NEPAD and the AU on Good Governance and Conflict Resolution in Africa

Abstract

For decades, Africa has grappled with conflicts, non-democratic regimes, under-development amongst other malaises. To address this and put Africa towards the growth path, several initiatives were developed, some by Africans and others through the multilateral institutions. Of all these initiatives, scholars agree that, in its inception, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) captured the imaginations of international community and it was well received by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the donor community. This essay reviewed the existing literature as well as developments in the African continent, so that it could assess successes of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU) in embedding democracy, good governance and conflict resolution in Africa. Based on the reviews, it is argued that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU) have not been successful in embedding democracy, good governance and conflict resolution in Africa. A case in point being poor governance practices as demonstrated in the performance of African countries in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International, lack of transparent and proper democracies as demonstrated by irregularities in elections as well as ongoing conflicts in areas such as the Darfur region, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia.