Active with

OECD Active with Africa

CONTENTS FOREWORD

OVERVIEW

• Africa has made enormous progress but faces major challenges

• An intensified partnership between the OECD and Africa

• Addressing new challenges and opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa

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1 SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

1.1 Investment 121.2 Trade 141.3 Agriculture and Food Security 151.4 Competition 161.5 Innovation and ICT 171.6 Green Growth 19

2 PUBLIC FINANCE

2.1 Tax 202.2 Financial Education 212.3 Budgeting and Public Expenditures 212.4 Public Debt Management 22

3 GOVERNANCE

3.1 Fighting Corruption 243.2 Public Governance and Regional Development 263.3 Business Integrity in the Extractive Sector 283.4 Corporate Governance 29

4 SOCIETY

4.1 Labour Markets 304.2 Education and Training 314.3 Health 324.4 Migration 324.5 Income Distribution and Poverty Reduction 344.6 Internet Economy 354.7 Child labour 35

5 CLIMATE CHANGE

5.1 Climate Change 365.2 Other Environmental Issues 38

6 SURVEYS AND STATISTICS

6.1 Economic Surveys 406.2 Statistics 42

7 DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION

7.1 Monitoring Aid Flows to Africa 437.2 Mutual Accountability 437.3 Improving Development Effectiveness 447.4 Developing Policy Frameworks 45

Annex 1: Participation of African countries in official OECD Bodies

Annex 2: Aid to Africa at a Glance

Annex 3: Aid at a Glance for South Africa

Who’s who: Contact Points

ANNEXES

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FOREWORD

Achieving global prosperity, social inclusion and the

well-being of citizens worldwide has always been at the

heart of the OECD’s work. The ‘D’ in OECD stands for

development. By sharing knowledge and best practices,

and through analysis and fact-based policy advice, we

contribute to the development of all countries. Our mission is to

build a stronger, cleaner and fairer world economy. This is a shared

responsibility between OECD countries and their partners in every

region around the world. Africa’s development is to everyone’s

interest and the OECD is ready to continue to play its part.

This ‘Active with Africa’ brochure provides a glimpse of the scope

and depth of our work with African countries and highlights the

great potential to strengthen our partnership.

Africa is a continent with a great future and this future is now finally

being realised. Despite the impact of the recession, current economic

growth in Africa outpaces that of many OECD countries. With an

emerging middle class, a new generation of innovative entrepreneurs,

increasing school enrolment and significant advancement in ICT

development, the continent is reaping the benefits of integration

into the world economy. Recent democratic transitions in parts of

North Africa and the consolidation of democracies in other parts of

Africa are creating much optimism and huge potential in terms of

economic and social development. Nevertheless, major challenges

remain: poverty levels are still high, famine and food insecurity

affect many, violent conflicts persist in certain places and climate

change poses a growing threat to long-term development prospects.

Mindful of these challenges, the OECD has intensified its

commitment to working with Africa. We are supporting

governments throughout the region in their broad reform agendas:

• to strengthen democratic and effective governance structures

and enhance representative forms of government,

• to improve the investment climate through their investment

framework and appropriate capital market rules and

institutions,

• and to promote sustainable economic growth and employment

through growth-enhancing structural policies that can help

tackle poverty.

On climate change, we have developed a comprehensive analysis

of its effects in Africa, with a focus on assessing the costs and

benefits of adaptation.

In response to the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa, donors

of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) are not only

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delivering strategic and effective funding to meet immediate

humanitarian needs, but also providing long-term policy guidance

to help build a sustainable recovery. To address food insecurity,

we have carried out a detailed assessment of the impact of rising

and volatile food prices on hunger, poverty and security, as well

as an analysis of possible policy options.

Our co-operation with South Africa is particularly advanced.

This has also helped us to develop closer relations with other

governments, private sector actors and civil society leaders across

the region. The OECD’s commitment to Africa’s development

is illustrated by initiatives like the African Economic Outlook,

produced jointly with AfDB, UNECA and UNDP, which annually

charts economic, social and political developments in fifty African

countries; by its continued hosting of the Africa Partnership

Forum Support Unit and the Sahel and West Africa Club; and

by new initiatives like the African Tax Administration Forum,

which supports governments in the region in their efforts to

fully mobilise their domestic resources and improve governance

through accountability and the effective management of public

finances.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the OECD is proud that

African governments and institutions are increasingly turning

to it as a partner. We also greatly appreciate our long term

partnership with NEPAD, and congratulate it on its achievements

as it celebrates its 10th anniversary.

We will continue to put our full range of expertise at the service

of Africa in order to accelerate the continent’s progress towards

achieving the Millennium Development Goals and creating more

cohesive societies. In this spirit, we will continue and deepen

our co-operation and partnership with African countries based

on our OECD Development Strategy, making our knowledge on

good and effective policies available for African governments

and societies, supporting the reform agendas in those countries

with our analysis and advice and, thus, working together with

African policy makers towards better policies for better lives.

