US embassy cable - 03ABUJA739

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000739 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR AF/W AND AF/EPS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN, PHUM, EAID, PREL, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: GON SAYS NEPAD PEER REVIEW MECHANISM ON 
THE WAY 
 
REF: 02 ABUJA 1027 
 
 
1. Summary. A GON official says Heads of State at a March 
meeting of the New Partnership for Africa's Development 
(NEPAD) had concluded negotiations on a Memorandum of 
Understanding of the African Peer Review Mechanism. The 
official said the review would be conducted by independent 
experts and focus on ways to promote economic growth and 
sustainable development. He also expressed concern that 
international donors not require aid recipients to 
participate in the mechanism. End Summary. 
 
 
2. Ambassador Isaac Aluko-Olukun, a GON official seconded to 
the Secretariat of NEPAD, told G-8 diplomats in a March 13 
briefing that NEPAD Heads of State had concluded negotiations 
on a Memorandum of Understanding of the African Peer Review 
Mechanism. He said ten countries had signed on: Algeria, 
Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, 
Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. 
 
 
3. At the briefing, Aluko-Olukun clarified that NEPAD, and 
therefore the peer review mechanism, fell under the African 
Union umbrella. A draft Memorandum of Understanding 
distributed at the briefing said the peer review mechanism's 
primary purpose was to ". . . foster the adoption of 
policies, standards and practices that lead to political 
stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and 
accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration 
. . ." The draft memorandum would go into effect when five 
African Union member-states have assented. 
 
 
4. Aluko-Olukun said a special secretariat would be 
established to conduct actual peer reviews. The secretariat 
would include "expatriate professionals" and other technical 
experts. Three reviews would be conducted yearly, meaning 
that some countries would not be reviewed for many years. He 
said that Nigeria may be one of the first countries reviewed, 
but not until after elections. One remaining task, he noted, 
was to find a leader for the secretariat who would inspire 
confidence in the process and lend it credibility. 
 
 
5. Aluko-Olukun said there was some opposition to the 
original draft memorandum because, which some leaders saw as 
"too binding." He said some members were concerned the 
memorandum was a legally binding treaty and, as such, would 
require legislative or other approval. He said the final 
version, which he promised to make available, had met the 
concerns of those members who "didn't want to give up 
sovereignty." He added that resolution of the concerns 
regarding sovereignty would not weaken the review mechanism 
because the entire process was voluntary anyway. Aluko-Olukun 
continued that the leaders worried that joining the peer 
review mechanism would become a condition for future 
international development assistance. He said there was 
consensus that the mechanism was an African initiative and 
should remain independent of international donor funding 
decisions. 
 
 
6. Aluko-Olukun spoke about cooperation between the G-8 and 
NEPAD, noting that initial G-8 support for NEPAD had "set a 
good tone." He said that a joint G-8 and NEPAD action plan 
could strengthen cooperation in promoting economic, social, 
and political reform in Africa. On conflict resolution, he 
claimed NEPAD was looking beyond just cooperation on 
peacekeeping with G-8 nations and was looking for ways to 
prevent conflict in cooperation with G-8 countries. 
 
 
7. Aluko-Olukun also commented on Poverty Reduction Strategy 
Programs (PRSP) being adopted by some African nations. He 
asserted that many African leaders were disappointed because 
they had agreed to such a program but had not seen any 
supportive international development funding as a result. 
Aluko-Olukun said NEPAD leaders were also concerned that 
often PRSPs did not sufficiently emphasize on trade and 
investment policy and that significant G-8 foreign direct 
investment rarely resulted from them. 
 
 
8. On the role of regional sub-groups within NEPAD and the 
African Union, Aluko-Olukun said that there was a need for 
rationalization: he noted that there were now sixteen 
sub-regional organizations, with many countries belonging to 
several. Aluko-Olukun said there was no easy way to get 
there, but suggested that five regional sub-groups made 
sense, to serve as building blocks for the African Union. 
 
 
9. Comment: Agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding of the 
African Peer Review Mechanism is a notable achievement for 
NEPAD, but the true test for the system will come when the 
secretariat is established and the first review is conducted. 
 
SIPDIS 
We think it unlikely that Nigeria will volunteer to go first, 
and will instead seek postponement until well after 
elections, perhaps not until 2005 or later. A more likely 
candidate is Uganda, another co-founder of NEPAD. End Comment. 
JETER