Africa Progress Panel

The Africa Progress Panel (APP) consists of a group of distinguished individuals, chaired by Kofi Annan, whose objective is to track and encourage progress in Africa and to underscore shared responsibility between African leaders and their international partners for sustaining it.

The APP was originally formed as a vehicle to maintain a focus on the commitments to Africa made by the international community in the wake of the Gleneagles G8 Summit and of the Commission for Africa Report in 2007. Under the chairmanship of Kofi Annan, it is paying equal attention to the implementation of Africa's commitments as set out in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and landmark international agreements. In 2008, a secretariat was established in Geneva.

Panel members are Kofi Annan, Michel Camdessus, Peter Eigen, Bob Geldof, General Olusegun Obasanjo, Graça Machel, Linah Mohohlo, Robert Rubin, Tidjane Thiam and Muhammad Yunus. A Geneva-based Secretariat supports the Panel in three main areas: research and policy; advocacy and communication; and preparation of APP core products, including the annual Africa Progress Report; a fortnightly news bulletin; and policy briefs on timely issues. The Secretariat is headed by Caroline Kende-Robb.

The Panel continually assesses opportunities and threats to Africa’s development, including how far commitments to and from Africa are being met. They use their judgment and experience to highlight pressing concerns, inspire honest debate amongst leaders and civil society, help mobilise resources and prompt effective action.

Mission

• Centrality of African issues at G20, G8, EU and other meetings. Policy impact and change following recommendations in the Africa Progress Report and policy briefs.

• Awareness of the APP among G8/G20, OECD and African Heads of State, multi- and bilateral organizations, policy institutes.

• Strengthening mutual accountability frameworks between Africa and its partners, both public and private sector.

How is the APP doing it?

The APP’s work is aimed to contribute to shape policy priorities and high-level decisions. This includes:

• Tracking progress by highlighting good practices and positive change in Africa that lead to

sustained development across the region.

• Monitoring the role of Africa’s trading, donor and investment partners in supporting the

continent’s progress.

• Supporting African initiatives driving social, economic and/or political progress whether it is

brought about by African leaders, institutions or international partners.

• Identifying sources and drivers of equitable growth such as investment in infrastructure, energy

and entrepreneurship.

• Encouraging action and partnerships to address issues that determine the quality of growth and

human development, such as climate change and maternal health. More concretely, the APP: Supports the activities of the Chair and Panel members in their interactions with African, G8, G20 and other leaders to encourage action on priority issues

• Publishes policy briefs and policy recommendations on current topics that have so far

received insufficient attention or are lacking a clear champion.

• Draws media attention to crucial issues especially in the run-up to important events such as G8

and G20 meetings.

• Raises the profile of African/international partners and strengthens partnerships and

synergies between key actors - political leaders, institutions, experts, civil society, and private sector.

• Participates in various political fora and high-level regional and international meetings.
• Issues a fortnightly bulletin that provides a snapshot of Africa’s main development news and

an update of the latest development among Africa’s partners, the G8/G20 and multilateral and UN organizations.

The Panel

The Panel is composed of the following members:

• Kofi Annan - Former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate

• Michel Camdessus - Former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund

• Peter Eigen - Founder and Chair of the Advisory Council, Transparency International and Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

• Bob Geldof - Musician, Businessman, Founder and Chair of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8, Co-founder of DATA, and ONE

• Graça Machel - President of the Foundation for Community Development and founder of New faces New Voices.

• Linah Mohohlo - Governor, Bank of Botswana

• Olusegun Obasanjo - Special Envoy of the UN Sectratry Geneal on the Great Lakes Regionsl and former President of Nigeria

• Robert Rubin - Co-Chairman of the Board, Council on Foreign Relations and former Secretary of the United States Treasury

• Tidjane Thiam - Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Plc

• Muhammad Yunus - Economist, Founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate

Publications

The Africa Progress Panel publishes a number of reports, briefs and newsletters. The purpose of all of these is to draw attention to specific blockages to the continent's development, propose ways to overcome them and catalyze actions on them. Publications can be found here: http://africaprogresspanel.org/en/our-work/publications/

Africa Progress Briefs

These are succinct and rigorous policy briefs that highlight a pressing concern (e.g. the impact of climate change on Africa, the prevalence of maternal mortality or the need for domestic accountability). They are intended to inspire debate on the basis of success stories, blockages and recommendations for action and aimed at specific constituencies.

Fortnightly Bulletin

The bulletin is intended to provide Panel members, their staff and key stake holders with a snapshot of the issues and events of central concern to the APP.

The Africa Progress Report

The Africa Progress Panel publishes an annual report that takes stock of the continent's development and provides key policy recommendations to African leaders and their partners.

Africa Progress Report 2011: The Transformative Power of Partnerships

This year, the Africa Progress Report is dedicated to the transformative power of partnerships. While the idea of pooling a range of actors and their energy, creativity and resources around specific development challenges is hardly new, too few success stories are replicated or brought to scale to effect lasting structural change. Against this backdrop, this year’s report identifies partnership models that have already proven their transformative potential and assesses how to create the policy framework and incentive structure needed to spur further collaboration for progress. The report argues that all actors, including governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society, can do more to facilitate the spread of successful models across sectors and countries, and that doing so is in their self-interest. It also argues that much work remains to be done to convince all sides of the inherent benefits of partnering for progress. This is the main purpose of this report.

Africa Progress Report 2010 - From Agenda to Action: Turning Resources into Results for People

Africa Progress Panel members Kofi Annan, Peter Eigen, Linah Mohohlo and Olusegun Obasanjo launched the Africa Progress Report 2010 on 25 May 2010 in Johannesburg. The landmark publication analyses the continent’s progress and issues key recommendations to African leaders and its international partners. The report was launched in coordination with the launch of ONE's 2010 DATA Report

Annual Report 2009 - An Agenda for Progress at a Time of Global Crisis: A Call for African Leadership

An Agenda for Progress at a Time of Global Crisis: A Call for African Leadership The APP Annual Report was launched on June 10th at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa by Kofi Annan, Linah Mohohlo and Graça Machel.

See also

• Commission for Africa

References

• APP referenced in the SPEECH OF HON. YVETTE D. CLARKE OF NEW YORK IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010

External links

• Africa Progress Panel Website