Angel Gurría

OECD Secretary-General

Acronyms

AfDB African Development Bank

APF Africa Partnership Forum

ATAF African Tax Administration Forum

AU African Union

CILSS Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

IEA International Energy Agency

ICT Information and Communication Technology

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MENA Middle East and North Africa

NEA Nuclear Energy Agency

NSDS National Strategies for the Development of Statistics

NEPAD New Programme for Africa’s Development

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PARIS21 Partnership in Statistics for Development in 21st Century

RECs Regional Economic Communities

RPCA Food Crisis Prevention Network

SADC Southern African Development Community

SARS South African Revenue Service

OECD/DAC OECD Development Assistance Committee

OECD/SWAC OECD Sahel and West Africa Club

UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary Union

UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

UN/OSAA United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa

WP-EFF OECD/DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness

Note: This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.4

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Africa had registered four consecutive years of record

economic growth up to 2008 before the global downturn

caused a slowdown in 2009. Great progress has been

made in areas such as primary school enrolment and

development of ICT infrastructure. However, poverty

and food insecurity remain key challenges in many African countries.

Africa’s economies have rebounded from the slump which had

been caused by the global recession. In 2010, Africa’s average rate

of growth amounted to 4.9%, up from 3.1% in 2009. The political

events in North Africa will impact on the continent’s growth

rate, which is projected to be 3.7% in 2011. However, this forecast

is surrounded by considerable uncertainty. Risks are related to

the global economy and to Africa, in particular because of the

developments in Libya and Côte d´Ivoire and how these affect

neighbouring countries. Assuming that economic normality

returns in these countries, the African Economic Outlook 2011, jointly published by the OECD, AfDB, UNDP and UNECA,

expects Africa´s average growth to accelerate to 5.8% in 2012.

Despite the incredible diversity of countries and contexts

within the African continent, aid has played a critical role in the

development of many African nations. Some forty countries have

adhered to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and to the

Accra Agenda for Action. As a region, Africa has made progress

towards almost all of the 2010 Paris Declaration targets, with a

number of countries on track to meet all of them. These findings

are high on the agenda of the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid

Effectiveness in Busan, Korea on 29 November - 1 December 2011.

With 2015 as the target date, Africa’s progress on many of

the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been

sluggish and it looks unlikely that they will all be attained in

Africa. In spite of significant advances in primary education,

gender and health, several countries remain off-track to meet

the MDGs on employment, poverty and maternal mortality.

If Africa is to accelerate its progress towards the MDGs,

it needs to maintain the high growth rate of recent years.

African governments face many of the challenges that

have confronted OECD governments for decades: how to

promote sustainable economic growth, how to improve

public financial management, how to build sound governance

systems, how to achieve more inclusive societies, and how

to tackle the challenge of climate change. The international

community has a key role to play in restoring confidence and

stimulating the real economy also through concrete policies

to support inclusive growth and employment in Africa.

AFRICA HAS MADE ENORMOUS PROGRESS BUT FACES MAJOR CHALLENGES

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which includes OECD and emerging and developing economies,

they oversee the content and implementation of bi-annual work

programmes and increasingly engage in targeted research and

policy dialogue activities undertaken by the Centre.

• Working with other international institutions on global policy

issues that have an impact on Africa, such as Economic Partnership

Agreements with the European Union, the global economic crisis

and falling commodity prices.

• Continued hosting of the Africa Partnership Forum (APF) Support

Unit, which prepares regular updates on the continued fallout from

the economic crisis as it relates to Africa and development finance,

and other priority policy themes.

• Contributing to major international initiatives, such as the UN

Secretary-General’s MDG Steering Group and the G8 and G20 processes.

At the request of G8 leaders in L’Aquila in 2009, the OECD has been

working together with the AfDB to report on their actions in the

area of strengthening the contribution of tax policy to development.

The APF Co-Chairs wrote to the Chairs of the G20 Summits in 2009

highlighting Africa’s priorities in the context of the global economic

crisis. The conclusions of the 14th APF (Toronto, 2010), which focused

on the MDGs, informed the G8, G20, African Union and the September

The OECD’s long-standing involvement in Africa has been

deepened and widened, reflecting the priorities of African

governments and their international partners, including

the priorities of African leaders emerging from discussions

at G8 and G20 Summits. This partnership includes:

• Co-operating with African governments, pan-African institutions

and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on a wide range of

public policy issues to facilitate the formulation and implementation

of national and regional strategies and policies. For example, the

NEPAD-OECD Africa Investment Initiative promotes a continued

regional dialogue on ways of improving Africa’s business climate

and supports the implementation of investment policy reform at

country level.

The African Economic Outlook provided the background for

discussions for the 2009 African Union (AU) ICT Ministerial Meeting

in South Africa. More recently, the AU asked the OECD to draft

Open Access Principles for endorsement by the AU delegates at

their Ministerial Meeting in Nigeria in August 2010.

