentum to achieve the targets in the next two and a half years. Collaboration between African governments, donor governments and international stakeholders will be needed to sustain the financing and to ensure the transparent and accountable use of all resources for development.


Download the full report here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

mardi 28 mai 2013

Africa: Making the most of its natural resources

This post by Jan Rielaender, an economist at the OECD Development Centre, marks the launch of the African Economic Outlook 2013.

Africa has made tremendous progress over the last 13 years, going from “hopeless” to “aspiring”, in the words of The Economist. Certainly, Africa’s pace of growth has been impressive, averaging 5.1% of GDP per year – much faster than most OECD countries. Some have dismissed this simply as reflecting only the recent boom in natural resource prices. They point to the fact that prices of most commodities – agricultural, mineral and energy – doubled or even tripled over the same period, and warn that Africa’s growth will come to an end once resource prices taper off, as it is happening now.

This viewpoint misses the real story on two counts. First, natural resources and their improved terms of trade contributed only a third of Africa’s growth. That’s quite a lot, but not enough to make Africa’s growth exclusively a resources story. Instead, much of Africa’s success is actually a productivity story. Applying new methods of measurement, the African Economic Outlook 2013 finds that Africa’s labour productivity increased by close to 3% during the 2000s, with almost half this attributable to workers moving to new activities with higher productivity. By contrast, Latin America’s productivity growth was less than 1%.

Second, rather than being the exclusive drivers of growth, Africa’s natural resources are contributing less than they could do. Agricultural commodities are a striking example: 24% of the world’s agricultural land is in Africa, but only 9% of agricultural production. With regards to mining, spending on exploration in Africa has remained below $5 per square kilometre; in Canada, Australia and Latin America the average is $65 per square kilometre.

So the story of Africa’s growth and natural resources is a mixed bag: On the upside, Africa’s growth rests on a much more diversified base than is often assumed. On the downside, Africa failed to make the most of its natural resource wealth during the recent boom.  Had it done better, overall growth and the type of structural transformation that can provide more and better jobs would have been higher.

“Hang on,” you might say now. “Isn’t it conventional wisdom that for development to take off a country must leave commodities behind and focus on building factories? Shouldn’t it then be a good thing to leave most resources in the ground?” Not quite. If managed well, natural resources can play a crucial role in transforming economies. This can happen through three channels: diversification, capabilities and revenues.

Diversification, which essentially means the range and variety of products a country exports, is an important driver of growth in developing countries. Given the right conditions, natural resources can be an important source of diversification. Chile, for example, used proceeds from copper to invest in new agricultural commodities, such as salmon, that it previously did not export. Malaysia invested its oil revenues in forestry and palm oil, building very successful industries. Indonesia used oil revenues to supply fertilizer to farmers and develop new crops, building the basis for the country’s green revolution.
Capabilities are the cornerstone of structural transformation. In simple terms, these represent the things a country “can do” – its technological know-how and skills, for example, or the quality of its public services in areas like infrastructure, education and health, and much, much more. Countries with strong and diversified natural resource production have more opportunities to develop their capabilities. Take South Africa, which went from supplying simple tools to its miners to become an internationally competitive supplier to the world’s mining industry. Chile successfully developed local know-how on adapting mining technology to local conditions, while Nigeria has started to build up a supplier industry for its resource sectors.

Capabilities make the link between the production of basic commodities and diversification at large. On average, the more unprocessed commodities a country exports competitively, the more manufactured products it exports competitively. For example, South Africa exported 46 raw commodities competitively in 2005 and 197 manufactured final products in 2010. Angola only exported one commodity (oil) competitively in 2005 and 24 manufactured final products in 2010.

Finally, the third channel – revenues – offers arguably the greatest benefit from extractive industries in the short to medium term. Invested wisely, the proceeds from mining and petroleum production can be used to fund many of the crucial inputs for structural transformation such as education and health, as well as infrastructure and strong public services.


So, instead of putting natural resources aside, African countries should look to them for their strengths and the opportunities they offer to create a diversified economy.

This blog was originally posted on the OECD Insights blog, here.

