Commission for Africa
Encyclopedia
The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, was an initiative established by the British government to examine and provide impetus for development
in Africa
. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generation of new ideas for development and to deliver implementation of existing international commitments towards Africa. African leaders form a majority of the 17 commissioners.
The report of the Commission was released in March 2005. The publication was welcomed by international agencies, who also urged caution. "The proof of the Africa Commission’s worth will be in the political will and energy it manages to drum up to turn its recommendations into reality," said a spokesperson for Oxfam.
The Commission and its report had a clear impact upon the public debate in the UK, and to some extent elsewhere, on how development in Africa might be accelerated. At the G8 summit of world leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland that year, the report was seen as a blueprint for action by the G8. The Gleneagles summit pledged what the Commission report had asked for in terms of a doubling of aid and significant extensions of mulitateral debt relief. But it failed to deliver what the Commission had demanded on trade - including an end to agricultural export subsidies by rich nations and end to 'reciprocity' in world trade negotiations.
The summit did, however, promise to implement 50 of the Commission's 90 recommendations including: $36bn of debt relief in 100% debt cancellation delivered for 19 countries; the launch of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF); doubling previous levels of aid for basic education, to remove school fees, and to scale up efforts to boost girls’ participation and female literacy; two million additional Africans given antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS; immunisation programmes which have stopped the transmission of polio everywhere except Nigeria; training 20,000 more African peacekeepers; tightening controls on the trade in small arms; working more closely with the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa (Nepad) programme to make African governments more accountable to their people; pressing rich nations to ratify the UN Convention on Corruption; putting in place measures to return cash looted by dictators from Western banks to the legitimate owners; and using export credits to clamp down on Western companies who pay bribes.
After the summit however the profile of the report faded but it clearly had a major impact on the delivery of policy, though it is not clear whether all the Commission recommendations which were pledged at Gleneagles will be fully implemented.
In April 2007, the Africa Progress Panel
(APP) was launched as an independent authority on Africa to focus world leaders’ attention on delivering their commitments to the continent. The Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan, also features former Commission for Africa members, Tony Blair
, Michel Camdessus
, Tidjane Thiam
and Bob Geldof
. It derived its origins from Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa and, following in the steps of the Commission, launched a major report in London on Monday 16 June 2008 entitled Africa's Development: Promises and Prospects.
On 13 September 2010, the Commission launched a second report, Still Our Common Interest'', looking at what had happened since the last report - both in Africa and against the individual recommendations made in 2005. It found that, despite considerable progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in many African countries, Africa's economic success over the preceding five years had yet to be translated in to economic benefits for the majority of Africans. The report noted that there had been progress against many of the recommendations, but very little movement in the area of trade reform, in particular. It made new recommendations on how to ensure that the promise of Africa's accelerated economic growth was converted into development across the sub-Saharan African region. It called on African countries to continue reforms that would make it easier to invest and do business and on African governments to fulfill their commitments to spending on health, education, water, sanitation and infrastructure. It called for continued and expanding aid from developed countries, but reiterated the importance of making progress on increasing Africa's share of global trade. It is stated that one per cent of global trade is worth $195 billion to Africa in 2009 - five times the amount it received in aid.
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generation of new ideas for development and to deliver implementation of existing international commitments towards Africa. African leaders form a majority of the 17 commissioners.
The report of the Commission was released in March 2005. The publication was welcomed by international agencies, who also urged caution. "The proof of the Africa Commission’s worth will be in the political will and energy it manages to drum up to turn its recommendations into reality," said a spokesperson for Oxfam.
The Commission and its report had a clear impact upon the public debate in the UK, and to some extent elsewhere, on how development in Africa might be accelerated. At the G8 summit of world leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland that year, the report was seen as a blueprint for action by the G8. The Gleneagles summit pledged what the Commission report had asked for in terms of a doubling of aid and significant extensions of mulitateral debt relief. But it failed to deliver what the Commission had demanded on trade - including an end to agricultural export subsidies by rich nations and end to 'reciprocity' in world trade negotiations.