Cape Verde, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa

are full members of the OECD Development Centre. Together with

another 36 countries sitting on the Centre’s Governing Board,

AN INTENSIFIED PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE OECD AND AFRICA

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UN MDG Review Summits. The co-Chairs of the NEPAD-OECD Africa

Investment Initiative wrote to the Chairs of the G20 Development

Working Group to ask the G20 to take decisive action for enhancing

infrastructure investment in Africa. The OECD is actively involved

in implementing the G20 Seoul consensus for development and its

multi-year action plan.

• Playing a unique role in the monitoring of aid statistics, structural

analysis and peer review of donor programmes, and helping to set

the agenda on aid effectiveness.

The OECD’s engagement in Africa is not confined to its development

specialists: it reaches across the Organisation and draws on core areas

of expertise such as compiling comparative statistical, economic,

and social data, conducting analysis and comparison of the data

collected, identifying and promoting best practices and standards,

and monitoring progress. Some specific illustrations are:

• Promoting sustainable economic growth, through mobilisation

of experts on investment policy, innovation, trade and agriculture.

The OECD works on sharing of best practices and lessons learned

in implementing investment reforms. It also assesses the impact of

rising food prices on hunger, food security and poverty.

• Helping to alleviate poverty and develop capital markets through

private pensions. The agenda of the Global Forum meeting on

private pensions, in South Africa in October 2011, focuses on these

regional issues in particular, including how pension coverage can

be improved and how pension funds in developing countries can

finance infrastructure projects that contribute to sustainable growth.

• Helping to combat the illicit trade in minerals that finance armed

conflict. In 2011, OECD Ministers adopted the ‘Due Diligence Guidance

for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and

High-Risk Areas’. The OECD, the International Conference on the Great

Lakes Region (ICGLR), which is comprised of eleven African countries,

and the UN Group of Experts on the DRC are working together to

implement the Guidance in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

• Improving public financial management through mobilisation of

experts on tax policy, budget reform and public debt management. The

Organisation will share best practices with African debt managers,

central bankers and other financial officials involved in public debt

management through the newly established Centre for African Public

Debt Management and Bond Markets, located in Midrand, South Africa.

• Improving systems of governance, drawing upon OECD’s expertise

on fighting corruption and improving systems of public and corporate

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governance. The OECD and the AfDB have signed a declaration to

support business integrity in Africa and have also undertaken a

project on the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in

Southern Africa.

• Building more inclusive societies, drawing on OECD expertise in the

fields of labour markets, education and training, health, migration,

income distribution and the Internet economy.

• Tackling the challenge of climate change has been a major focus

of the OECD’s recent work, which includes: assessing the costs and

benefits of adaptation; a comprehensive analysis of the impact of

climate change on Africa; and discussions on the key issues that

could support development of a post-2012 climate framework.

• Surveys and statistics: the OECD shares its expertise in economic

analysis through national, regional and global surveys. It also has

one of the world’s largest and most reliable sources of comparative

statistical data. Its shared responsibility, with AfBD, UNECA and

UNDP, for the African Economic Outlook and its role of host to the

Partnership in Statistics for Development in 21st Century (PARIS21)

provides support for African countries in the development of their

statistical capacity.

• Development co-operation: the OECD’s Development Assistance

Committee (DAC) has a unique role in monitoring aid statistics, peer

reviewing of donor programmes and setting the international agenda on

aid effectiveness. The DAC provides a key forum for donor co-ordination

and produces an annual Development Co-operation Report that provides

authoritative statistics on official development assistance. Recently,

the OECD worked closely with ECOWAS on the West Africa Report on Resources for Development and with UNECA on the 2011 Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa.

• OECD Development Strategy: At the OECD, we have reaffirmed our

commitment to global development. At our 50th Anniversary OECD

Ministerial Council Meeting, Heads of State and Government and

Ministers endorsed the Framework for an OECD Development Strategy.

We aim to achieve higher, more inclusive and sustainable growth for the

broadest array of countries. This will be accomplished through greater

collaboration and knowledge sharing, engaging in mutual learning, and

deepening partnerships with developing countries, other international

organisations and key stakeholders. Strategic areas where the OECD

could add value include innovative and sustainable sources of growth;

mobilisation of domestic resources; good governance; and measuring

progress. We will also address the gender dimension of development

by presenting policy options for the three ‘E’s for women’s economic

empowerment: Entrepreneurship, Employment and Education.

Since 2002, NEPAD and the OECD have

been engaged in a partnership to support

African development. We have collaborated

in the implementation of the NEPAD-

OECD Africa Investment Initiative which

is working to improve the investment

climate, particularly for the agriculture

and infrastructure sectors; the Initiative

has provided support for the reform

of investment regimes in four African

countries using the OECD’s Policy Framework for Investment

and the outcome of its Dakar Ministerial meeting in 2011 fed

into G20 discussions on development.

We also work with the DAC on the enabling environment for

infrastructure investment in Africa. We co-operate closely with

the APF Support Unit hosted by the OECD in the organisation of

Africa Partnership Forum meetings between African countries

under the auspices of AU-NEPAD, and partners represented

by OECD members and international agencies on priorities

for Africa’s development. The preparation of the reports on

the Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness provides a

further opportunity for co-operation with OECD and UNECA

(latest edition published in October 2011).