Jan Rielaender
OECD Development Centre

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African Economic Outlook 2013: Structural Transformation and Natural Resources

The African Economic Outlook 2013 was launched on May 27th during the Marrakech conference. Co-published by the African Development Bank (AfDB), OECD’s Develppment Centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Program, this report outlines the promising trend of economic growth in African countries but addresses the failure in the reduction of poverty, unemployment, income inequality, and among some countries the deterioration of health and education levels.

Through the exploitation of natural resources and structural transformation, the benefits of economic growth could be shared among the population. Improving the well-being of citizens, which should be of the end of economic growth, could be achieved through 4 priorities:
  •  Increasing the access to markets (through regional integration) in order to achieve the structural transformation
  • Sound  land management, effective tax systems and incentives to cause an acceleration and  diversification of the sources of growth.Improving the transport, fertilizers and more resistant seeds in order to increase the productivity. Africa holds 24% of the world’s agricultural land, but accounts for only 9% of its production.
  •  Ensuring that a fair share of the proceeds from natural resources are invested in people’s capacities to take up new jobs in value-added sectors.
  •  Finally, the report suggests that African countries can foster change and economic diversification actively, for example through corridors of development around power, transport and communication lines. Stable and transparent use of budgets is key to achieving that goal.
To read the whole report, click here
To read  the pocket edition, click here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

lundi 27 mai 2013

Perspectives économiques en Afrique 2013:Transformation structurelle et ressources naturelles

Les Perspectives économiques en Afrique (2013) ont été publiées le 27 mai 2013. Le thème de cette année portait sur la transformation structurelle et les ressources naturelles. Cette co-publication de  la Banque africaine de développement (BAD), le Centre de développement de l’OCDE, la Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA) et le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (PNUD), souligne que les perspectives économiques sont prometteuses, mais ne suffisent pas à réduire la pauvreté, le chômage, les inégalités de revenus ni, dans certains pays, à enrayer la détérioration des niveaux de santé et de l’éducation.

D’après le rapport, c’est en exploitant mieux et davantage la richesse de leurs sols que les bénéfices de la croissance économique pourront être distribués à l’ensemble de la population. Atteindre cet objectif, qui est d’améliorer le bien-être des populations africaines, passe ainsi par 4 priorités.

  •          Favoriser l’accès au marché afin de mettre en œuvre un processus de transformation structurelle s’appuyant sur les ressources naturelles. L’intégration régionale constitue ainsi un moyen de parvenir à cette fin.
  •          Optimiser l’exploitation des ressources naturelles (y compris l’agriculture) par une meilleure gestion de la propriété foncière, des systèmes d’imposition équilibrés et des incitatifs à la diversification des sources de la croissance. Améliorer la qualité de l’engrais ou des semences constitue une avenue : l’Afrique détient 24 pour cent des terres agricoles mondiales, mais elle ne représente que 9 pour cent de la production.
  •         Les retombées de l’exploitation des ressources naturelles et des industries extractives doivent bénéficier à l’ensemble de la population et cela passe par la formation de la main d’œuvre, afin qu’elle trouve à s’employer dans de nouvelles activités à plus forte valeur ajoutée.
  •          Le renforcement de l’infrastructure (énergie, transport et communication) constitue un moyen de promouvoir la diversification des sources de croissance. Et cela ppasse par une dépense budgétaire prévisible et transparente selon ce rapport.


Pour consulter l'édition de poche, cliquez ici
Pour lire ce rapport dans son intégralité ce rapport cliquez ici

Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

“Fixing Mali: Accountability a Prerequisite”

This post by Jamie Pleydell-Bouverie addresses the challenge of governance in crisis-torn Mali. This blog does not reflect the views of the Wikiprogress Africa Network partners.

As Mali gears up for elections in July amidst the phased French withdrawal that is currently underway, the next three months seem to be the overriding focus of policymakers, commentators and stakeholders. This is understandable. Mali is at a crucial juncture as it tries to consolidate French military success, provide security, re-establish constitutional order and deal with a plethora of humanitarian issues. But any sustainable fix to Mali’s multifarious crisis will have to address its root causes.

