African Governance and Donor Policy to Foster Governance

With the end of the 1990s, governance has become a key issue in international development debates. With the end of Apartheid in South Africa and numerous regime changes in the 1990s across the continent, the agenda was taken on board by African heads of state and governments in continental initiatives, such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the foundation of the African Union (as success to the Organisation for African Unity, OAU). While the debates have shifted, practice does not follow the debate with vigour.
This work strand – also as part of the Africa group at DIE – aspires to assess the substance of the African governance debate and to look into various donor approaches – not least so: the European Union – on how to support improvements in governance in African states or regional organisations. It also analyses changes at national level in partner countries with a view to their impact on the development-orientation of states.
The link is twofold: Governance is regarded as a key factor for development and thus also for effective aid. And, beyond being aid to a specific (crucial) sector, governance is considered as a pre-condition for effective development.
This project is particularly linked to the goals set in the Millennium Declaration, i.e. the goal dimension.