NEPAD values its collaboration with the OECD across a range of

policy areas and issues relevant to development effectiveness

in Africa: through our growing partnership, NEPAD can link

with OECD’s other international partnerships and initiatives

(such as on aid and development effectiveness, the China –

DAC Study Group, and its deepening links with major emerging

economies, including the Republic of South Africa). OECD tools

and working methods have demonstrated how useful they can

be for developing better policies for better lives, also in Africa.

As we celebrate the landmark of NEPAD’s tenth anniversary,

and the OECD’s own fiftieth anniversary, I welcome the

long collaboration between NEPAD and the OECD and take

satisfaction in noting that our broadening cooperation has gone

far beyond aid. We clearly see the OECD as a strategic partner

for Africa in its efforts to achieve its development priorities.

Dr Ibrahim Mayaki,

Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Agency

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Against a backdrop of historical political change across the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the OECD is intensifying

its partnership with countries across the region with a view to

helping governments address major social and economic issues.

Countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia face popular

demands for improved living standards, yet their resources are

constrained by slowing economies, accelerating inflation and

high unemployment, especially among youth. The right domestic

policies and international support are therefore critical to building

confidence and enabling these countries to successfully meet the

political and economic challenges that lie ahead.

The OECD has been invited to be part of the Deauville Partnership,

an initiative launched in May 2011 by the G8, under the French

Presidency, to support the transition taking place in the MENA

region. The OECD’s contribution is founded on the MENA-OECD

Initiative, launched in 2005, which has successfully created a

network of government officials from both OECD and MENA

countries who regularly meet to discuss governance and economic

policy reforms. Our future activities in the region will be based

upon the Deauville ‘building blocks’: strengthening governance

and transparency; economic and social inclusion; job creation;

and accelerating private-sector-led economic growth.

Strengthening governance and transparency

• As part of the OECD-MENA Initiative, the OECD is providing advice

on improving public service delivery, creating a ‘rule of law’ compact

to improve the regulatory framework and facilitate business and

citizens transactions.

• The Support for Improvement in Government and Management

(SIGMA) Programme, a joint EU-OECD programme, has been extended

to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia.

• The OECD is working with MENA governments to review tax policies

and tax administration systems to assess their capacities to collect

tax revenues and to develop reform plans to strengthen the tax and

business environment.

Economic and social inclusion

• The OECD-MENA Initiative has created a Women’s Business Forum

which provides an open regional network, helping leverage the

expertise of different stakeholders.

• Tunisia and Jordan already participate in the OECD’s Programme for

International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures students’

performances and supports efforts to move to higher education.

ADDRESSING NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

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As encouraged by the G8, all MENA countries have been invited to

participate in PISA.

• Egypt participates in the Assessment of Higher Education

Learning Outcomes (AHELO) feasibility study and also recently

undertook an OECD/World Bank Review of Higher Education in

2011.

Job creation

• In Tunisia, a review of entrepreneurship education is currently

underway, along with development of a report on policies to

support growth of ‘Young Enterprises’. Both Tunisia and Egypt

have requested a review of their national Small and Medium

Enterprise (SME) finance policies.

• Tourism is of great importance to the MENA region and

governments have looked to the OECD to provide policy advice

on how to build a more competitive and sustainable tourism

economy. Egypt has already participated in various tourism

initiatives with the OECD.

Accelerating private-sector-led economic growth

• The OECD continues to work with MENA governments to improve

their investment regimes through the application of international

investment standards and instruments. Egypt, Tunisia and

Morocco have already adhered to the OECD international

investment instruments.

• The OECD is providing policy advice on corporate governance to

Ministries of Economy and to Finance Securities Regulators in the

region with a view to developing local capital markets and attracting

long-term investment.

• Reform of competition regimes is a key policy area that can enhance

economic growth and produce fairer economic outcomes. Egypt has

recently undertaken an OECD peer review of its competition regime.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/mena

www.oecd.org/mena/investment

www.oecd.org/mena/governance

www.sigmaweb.org

1 SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

1.1 InvestmentThe NEPAD-OECD Africa Investment Initiative supports African

governments in designing and implementing investment policy

reforms. Based on strong African ownership and co-chaired by

South Africa and Japan, it uses peer learning methods and co-

operation instruments from both NEPAD and the OECD.

The Initiative is a vehicle for co-operation between African

countries and the world’s major investing countries and

works in partnership with the private sector. It also supports

investment reform implementation at country and regional

level, doing so through investment policy reviews which have

been done on Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Tanzania

and Zambia.

The Initiative has developed the Policy Framework for Investment

in Agriculture (PFIA) to support African governments in assessing

and reforming their policies for agricultural investment. It has also

launched a new project on Aid for Investment, which monitors

donor support to the enabling environment for infrastructure

investment. The April 2011 Ministerial Meeting, held in Dakar,

with high-level political participants including the President and

the Prime Minister of Senegal and 11 African Ministers, called

on the G20 to take decisive action to promote infrastructure

investment in Africa.