Of these, one of the most important – yet sometimes overlooked – is Mali’s longstanding history of impunity. In the North, painful memories of unpunished crimes from previous conflicts have shaped the collective consciousness of people who feel ostracized and neglected by the central government. Mali is a prime example of the power that memories of unpunished crimes have to resurface and rekindle conflict. Stories of massacres that were never investigated in the 1963 rebellion and crimes that were never redressed in the 1990s rebellion have been passed down to a new generation of fighters (see ICG’s 2012 report Avoiding Escalation). Cyclical conflict will likely continue in Mali if the cycle of impunity is not broken. It is crucial, therefore, that there is a meaningful effort to investigate instances of abuse that have occurred and hold perpetrators accountable.

Since the onset of Mali’s crisis in October 2011, serious abuses have been committed by Islamist groups (AQIM, MUJAO and Ansar Dine), the MNLA, and Malian forces. Abuses by Islamist groups include beatings, floggings and arbitrary detentions against those engaged in behaviour deemed to be “haram” or forbidden. Limb amputations and executions have been meted out as punishment, unique cultural and religious heritage has been systematically destroyed, and the Islamists’ use of child soldiers has been prolific. The summary execution of an estimated 70 Malian soldiers in the town of Aguelhoc – the “single most serious crime of this conflict” according to Human Rights Watch – was reportedly carried out by Islamists, possibly members of AQIM. Extensive abuses by the MNLA and Arab militias have also been documented, including pillaging, sexual abuse and the use of child soldiers.
Countless abuses by the Malian army have been recorded as well. Following Captain Sanogo’s coup on March 22 2012, effective command and control of the security services seriously deteriorated. Numerous instances of torture and forced disappearances were documented, particularly against “red beret” soldiers who were allegedly implicated in the counter-coup attempt on April 30. The execution of 16 Islamic preachers on their way to a religious conference in Bamako on September 8 is amongst the more shocking abuses carried out by the military. More recently, retaliatory violence by government troops in the north has surged.

Bringing Mali’s well-established culture of impunity to a close will be essential for the attainment of sustainable peace. It is particularly important that accountability applies to members of the security forces, including senior figures such as Captain Sanogo, who has been implicated by some NGOs in torture and enforced disappearances. There are some encouraging signs. Six soldiers were recently recalled to Bamako from Timbuktu following the disappearance of several civilians. These soldiers are due to stand before a Military Tribunal, which will be a first in Mali’s history. But if Mali is to break its cycle of impunity, this cannot remain an exception to the rule. Accountability must become the rule.

Any temptation to consider offering an amnesty for serious crimes in the name of reconciliation must be avoided. Reconciliation and justice are not antithetical concepts: Justice is a path to reconciliation. Indeed, the effective work of Mali’s National Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission – led by Mali’s former Minister of Defence, Mohamed Salia Sokona – will depend on the administration of even-handed justice. This, in turn, will require strengthening Mali’s key institutions – such as the judiciary, the police and army – which have long failed to be effective guarantors of the rule of law. Mali is in desperate need of institutions that can provide security and redress, which makes the task of dismantling Mali’s architecture of impunity more a project of construction than destruction.
The need for thinking and acting in multiple time horizons is essential. When countries are in crisis, policymaking is too often overtaken by events, meaning that longer term goals get ignored or put on hold. This must not happen in Mali. If those factors that gave rise to Mali’s crisis – including its deep-seated culture of impunity – are not addressed, then Mali will still be a sad example of cyclical conflict in years to come.

Jamie Pleydell-Bouverie, 
MA Candidate at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
 
This blog first appeared on the Sahel Blog site, here

mardi 21 mai 2013

South Sudan at a crossroads: humanitarian response in a changing context


Humanitarian needs are still strong in South Sudan, despite the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan and South Sudan in 2005.Since 2011, over 187,000 refugees have arrived in Unity and Upper Nile States from Sudan and continuing inter-communal violence in Jonglei has affected more than 170,000 Southern Sudanese. The 2013 Consolidated Appeal for South Sudan estimates that an estimated 4.6 million people will need food and livelihoods support this year.

