FUTURE AFRICA: PROSPECTS FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT UNDER NEPAD

The AU Summit of January 2008 marked the 6^th Anniversary of the adoption of NEPAD as a programme of the African Union (AU) (then Organisation of Africa Unity in 2001.  The Summit also marked the 5^th anniversary of the launch of the AU. The adoption of NEPAD and the launch of the AU have been historic events for Africa in the sense that both NEPAD and the AU were positively received by Africans and the international community. The transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), into the AU, was driven by the values and principle of NEPAD, and focused the African agenda on sustainable development by way of prioritising poverty eradication and regional integration.   

The integration agenda of the continent was to be underpinned by the development and implementation of infrastructure projects that would interlink the continent. An added benefit of the integration agenda was to be realized through increased intra-Africa trade, as well as investments.  Part of the regional integration agenda was also to focus on the strengthening of regional economic communities, both as agents for delivering on the NEPAD objectives at the regional level, as well as regional rallying points for the integration agenda. The integration agenda therefore explains the NEPAD focus on the implementation of multi-country projects in most of the NEPAD priority sectors.