Working with international organisations, research centres, and

the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food, the Sahel and

West Africa Club Secretariat (OECD/SWAC) promotes dialogue

between investing countries and West Africa through principles for

responsible land investment and the use of OECD investment tools.

Poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGs require a favourable environment for investment, which can also help African countries to integrate into the global economy, to improve their agricultural development and to foster innovation.

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Investment is also one of the core monitoring issues of the Africa

Partnership Forum (APF), which was created at the Evian G8 Summit

in 2003 to broaden and deepen the dialogue between Africa and its

development partners. Responsible and value-added investment,

along with the regulatory framework for the private sector, are key

themes of the 17th APF meeting in Kigali, Rwanda on 18 October,

2011.

South Africa was actively engaged in the development of Due Diligence

Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-

Affected and High-Risk Areas adopted by OECD Ministers in 2011.

The Due Diligence Guidance combats the illicit trade in minerals that

finance armed conflict. Illegal exploitation of natural resources in fragile

African states has been fuelling conflict across the region for decades.

While data is scarce, it is estimated that up to 80% of minerals in some

of the worst-affected zones may be smuggled out. The illegal trade

stokes conflict, boosts crime and corruption, finances international

terrorism and blocks economic and social development.

The Guidance clarifies how companies can identify and manage

risks throughout the supply chain, from local exporters and mineral

processors to the manufacturing and brand-name companies that

use these minerals in their products. The OECD, the International

Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the UN Group of

Experts on the DRC are working together to implement the Guidance

in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

The OECD has a long history of assisting countries in evaluating

the quality of their policy framework to attract and promote

private domestic and foreign investment through its Investment

Policy Reviews. The reviews are carried out using a process of

peer examination and draw on OECD investment instruments and

tools, such as the Declaration on International Investment and its

Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the Policy Framework

for Investment and the Principles for Private Participation in

Infrastructure.

In response to growing demand from countries for policy advice

on how to mobilise more ‘green investment’, the OECD has started

analysing countries’ green investment policy frameworks for a

special chapter in the Investment Policy Reviews. This work seeks to

help countries improve domestic conditions to mobilise investment

in support of green growth objectives. Tunisia’s investment policy

framework is currently being reviewed.

The OECD continues to develop close collaboration with pension

regulators, supervisors and policy makers in Africa to explore

how pensions can play their part in poverty alleviation and capital

market development. The 2011 Global Forum meeting on private

South Africa

There is deepening co-operation on investment policy between the

OECD and South Africa, the latter being a co-chair in the NEPAD-

OECD Africa Investment Initiative and participating in Freedom of

Investment Roundtables. The country also contributed to the 2011

revision of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, as

well as discussions on international investment agreements and

arbitration.

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1.2 TradeThe OECD carries out substantial analytical and policy-related

work in the trade area, covering issues of direct interest to

Africa, such as analysis of the relationship between trade and

employment. Building on this analytical foundation, the OECD

promotes engagement among interested parties through regional

or Global Forum events. Such initiatives provide opportunities for

African representatives to participate in active and international

exchanges of views.

Development topics feature prominently in our current work on

trade. For example, the OECD is conducting an initiative on Aid-for-

Trade to consider means to improve trade capacity in Africa and

other developing regions. In addition, the OECD-led International

Collaborative Initiative on Trade and Employment includes an Africa

regional conference as well as several studies relevant to Africa.

In recent years, the OECD has undertaken studies on African

economies concerning trade facilitation, trade in services, non-tariff

barriers, comparative advantage, trade and structural adjustment,

agricultural trade and employment, and linkages between trade

policy and foreign direct investment in the agro-food sector.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/trade

www.oecd.org/trade/dev

www.oecd.org/trade/employment

www.oecd.org/swac/livestock

pensions, being held in South Africa, focuses on these regional

issues – including how pension coverage can be improved and how

pension funds in developing countries can finance infrastructure

projects which contribute to sustainable growth. The event includes

a roundtable of experts from a wide range of African countries,

including Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana and Zambia, highlighting the

range of pension reforms which are currently underway.

As a key steel-producing region, a number of African countries are

analysed extensively in the two-yearly publication Developments in Steelmaking Capacity of Non-OECD Economies, which provides

in-depth information on investment projects occurring in the steel

sector as well as projections for steelmaking capacity.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/daf/investment/pfi

www.oecd.org/daf/investment/africa

www.africapartnershipforum.org

www.oecd.org/swac/land

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Africa features prominently in the analysis of the report Agricultural Policies for Strengthening Incomes in Developing Countries: a Synthesis, with key findings about the most appropriate policy

options for countries at different stages of development

In co-operation with the Permanent Inter-State Committee for

Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the SWAC Secretariat manages

the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA), which monitors the

agricultural and food situation in West Africa, publishes monthly

food security briefs and makes policy recommendations for

decision-makers. The SWAC Secretariat also supported ECOWAS

and CILSS in conducting a large-scale consultation process on the

new Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management, which will

be adopted in October 2011 by 17 countries (ECOWAS members, Chad

and Mauritania). Next steps include the setting-up of monitoring

and evaluation mechanisms within the framework of RPCA.