To address these issues, the Overseas Development Institute will seek to examine the humanitarian challenges that remain in South Sudan, from the drivers of conflict in Jonglei to constraints on humanitarian access. Speakers based in London and Juba, will reflect on these challenges based partly on their own experiences, through a live videocast.

This event will happen on May, 22nd  2013 11:00 - 13:00 (GMT+01 (BST))
Speakers:

IN JUBA
Dr Luka Biong Deng
 – Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, JFK School of Government and former representative of the President of the Republic of South Sudan on the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee

Toby Lanzer – UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Development and Humanitarian Coordinator, South Sudan

Dr. Jok Madut Jok – Executive Director of the Sudd Institute and Undersecretary in the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Government of South Sudan

IN LONDON 
Sandrine Tiller – Programmes Advisor: Humanitarian Issues, Médecins Sans Frontières UK

Sarah Pickwick – Policy Officer, Tearfund

Chair:

Sara Pantuliano – Head, Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI

For more information about this event, please visit this website
For the live coverage, follow #JubaCalling on Twitter 


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

Beyond the Millennium Development Goals: Towards an OECD contribution to the post-2015 agenda


This overview paper – the first in a series of contributions – outlines a preliminary proposal for a contribution to the post-2015 era which reflects the OECD mission of supporting governments in designing “better policies for better lives”. It represents the Organisation’s commitment – reflected in the recently-launched OECD Strategy on Development – to engage with member countries and emerging and developing countries; to share expertise and knowledge through mutual learning, respecting countries’ ownership of their own development; and to strive towards more coherent approaches to development. 


The proposal, consisting of 11 elements intends to help provide a global, holistic, measurable 
and meaningful development framework. It involves a two-level approach: 
1. a global level with a small number of high profile goals and targets
2. a national level consisting of goals, targets and indicators defined and tailored to the diverse starting points, specific contexts, priorities and capacities of each country

This brief report is a preliminary proposal and isnot intended to be an exhaustive list of OECD contributions, but a draft list of ideas for where the OECD could best start to get involved. More detailed papers will be produced in co-operation with different OECD directorates, reflecting in detail the 11 elements outlined here.

To read the whole report, click  here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

samedi 18 mai 2013

La semaine en gouvernance


Bonjour à tous et bienvenue à cette revue consacrée aux publications et initiatives portant sur la gouvernance. Au cours de cette semaine s’est déroulée la conférence sur le Mali à Bruxelles, la journée mondiale des télécommunications et de la société de l'information ainsi que le rapport sur l’état de la société civile dans le monde de CIVICUS.
  • Le rapport sur l’État de la Société Civile a été publié au début de ce mois par l’Alliance CIVICUS. Il appelle à créer un environnement propice aux sociétés civiles et inclut près de  contributions d’experts et de leaders de mouvements civils d’à travers le monde. Ces experts ont montré les bonnes pratiques et les défis à relever à long terme pour les citoyens, et la société civile mondiale.

  • La conférence des donateurs pour le développement du Mali a eu lieu ce mardi à Bruxelles. La conférence (co-organisée par l'Union Européenne et les gouvernements français et malien) vise à dégager des priorités d'action pour le Mali et la communauté internationale ainsi qu'à fédérer et coordonner l'appui au développement et à la stabilité politique pour 2013-2014.

  • En marge de cette conférence, Oxfam a publié un rapport appelant à un nouveau contrat de développement au Mali. La transparence et la responsabilisation politique devant être à la base de ce nouveau contrat entre le gouvernement malien et ses habitants d’une part et d’autre part, entre le gouvernement malien et les bailleurs internationaux.

  • Ce 14 Mai, l’Overseas Development Institute a accueilli un forum avec pour thème,  « Tackling poverty : can citizens make a difference? ».  À travers une analyse des procédés innovants par lesquels la société civile combat la corruption et promeut la transparence et par une étude des recherches et l’expérience de groupes issus de contextes variés, le panel tentera de déterminer si la participation civique a eu un impact et, si oui, pourquoi.


  • Dans l’optique de cette journée, le think-tank Brookings a organisé un forum sur le rôle des technologies mobiles dans l’éradication de la pauvreté et dans la promotion de l’entreprenariat. Ce forum étudiait les moyens par lesquels, les appareils mobiles pouvaient aider au développement des petites et moyennes entreprises et de sortir les gens de la pauvreté.

