Montreal — Statement by Donald Kaberuka, President African Development Bank at The Montreal Conference on Governance Leadership In Africa
1. I wish to express my appreciation to CIDA for the invitation to participate in this forum on Governance Leadership in Africa. Speaking after such a panel of eminent practitioners, I am humbled by the breath of issues addressed and the harmony of views as expressed authoritatively, which makes my concluding remarks much easier.
2. The emerging consensus on the importance of Governance Leadership in Africa was ensured with the adoption of the NEPAD principles, which state that good governance is a precondition for Africa to make headways, and leaders agreed on strong ownership of the process through the Africa Peer review Mechanism (APRM).
3. Over the last five years, there is a new reality in Africa, which amidst the sensational headlines has gone un-noticed. Africa's economic performance is at its best for the last decade. I know the buoyant global conditions and soaring commodity prices are a key factor. But I want to say that we see signs that reforms are beginning to bear fruits in Tanzania, in Mozambique, in Burkina Faso, and even in my own country of Rwanda.
4. Reformers are making notable progress towards installing stable macroeconomic frameworks by following sound fiscal and monetary policies, undertaking structural reforms and adopting policies which encourage private sector development. As a result, more countries are recording smaller budget deficits, meeting their revenue mobilization targets, adopting more transparent budget processes, and strengthening their overall macroeconomic fundamentals.
4. Better Governance is Setting Roots: Africa is progressing in the direction of constitutionalism, electoral pluralism and competitive and inclusive politics. Military takeovers and one party rules are the exception rather than the rule, and succession through the electoral process is now the norm. Governance systems and institutions are increasingly being challenged by civil society to be more transparent, accountable and responsive. Several long-standing conflicts are finding peaceful resolution and post-conflict reconstruction is underway in earnest. More and more countries are acceding to the Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); reaffirming their commitment to good governance.
5. While improving economic and governance indicators auger well, in many parts of the continent progress still needs to be accelerated. Good governance is about institutions; and measures of governance practices in Africa point to low citizen confidence in most branches of government. Even among the active reformers, the lack of capacity contributes to this negative perception towards public institutions.
But Africa faces additional unique challenges:
6. Forging nations out of diversity: Contemporary Africa is composed of 53 states and over 800 different ethnic and languages, with diverse resource endowment, a thinly shared sense of kinship and nationhood. Governance leadership amidst such diversity requires painstakingly sustained efforts to establish national identity within the territorial boundaries left by colonial powers across old ethnic, religious and tribal divides; and building broad-based consensus around unifying objectives. Even in homogenous societies like Somalia, the colonial induced divisions and the effects of the cold war continue to play havoc with attempts to build a nation.
7. Managing transition: Africa is a continent in transition. With economic and political transitions. Leadership to manage these processes requires courage and vision to do things differently. Transitioning from conflict requires skilled leadership to bring about healing, re-build social capital and restore trust (Mozambique, Rwanda, S. Africa). Where economic transitions exact a heavy toll, leadership is challenged to instil confidence in the chosen path and the promise of imminent economic prosperity.
8. Harnessing politics for betterment of citizens: Africa's diversity and multiple heritages were exploited to fragment societies. Cold war politics did not help but complicate. In the early post independence period, the state played a major role as a developmental state. It however did not succeed. The 80s were labelled the "lost decade". Since then reform policies, often politically unpopular, have brought about conditions for economic take-off. This has sparked debate about the right balance between state and market forces in the development process.
9. Capacity for sound policy making: African leadership is constrained by the lack of capacity to design add deliver sound policies. At play are the lack of control over exogenous factors that affect performance; the brain drain; a crushing debt burden and the international aid architecture, which has a distorted view of the role of technical assistance. Vagaries of nature. Against these odds, African leadership is challenged to formulate and implement technically sound policies that respond to sustained and shared growth.
10. Building credible institutions: Credible institutions that serve as countervailing interests against bureaucratic institutions are critical for anchoring governance and Africa's growth and competitiveness. Leadership is required to accelerate the building of state and non-state institutions that manage this interrelationship between the state, private sector and civil society to mobilize and optimize energy to deliver public goods, ensure accountability and enforce the rule of law—including contracts and property rights.
11. Learning from best practices: Africa can of course draw lessons from the recent experience of other regions. But there is no single leadership model to follow; only edifying lessons about the variety and mix of institutions and policies and sequences that can inform Africa's governance reform and leadership challenges.
12. Tapping new energies: More than ever before, African societies, including the youth and diaspora, are mobilized and energized to seize the possibilities occasioned by globalization. I am convinced that through appropriate policies and institutions, visionary leadership can mobilize and optimize this spirit of renewed confidence.
13. Maximizing on the international goodwill: In the recent past, the international community (Africa Commission, the Monterey Consensus, G8, etc) has generated keen interest in supporting Africa to succeed in its own adopted policies. We are all challenged to harness and sustain this goodwill to show results on the ground and ensure mutual accountability.
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Emerging leadership in Africa
14. Political will: I am convinced that more and more Africa is generating committed leadership able to act firmly and prudently, and stays the course when decisions are not popular. Political will shows vision, integrity, courage and tolerance. To see how far political leadership can go, I ask you to look at South Africa since 1994 or my own country of Rwanda since the tragic genocide.
15. Credible leadership: Credibility is a condition that arises from governance outcomes and is a condition required to inspire confidence in leadership. Credible leadership is institutionalized, and it strengthens legitimacy by building on diversity and focusing on goals and strategies.
16. Mobilized societies: In mobilized society stakeholders (including the private sector, media, and disadvantaged groups) exercise influence over their leaders and institutions that affect their lives; thereby providing a check against the actions of government. Besides their watchdog function, mobilized societies serve to strengthen governance by generating legitimate demands and holding leaders accountable. For leadership to be effective, it must create conditions favourable for societies to mobilize and create the space for their active engagement in governance.
17. For Africa is to remain better governed and globally competitive, the above leadership challenges, opportunities, and conditions must be attended to, as a necessary minimum condition.