The SWAC Secretariat’s 2011/2012 West African Futures (WAF)

programme analyses the impacts of settlement and market

integration on food security in a regional perspective (ECOWAS,

UEMOA). Focusing on urbanisation and population growth, food

crises, agricultural transformation and market trade, the WAF

programme highlights the need for coherent and homogeneous

regional statistics to better design food security strategies.

1.3 Agriculture and Food SecurityThe impact of highly volatile food prices on hunger, food security

and poverty is a major concern. The OECD, in co-operation with

the FAO, provides the market analysis and projections required

for an informed dialogue. The OECD and FAO have co-ordinated

the preparation of a report on price volatility and food security

mandated by the G20, and have developed recommendations for the

consideration of G20 Agriculture Ministers, covering agricultural,

development, humanitarian and information dimensions. The OECD

also provides a forum for high-level discussion of effective policy

responses in areas such as agricultural support, humanitarian and

development aid, biofuels policy and technological innovation.

A G20 Outreach Session on ‘Agricultural and food price volatility:

African views and perspectives’ in June 2011 contributed to G20

reflections on how to mitigate the impacts of excessive price

volatility, in particular for the most vulnerable. Concrete proposals

for policy options and follow-up actions were made, including the

establishment of a regional emergency food reserve in West Africa.

The NEPAD-Africa Investment Initiative and the SWAC Secretariat,

in partnership with the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa

(UN/OSAA), are jointly developing a policy framework to assess host

country policies for investment in agriculture and to encourage

private and international investment. The first assessment was

conducted on Burkina Faso at the request of its government.

South Africa

South Africa’s agricultural policies are regularly reviewed and its

support to agricultural producers estimated as part of a broader

OECD exercise.

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The OECD is collaborating with the FAO on implementing a system

for Monitoring African Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP),

central to which is the production of a monitoring report and

in-depth country studies containing indicators and analysis that

will help inform decision-making in two key areas: (1) how food

and agricultural policies can best address the country’s policy

objectives with respect to development, food security, poverty

reduction and natural resource use, and (2) how aid and public

expenditures can most effectively target areas where the need is

greatest and potential returns are highest. The information will

feed into national decision-making processes and mechanisms

for policy dialogue at the pan-African and regional level, as well

as with donors and other stakeholders.

The APF Support Unit has produced a series of policy analyses

and progress reports on agriculture and food security in Africa.

Launched in October 2011, the OECD/UNECA 2011 Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa (MRDE) report examines what

has been done to deliver on commitments for African agriculture

and for food security, what results have been achieved, and what

are the key future policy priorities. It also examines progress in

18 other key sectors for development in Africa.

Beyond the MRDE, the April 2010 APF meeting in Toronto addressed

the issue of progress on the Millenium Development Goal of

eradicating extreme poverty and hunger (MDG1). It examined the

impact of the global financial and economic crisis on food security,

projected world market conditions, innovative financing, innovative

partnerships, and science and technology for food security in Africa.

The October 2010 APF meeting in Lilongwe reviewed progress on

delivering commitments and achieving all MDGs in Africa including

MDG1 on the basis of the 2010 Mutual Review of Development

Effectiveness (MRDE) in Africa conducted by the UN Economic

Commission for Africa and OECD.

Key links:

www.agri-outlook.org

www.food-security.net

www.oecd.org/charter

www.oecd.org/waf

www.africapartnershipforum.org

www.oecd.org/apf/mrde

www.oecd.org/tad/support

1.4 CompetitionStrengthening competition policy plays a key role in increasing

consumer welfare and productivity. The OECD advocates best

practices in competition law enforcement and encourages

governments to protect and promote competition in markets.

Bid rigging in public procurement has serious adverse effects on the

economy and wastes large amounts of public expenditure by raising

the prices of goods and services purchased by governments. Specific

projects can lead to substantial savings of government funds. The

OECD has worked extensively on promoting more competitive

bidding in public procurement, developing Guidelines for Fighting

Bid Rigging in Public Procurement and a project to build capacity

to detect and prevent bid rigging. Fighting bid rigging will be a

16

priority project for the new African Competition Forum, a network

of African competition authorities that was launched in March 2011.

An upcoming OECD report on Egypt’s competition law and policy

will provide recommendations and a ‘roadmap’ to support legislative

reforms for strengthening Egypt’s competition regime. The report

will be released in Egypt in early 2012.

Key link:

www.oecd.org/competition

1.5 Innovation and ICTThe OECD Innovation Strategy, launched in 2007, involves significant

efforts by OECD Member and non-Member economies to better

understand the developing ‘ecosystems of innovation’ in an

increasingly globalised world and to better harness them to meet

policy goals. The OECD will continue to work with countries from

all regions, including Africa. The 2010 report Innovation and the Development Agenda highlights the way forward in enhancing

the role of innovation in development.

Innovation in information and communication technology (ICT) is a

vital component of an economy’s dynamism and competitiveness.