  • Wikigender met le focus sur les Femmes et les Élections. Wikiprogress met l’accent sur la manière dont les femmes font entendre leur voix, en tant qu’élues ou en votant. Des cas relevants de contexte différents seront ainsi mis en relief.


Passez une agréable fin de semaine et restez connectés pour plus de nouvelles sur la gouvernance!!!
Suivez-nous sur Twitter(@wp_africa), et sur Facebook(ici).


Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

vendredi 17 mai 2013

Governance Week in Review


This Week in Review by Ousmane Aly DIALLO is part of the Wikiprogress Governance Series


Hi everyone and welcome to another  review of governance-themed publications and initiatives. This week saw the Mali donor conference at Brussels, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day and the 2013 State of the Civil Society Report on Wikiprogress.
  •  State of Civil Society Report was released earlier this month by the CIVICUS Alliance. This report which calls for an enabling environment for civil society, includes nearly 50 contributions from experts and civil society leaders from around the world. These experts highlighted good practices and challenges on the horizon for citizens and civil society globally.
  • The Mali donor conference happened in Brussels this Tuesday. This event, co-organized by the Malian government, France and the European Union was the occasion for Mali to publicize its roadmap toward stability and security, as well as to build a momentum of support in the international community. More than 4 billion euros were pledged to achieve these goals.
  • Ahead of this conference, Oxfam published a paper calling for a new development contract in Mali. Transparency and accountability should be at the roots of this new contract according to this report which also calls for more inclusion of the citizen into the decision-making progress.
  •  On May 14th, the Overseas Development Institute hosted a panel on « Tackling poverty : can citizens make a difference? ».  By analysing innovative civil society initiatives to combat corruption and promote greater transparency and accountability and by drawing on research and experience from a variety of settings across the developing world, the panel will explore whether and how citizen participation has made a difference, and, critically, why.
  • World Telecommunication and Information Society (WTISD) Day is being celebrated today (May 17th). This day serves to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. Stay tuned by following #WTISD.
  •   Ahead of this day, the Brookings institution organized a forum on the role of Mobile Technology in Ending Poverty and Enabling Entrepreneurship.It aimed to investigate the means with which mobile devices could help foster entrepreneurship and small business development and other ways to uplift people out of poverty.
  • Wikigender focuses on Women and Elections.  Wikigender is spotlighting the place women have to play in election to carry their voices, as representatives and as voters. This ‘Special Focus’ looks at the role of women in elections, drawing on articles from various situations around the world.
  •  On May 21st, will be celebrated World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. Established in 2002, the day day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together better.

Have a good week-end and stay tuned for more governance and Africa-related publications.

Follow us on Twitter (@wp_africa) and on Facebook (here)

jeudi 16 mai 2013

Public sector innovation and e-government




The ongoing transition in Egypt has highlighted the strategic importance of new and empowering uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by government, citizens and business. To consolidate its democratic transition, Egypt needs to continue to move forward with public sector reforms. A better use of ICTs in the public sector can help achieve this goal.

The “OECD E-Government Review of Egypt” assesses Egyptian e-government policies and implementation, and makes recommendations for future actions. The review was conducted from May 2011 to October 2012.

The report highlights Egypt’s progress and proposes that to enhance the use of ICTs in the public sector, Egypt should:

•    focus on the added value of using ICTs, for example by ensuring uptake of online services, increasing awareness of their availability, and enhancing the deployment of mobile platforms;

•    improve co-ordination of e-government policies across the government by clarifying responsibilities, formalizing co-ordination mechanisms and monitoring progress and impact;

•    ensure and consolidate implementation capacities by boosting skills at all levels of government and by finding a common approach to managing ICT projects;

•    use ICTs to support open government initiatives, particularly in the areas of transparency and access to information, the fight against corruption, accountability, and citizens’ participation and trust.

To read the assessment and proposals for action, click here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator





mercredi 15 mai 2013

Mali: A New Development Contract: What kind of aid is needed to end the crisis?