The summit did, however, promise to implement 50 of the Commission's 90 recommendations including: $36bn of debt relief in 100% debt cancellation delivered for 19 countries; the launch of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF); doubling previous levels of aid for basic education, to remove school fees, and to scale up efforts to boost girls’ participation and female literacy; two million additional Africans given antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS; immunisation programmes which have stopped the transmission of polio everywhere except Nigeria; training 20,000 more African peacekeepers; tightening controls on the trade in small arms; working more closely with the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa (Nepad) programme to make African governments more accountable to their people; pressing rich nations to ratify the UN Convention on Corruption; putting in place measures to return cash looted by dictators from Western banks to the legitimate owners; and using export credits to clamp down on Western companies who pay bribes.
After the summit however the profile of the report faded but it clearly had a major impact on the delivery of policy, though it is not clear whether all the Commission recommendations which were pledged at Gleneagles will be fully implemented.
In April 2007, the Africa Progress Panel
Africa Progress Panel
The Africa Progress Panel 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...
(APP) was launched as an independent authority on Africa to focus world leaders’ attention on delivering their commitments to the continent. The Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan, also features former Commission for Africa members, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Michel Camdessus
Michel Camdessus
Michel Camdessus is a French applied economist and administrator who was Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 16 January 1987 to 14 February 2000. To date, he is the longest serving Managing Director of the IMF....
, Tidjane Thiam
Tidjane Thiam
Tidjane Thiam is a French-Ivorian businessman, currently the Chief Executive of Prudential plc. He studied engineering in France before joining the management consultants McKinsey & Company in 1986; from 1994 to 1999 he worked in Côte d'Ivoire first as a senior civil servant and later as the...
and Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
. It derived its origins from Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa and, following in the steps of the Commission, launched a major report in London on Monday 16 June 2008 entitled Africa's Development: Promises and Prospects.
On 13 September 2010, the Commission launched a second report, Still Our Common Interest'', looking at what had happened since the last report - both in Africa and against the individual recommendations made in 2005. It found that, despite considerable progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in many African countries, Africa's economic success over the preceding five years had yet to be translated in to economic benefits for the majority of Africans. The report noted that there had been progress against many of the recommendations, but very little movement in the area of trade reform, in particular. It made new recommendations on how to ensure that the promise of Africa's accelerated economic growth was converted into development across the sub-Saharan African region. It called on African countries to continue reforms that would make it easier to invest and do business and on African governments to fulfill their commitments to spending on health, education, water, sanitation and infrastructure. It called for continued and expanding aid from developed countries, but reiterated the importance of making progress on increasing Africa's share of global trade. It is stated that one per cent of global trade is worth $195 billion to Africa in 2009 - five times the amount it received in aid.
Commissioners
- Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
(Chair) - Former Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, EnvoyEnvoy (title)In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
of the Quartet on the Middle EastQuartet on the Middle EastThe Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the... - Fola AdeolaFola AdeolaTajudeen Afolabi Adeola was born in January 1954 to the Adeola household as the 5th of 17 children. His father worked as a bank clerk to cater for their large family. His mother used to send him and his brothers to the streets to hawk wares to supplement the family income...
- Chairman of the FATE Foundation (NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
) - K. Y. AmoakoK. Y. AmoakoKingsley Y. Amoako is a Ghanaian-born international civil servant who led the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 1995-2005 at the rank of UN Under-Secretary-General...
- Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for AfricaUnited Nations Economic Commission for AfricaThe United Nations Economic Commission for Africa was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.It is one of five regional commissions.The ECA...
and Under-Secretary-General of the United NationsUnder-Secretary-General of the United NationsAn Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....
, (GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
) - Nancy Kassebaum BakerNancy Kassebaum BakerNancy Landon Kassebaum Baker represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the 1936 Republican nominee for president...
- Former SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
(United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) - Hilary BennHilary BennHilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
- Former Secretary of State for International DevelopmentSecretary of State for International DevelopmentIn the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...