While Africa has much to do to expand access to fixed-line telephony,

new technologies and business models are circumventing market

inefficiencies and institutional bottlenecks.

In 2010, the OECD drafted a document on Open Access principles at

the request of the African Union Commission (AUC). The document

will be presented for endorsement by AU delegates at the 4th AU

ICT Ministerial meeting in 2012.

African countries have a growing interest in OECD measurement

standards in science, technology and innovation. South Africa

actively participates in the Working Party of National Experts

on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI) and its statistics

appear in the Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI).

Also participating in NESTI is NEPAD, which supports R&D and

innovation surveys in 19 African countries. As part of the activities

South Africa

The OECD project on reducing bid rigging in public procurement

was extended to South Africa in 2009. The Organisation has

worked with the South African Competition Commission to

develop a successful anti-bid rigging programme which has

already provided support to over 250 senior procurement officials

across government and state owned enterprises. A certification of

compliance was also developed and launched with the National

Treasury as an additional tool to deter bid rigging, in line with

best practices set out in the OECD Guidelines. Training has been

provided to the Competition Commission’s cartel investigators to

assist with enforcement action resulting in increased detection.

The OECD has worked with the South African Public Administration

Leadership and Management Academy to develop a training

module on bid rigging, based on OECD materials, as part of a

national training programme for public procurement officials.

17

of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, the OECD

regularly contributes to statistical workshops in North Africa and

the Middle East.

In many countries, ‘angel investment’ (seed or early stage equity

financing from experienced entrepreneurs or business people) is the

most significant source of outside equity for seed and early stage

start-ups. A growing number of countries have begun focusing

on this important market with private and public sector efforts

to support its development.

An OECD project on financing high-growth firms focuses on

developments in business angel activity around the world, including

Africa. As part of the project, interviews were conducted with

over 100 practitioners, experts and policy makers in 31 countries.

Key links:

www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/in-depth

innovation-and-ict-in-africa-2009

www.oecd.org/sti/innovation/reviews

www.oecd.org/sti/offshoring

www.oecd.org/ict/4d

South Africa

The results of the 2007 OECD Review of South Africa’s Innovation Policy have been widely shared by the South African government

with countries in the Southern African Development Community

(SADC).

The OECD has examined the practicability of three areas of

innovation: (1) enhancing the capacity to absorb technology, (2)

transferring technology, and (3) building knowledge networks.

The OECD also provided statistical assistance for the launch of

an ICT Household Survey in South Africa in 2011.

A seminar organised by the South Africa Department for Science

and Technology in September 2011, attended by government

officials and representatives of academic, business and research

communities, identified areas of improvement in South Africa’s

innovation system through international benchmarking and using

the methodology of the OECD publication Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2010.

‘Angel investment’ is not yet widely practiced in most African

countries. However, an initiative has recently been launched

in South Africa to create the first angel group in Africa called

‘AngelHub’. This South African Group has two chapters, one in

Cape Town and another in Johannesburg.

18

1.6 Green GrowthThe OECD Green Growth Strategy, delivered at the 2011 OECD Ministerial

Council Meeting (MCM), marks the start of the OECD’s longer term

agenda to support national and international efforts to achieve green

growth. Three reports form the basis of this strategy: Towards Green Growth, Towards Green Growth: Monitoring Progress - OECD Indicators and Tools for Delivering on Green Growth.

The Strategy aims to help countries foster economic growth and

development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide

the resources and the environmental services on which our well-being

relies. It outlines a flexible policy framework that can be tailored to

different national circumstances and stages of development.

The OECD is building its capacity to achieve this by integrating green

growth considerations into OECD’s national policy surveillance, notably

into the Economic Surveys, Environmental Performance Reviews and

Innovation Reviews. These reports will cover both OECD and emerging

economies, including a green growth focus for the 2013 Environmental Performance Review of South Africa.

Work is also underway to examine how green growth strategies can

be applied in the context of developing countries. This will involve

assessing the links between green growth and poverty reduction,

and identifying the changes needed in sectors such as agriculture

and infrastructure to make them more supportive of development

and green growth. Analysis will focus on how green growth policies

in OECD countries may affect the economy of developing countries

through changes in trade and investment patterns and competition

for livelihood and assets. This work will inform policy makers on

how development co-operation can support partner governments to

maximise the poverty reduction potential of green growth.

A Green Growth Strategy for Food and Agriculture was released in

June 2011, which will provide the basis for continued work in this area,

including developing concrete policy proposals that illustrate how

alternative policy sets can contribute to a greener growth model for

food and agriculture. In this context, particular attention will be paid

to the specific circumstances of developing countries.

The Sahel and West Africa Club’s 2011 Forum, on 5-6 September, 2011

in Praia, Cape Verde, was dedicated to the topic ‘Brazil and West Africa:

jointly addressing renewable energy issues’, and defined a road map

towards a regional strategy on renewable energy in West Africa.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/greengrowth

www.oecd.org/swac/forum

19

Since 2009, the OECD has facilitated 32 capacity building events in

Africa covering issues such as transfer pricing, tax treaties, exchange

of information and tax administration. The OECD’s support for

Africa’s tax administrations represents a key element of ATAF’s

capacity building agenda.