Mali is rich in mineral resources such as gold yet one Malian in five lives in extreme poverty. The 2012 conflict has not arranged the situation concerning well-being and human rights;communities became more vulnerable, particularly in the North. With the threat of a food crisis looming ahead in the near future and a weakened central authority, this Oxfam briefing calls for a new development contract that will foster transparency and accountability between the Malian government and its citizens. Including the citizens in the decision-making process ought to be done, according to the report.

Furthermore, donors could play an important role in this process by committing themselves to this country's stability and its citizen's well-being. This commitment could have a positive impact on good governance and transparency and by assessing their aid programs in the last twenty years, donors could determine how to help Mali build lasting peace and corruption-free country instead of fuelling conflict.

The Donor Conference in Brussels on 15 May 2013 is thus viewed as an opportunity to set in motion a new development contract for Mali.


To download the report, see here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

Conférence des Donateurs pour le Développement du Mali

La conférence des donateurs pour le Développement du Mali aura lieu à Bruxelles, le 15 mai 2013. Suite à la quasi-faillite de l'État malien et aux menaces des groupes islamistes armés, le Mali est au premier plan de l'actualité politique mondiale. La conférence (co-organisée par l'Union Européenne et les gouvernements français et malien) des donneurs vise à dégager des priorités d'action pour le Mali et la communauté internationale ainsi qu'à fédérer et coordonner l'appui au développement et à la stabilité politique pour 2013-2014. La présentation par les autorités maliennes des axes de développement prioritaires permettra d'aligner les programmes de soutien au développement du Mali élaborés et mis en œuvre par les acteurs nationaux et internationaux gouvernementaux et non-gouvernementaux engagés au Mali.


Pour consulter la note de concept élaborée par le Conseil du Patronat du Mali, cliquez ici

Pour consulter la feuille de route pour le Mali, cliquez ici

Pour consulter le plan pour la relance durable du Mali, cliquez ici

Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

Mobile Technology’s Role in Combating Global Poverty and Enabling Entrepreneurship


Data from the World Bank show that one quarter of the world’s population live at or below the poverty line (1.25$ per day). Lack of capital to start small businesses and to save in order to invest is one of the barrier preventing the uplifiting of people out out poverty. In the same time, we note an increase in the use of mobile technology, which becomes a mean to make monetary transfers, borrow microfinance loans or establish small enterprises.

As part of its Mobile Economy Project, the Brookings Center’s Center for Technology Innovation will host a forum to investigate the means with which mobile devices could help foster entrepreneurship and small business development and other ways to uplift people out of poverty.

This event will be live webcast. Follow the conversation at #TechCTI


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

vendredi 10 mai 2013

Governance Week in Review



This Week in Review by Ousmane Aly DIALLO is part of Wikiprogress Governance Focus

Hi everyone and welcome to this  Governance-themed  Week in Review. Highlights include the 2013 World Economic Forum on Africa, a blog review by Oxfam UK’s Duncan Green of Matt Andrews’s book on institutional reform in Development, the London Conference on the reconstruction of Somalia and two reports on how to increase Africa’s competitiveness and improve the well-being of its citizens.