(United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) - Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
- Former Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and... - Michel CamdessusMichel CamdessusMichel Camdessus is a French applied economist and administrator who was Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 16 January 1987 to 14 February 2000. To date, he is the longest serving Managing Director of the IMF....
- Africa Personal Representative (FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) - Bob GeldofBob GeldofRobert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
- MusicianMusicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and founder of Live AidLive AidLive Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
(IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
) - Ralph GoodaleRalph GoodaleRalph Edward Goodale, PC, MP was Canada's Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 and continues to be a Liberal Member of Parliament...
- Former Finance MinisterMinister of Finance (Canada)The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
(CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - Ji PeidingJi PeidingJi Peiding is a Chinese diplomat and a member of the Commission for Africa. He is considered to be an expert on African affairs and has spent much of his career in positions in Nigeria and Zimbabwe and well as holding the position of Chinese Ambassador to Namibia.-References:...
- Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's CongressStanding Committee of the National People's CongressThe Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is a committee of about 150 members of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China , which is convened between plenary sessions of the NPC. It has the constitutional authority to modify legislation within limits set by...
and its Foreign Affairs Committee (ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
) - William S. KalemaWilliam S. KalemaWilliam S. Kalema is a member of the Commission for Africa. He is Chairman of the Board of the Uganda Investment Authority....
- Chairman of the Board of the Uganda Investment Authority (UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
) - Trevor ManuelTrevor ManuelTrevor Andrew Manuel is a South African politician, currently serving in the Cabinet of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission...
- Minister of Finance (South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
) - Benjamin MkapaBenjamin MkapaBenjamin William Mkapa was the third President of the United Republic of Tanzania and former Chairman for the Revolutionary State Party .-Biography:...
- Former President of Tanzania - Linah MohohloLinah MohohloLinah Mohohlo is a Botswana banker. She has been the Governor of the Bank of Botswana since 1999, and is a member of the Commission for Africa....
- Governor of the Bank of BotswanaBank of BotswanaThe Bank of Botswana is the central bank of Botswana.When Botswana gained independence from Britain in 1966, the country was part of the Rand Monetary Area. In 1974 Botswana withdrew from the RMA, and the Bank of Botswana and Financial Institution Acts established the legal framework for a central...
(BotswanaBotswanaBotswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
) - Tidjane ThiamTidjane ThiamTidjane Thiam is a French-Ivorian businessman, currently the Chief Executive of Prudential plc. He studied engineering in France before joining the management consultants McKinsey & Company in 1986; from 1994 to 1999 he worked in Côte d'Ivoire first as a senior civil servant and later as the...
- Group Strategy and Development Director AvivaAvivaAviva plc is a global insurance company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the sixth-largest insurance company in the world measured by net premium income and has 53 million customers in 28 countries...
PLC, (Côte d'IvoireCôte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
) - Anna TibaijukaAnna TibaijukaDr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme...
- Director of UN HABITATUnited Nations Human Settlements ProgrammeThe United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya...
and Under-Secretary-General of the United NationsUnder-Secretary-General of the United NationsAn Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....
(TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
) - Meles ZenawiMeles ZenawiMeles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...
- Prime Minister of EthiopiaHeads of government of EthiopiaThis page contains a list of the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia.-Heads of Government of Ethiopia :-Affiliations:-See also:*List of Emperors of Ethiopia...
External links
- New 2010 Commission for Africa website
- Commission for Africa website (archived)
- "Our Common Interest - Report of the Commission for Africa" - full report, 11 March 2005. Penguin Books also published Part One of the report, written by Paul VallelyPaul VallelyPaul Vallely CMG is a leading British writer on Africa and development issues. He first coined, in his seminal 1990 book Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World Debt, the expression that campaigners needed to move "from charity to justice" – a slogan that was taken up by Jubilee 2000 and...
, in paperback format in 2005 (ISBN 0-1410-2468-2). - Africa Progress Panel Website