NEPAD – New Partnership for Africa’s Development

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to provide an overarching vision and policy framework for accelerating economic co-operation and integration among African countries.

The eight priority areas of NEPAD are: political, economic and corporate governance; agriculture; infrastructure; education; health; science and technology; market access and tourism; and environment.
During the first few years of its existence, the main task of the NEPAD Secretariat and key supporters was the popularisation of NEPAD’s key principles, as well as the development of action plans for each of the sectoral priorities. NEPAD also worked to develop partnerships with international development finance institutions—including the World Bank, G8, European Commission, UNECA and others—and with the private sector.
After this initial phase, more concrete programs were developed, including:
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), aimed at assisting the launching of a ‘green revolution’ in Africa, based on a belief in the key role of agriculture in development.
The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)which comprises numerous trans-boundary infrastructure projects in the four sectors transport, energy, water and ICT, aimed at boosting intra-African trade and interconnecting the continent.
The NEPAD Science and Technology programme, including an emphasis on research in areas such as water science and energy.
The “e-schools programme”, adopted by the HSGIC in 2003 as an initiative to equip all 600,000 primary and secondary schools in Africa with IT equipment and internet access within 10 years, in partnership with several large IT companies. See NEPAD E-School program
The launch of a Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) by the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, to finance high priority cross-border infrastructure projects.
Capacity building for continental institutions, working with the African Capacity Building Foundation, the Southern Africa Trust, UNECA, the African Development Bank, and other development partners. One of NEPAD’s priorities has been to strengthen the capacity of and linkages among the Regional Economic Communities.
NEPAD was involved with the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project although it is not entirely clear to what extent.