  • The New Prosperity: Strategies for Improving Well-Being in Subsaharan Africa by the Boston Consulting Group (in partnership with Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative) assesses the well-being of Sub-Saharan Africa's countries.  Of the top thirty countries globally that have made the greatest improvements in well-being over the last five years, eight are from sub-Saharan Africa.  The continent’s best performers married stable economic environments with good governance.
  • The Final Communiqué of the London Somalia Conference addressed the necessity for the international community to accompany Somalia on its path towards institution-building, peace and stability. More than 300 million have pledged to involve themselves in reconstruction of the country.
  • The World Economic Forum on Africa took place from May 8th to May 10th in Cape Town, South Africa. With the aim of “delivering Africa’s promise”, the forum tried to devise ways of sustaining and sharing Africa’s steady economic growth as well as how to create jobs for the youth. During this event, the Africa Competitiveness Report 2013 was released. The report promoted innovative private-public partnerships anchored to potential growth poles to maintain the self-sustaining industrialization of the continent and the creation of jobs, among other recommendations.
  • Also, during the last day of this forum, the Africa Progress Panel released its annual report on progress in Africa. The report calls for more transparency and accountability in the continent’s mineral resources sector. Since the mineral industry is a major driver of economic growth and its revenues have not improved the health, nutrition and education of the local communities who live on top of the rich, mineral filled soil, the report called for an improvement in governance and transparency in the management of these commodities, as well as more accountability to the (local) populations. Between 2010 and 2012, bad management cost the Democratic Republic of Congo, nearly 1.3bn (twice the annual health and education budgets) in revenues, in this sector.
  • Among this week’s blog highlights, Duncan Green of Oxfam UK reviewed, The Limits of International Reform in Development, by Matt Andrews. The book provides a résumé of the reasons why governance and institutional reforms put forward by aid agencies have failed in the past. It also proposes ways to do better in the domains of governance and state-building.
  •  Last week, World Press Freedom Day was celebrated. This year’s theme was “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media”. There’s a growing need to safeguard the security of journalists that works with new mediums such as the web. These statistics show that more needs to be done in this domain.
We hope to see you next week for more governance-related articles.

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Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

Rapport sur les Progrès en Afrique 2013: Équités et Industries Extractives en Afrique

L’Africa Progress Panel a publié son rapport annuel durant le dernier jour du Forum économique Mondial sur l’Afrique. Parmi les recommandations énoncées dans ce document, les membres du Panel pointent la nécessité pour les gouvernements d’améliore leur gouvernance et de renforcer leur capacité dans l’administration des ressources extractives. La transparence et la responsabilisation devant être à la base des politiques publiques dans ce secteur. 

Le rapport montre que bien souvent, les communautés locales qui vivent près de ces zones riches en ressources sont ignorées dans les retombées de l’exploitation de ces matières premières. La croissance économique dans bien des États se base sur l’exploitation de ces ressources mais elle ne change en rien les performances économiques de ces États dans les domaines de la santé, de l’éducation ou de la nutrition.  Les membres du panel indiquent ainsi qu’il est impératif de contenir cette inégalité par des dépenses plus équitables, transparentes et par une inclusion des communautés locales dans ce domaine.

Pour télécharger ce rapport, cliquez ici


Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

Africa Progress Report 2013: Equity in Extractives


The 2013 Africa Progress Panel Report was launched during the World Economic Forum on Africa. Among he recommendations, the panel calls African government to improve their governance and strengthen their capacity in the management of extractive industries.Furthermore, transparency and accountability must be the base of the natural resources policies. Often, the local communities that lives next to, or sit at the top, of the mineral resources are often bypassed in the spending of the commodities's revenues. The report addresses the need to contain this inequality by more equitable spending, more transparency through inclusion of the local communities.

To download the report, see here



Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

jeudi 9 mai 2013

Africa Competitiveness Report 2013


The Africa Competitiveness Report 2013 was published during the 2013 World Economic Forum on Africa. It is the fruit of a joint collaboration of the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank and the World Economic Forum and aims to present a policy vision that will help Africa improve the well-being of its citizen by raising its competitiveness, diversifying its economic base and creating jobs for its young and fast-urbanizing population.

By profiling the competitiveness of 38 out of Africa's 54 countries, the report provides a comprehensive summary of the drivers of productivity and competitiveness and addresses the impact that innovative public-private partnerships, anchored to potential growth poles may have in the self-sustaining industrialization of the continent, in the creation of jobs and greater opportunities, as well as on regional integration.

To read the whole report, click here


Wikiprogress Africa Coordinator

Rapport sur la compétitivité en Afrique 2013


Le rapport biennal sur la compétitivité en Afrique a été publié Durant le Forum Mondial sur l’Afrique. C’est le fruit de la collaboration entre la Banque Mondiale, la Banque Africaine de Développement  et le Forum Économique Mondial. Ce rapport se donne pour ambition de présenter une série de politiques visionnaires qui aideront l’Afrique à améliorer le bien-être de ses habitants en la rendant plus compétitive, par une diversification de ses bases économiques, et par la création d’emplois pour la jeunesse et sa population en pleine urbanisation.

En étudiant la compétitivité de 38 des 54 États africains, le rapport offre un sommaire exhaustif sur les moteurs de la productivité et de la compétitivité en Afrique et montre l’impact positif des partenariats public-privés innovateurs (ancrés sur les pôles de croissance) peut avoir sur l’industrialisation durable du continent, dans la création d’emplois et d’opportunités, ainsi que dans l’intégration régionale.

Pour lire le rapport dans son intégralité, cliquez ici


Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

mardi 7 mai 2013

Forum Économique Mondial sur l'Afrique


Le Forum Économique Mondial sur l'Afrique aura lieu du 8 au 10 mai 2013 au Cap en Afrique du Sud. Les prévisions pour 2012-2013 situent la croissance économique de l'Afrique sub-saharienne pour 2012-2013 à 5%. Selon la taxonomie de la Banque Mondiale, la moitié des États du continent africain sont devenus des États à revenu moyen.En dépit de tous ces progrés, la volatilité des prix des matières premières, l'inégalité croissante et le chômage des jeunes attestent de la vulnérabilité de cette croissance.

Le thème de cet événement sera "Delivering on Africa's Promise"; experts, décideurs politiques, acteurs de la société civile se réuniront pour ébaucher les moyens d'une croissance durable et partagée et pour favoriser l'intégration dans le système mondial de l'Afrique en apportant des solutions à ces trois défis:
  • L'accélération de la diversification économique
  • L'accélération des infrastructures stratégiques.
  • Et mettre à nu les talents de l'Afrique.
Pour plus d'informations,visitez le site web de ladite conférence ici.


Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa

vendredi 3 mai 2013

The New Prosperity: Strategies for Improving Well-being in Sub-Saharan Africa


Cet article d'Ousmane Aly Diallo, Coordonnateur de Wikiprogress Africa, fait partie du focus de Wikiprogress sur la Gouvernance . Wikiprogress Africa  se donne pour ambition d'être une plateforme pour le partage de connaissances dans la mesure du progrès et du bien-être  en Afrique.



Cette publication du Boston Consulting Group (en partenariat avec le Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative) constitue une analyse du bien-être des sociétés d’Afrique subsaharienne, ceci dans un contexte marqué par une croissance économique forte et des défis significatifs comme le conflit et la pauvreté. Ce rapport, qui se base sur la méthodologie du Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA) qui considère le bien-être plutôt que le PIB/capita,  montre que des progrès notables ont été faits par les pays de cette région, bien que le bien-être de leurs citoyens soient en dessous des pays les plus riches. En effet, 8 des 30 pays qui ont effectué le plus de progrès, au cours des 5 dernières années,  dans le domaine du bien-être de leurs habitants viennent de cette région. Et la bonne gouvernance y est pour beaucoup; l'étude montre que conjuguée à un environnement économique stable, elle a été essentielle dans les progrès notés.

Des stratégies innovantes ont été adoptées dans plusieurs pays d’Afrique au sud du Sahara. Ainsi le Ghana a pu devenir un hub d’investissement important en Afrique de l’Ouest grâce à sa réforme des lois commerciales. Il en est de même en Éthiopie où l’implémentation de programmes de santé primaire a permis une amélioration de l’accès aux services de santé par les Éthiopiens, ainsi que dans la fourniture de ces services. Les devises tirées de l’exploitation du pétrole ont ainsi permis à l’Angola d’améliorer significativement le secteur des infrastructures, investissement qui en fait un pôle d’attraction pour les investisseurs internationaux. L'étude du Boston Consulting Group montre que les progrès de ces États sont dûs à leur stabilité économique et à l'amélioration de leurs systèmes de santé.

À partir de ces 3 études de cas, les auteurs concluent qu’augmenter le bien-être des sociétés par un État dépend de 4 facteurs critiques : une volonté politique réelle, une priorisation des programmes, des politiques publiques reflétant les réalités locales et surtout une application de ces politiques efficiente.

Lisez ce rapport dans son intégralité (en anglais) en cliquant ici.

Ousmane Aly DIALLO

Coordonnateur Wikiprogress Africa