The establishment in May 2010 of the informal Task Force on Tax

and Development, a multi-stakeholder advisory group tasked with

developing a coherent programme of tax-centred development

activities, has further strengthened the OECD’s support for tax

capacity building in Africa. The Task Force brings together members

of the tax and the development communities, NGOs, business and

other international organisations to develop a programme of tax-

related capacity building initiatives.

2 PUBLIC FINANCE

2.1 TaxDomestic resource mobilisation through taxation is critical for African

countries to be able to raise the revenue needed to achieve the MDGs.

Effective and fair tax systems improve the quality of government

through increased accountability between governments and their

citizens. Since 1999, the OECD has supported African governments

in their tax policy and capacity building programmes.

The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), launched in November

2009, is implementing an Africa-wide and Africa-led programme of tax

capacity development. Through its Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA)

and the Tax and Development programme of the CFA and Development

Assistance Committee (DAC), the OECD is working closely with ATAF

to develop and deliver its agenda.

Governments need to be able to manage public finances effectively. The OECD shares its expertise with African partners in three key policy areas: taxation, budget reform and public debt management.

20

In April 2011, the Task Force proposed an initial programme of initiatives,

which were subsequently approved by the CFA and DAC for immediate

implementation. These include initiatives designed to support ATAF’s

work, focusing on tax and state-building, transfer pricing and increasing

the transparency of financial reporting by multinational enterprises.

In addition, the Task Force is supporting the work of the Global Forum

on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to

ensure that African countries fully benefit from a more transparent

global tax environment. Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, the

Seychelles and South Africa are members of the Global Forum, and

it is expected that African membership will significantly increase in

the coming years.

Key link:

www.oecd.org/tax/globalrelations

2.2 Financial EducationIn October 2011, the OECD will hold a conference in South Africa

to explore consumer protection, pensions, financial inclusion and

financial education in schools and includes a session focused on the

National Financial Education Strategies and Initiatives in Africa.

By hosting this conference, South Africa aims to promote and lead

financial education initiatives in Africa and to encourage African

countries to join the OECD’s International Network on Financial

Education (INFE).

2.3 Budgeting and Public ExpendituresThe OECD’s Working Party of Senior Budget Officials (SBO) is

recognised as the world’s leading forum on international budgeting

issues. Inspired by the SBO, the Collaborative African Budget Reform

Initiative (CABRI) was launched in 2004, which brings together

annually the budget directors and other senior budget officials from

24 African countries to share experiences and draw inspiration

from each other with a view to improving budgeting systems.

The OECD co-operated closely with the South African National

Treasury in establishing CABRI and has been closely associated with

South Africa

The OECD and South Africa have worked closely to support the

formation and work programme of ATAF. This co-operation

reinforces an increasingly important partnership between the OECD

and South Africa, in particular in the tax area. South Africa takes

an active part as a regular observer in the CFA and its subsidiary

bodies, which have responsibility for key international tax issues

including transfer pricing, tax treaties and exchange of information.

Co-operation with South Africa includes an annual programme

of bilateral dialogue events on key taxation issues, as well as

co-operation to establish effective mechanisms for African countries

to exchange tax-related information. South Africa co-chairs the Task

Force on Tax and Development, and provides experts to contribute

to OECD/ATAF multilateral tax events.

21

it ever since. At each annual meeting of CABRI, the OECD shares the

results of its work on budgeting and public expenditures. Recently,

the OECD and CABRI jointly extended the OECD Budget Practices and

Procedures Survey to Africa. This provided comparable information

for 24 African countries on budget formulation, legislative approval,

budget implementation, and audit. This data has been analysed in

co-operation with the AfDB.

The OECD is extending its work on budgeting and public expenditures

to have a better understanding of the role of budgetary institutions

in infrastructure, a project that will cover all countries in the

African continent through country surveys.

The OECD also hosts the Task Force on Public Financial Management

(a sub-body of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness) which has

been co-chaired by Malawi, Zambia and the World Bank. African

countries are strongly represented in the activities of the Task

Force, with the sharing of experiences and resulting guidance

on strengthening public financial management, supreme audit

institutions, parliamentary oversight of the budget process, and

ensuring aid flows are channelled through national public finance

institutions.

North African countries have been very active in the regional SBO

network for the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA). Launched

in 2007, the network is a component of the wider MENA-OECD

Governance Programme, initiated and led by MENA countries. It

promotes broad reforms to modernise governance structures and

operations, strengthen regional and international partnerships,

and promote sustainable economic growth throughout the MENA

region. In September 2011, a MENA SBO meeting held in Beirut was

the occasion for Morocco to present an in-depth examination of its

budgeting systems and for Tunisia to present the major challenges

for budgeting and public expenditures in the context of democratic

transition and increasing social expectations.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/gov/budget

www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/pfm

2.4 Public Debt ManagementSound public debt management requires African policy makers to

develop local-currency bond markets, thereby creating market-

based funding sources to finance government deficits. The OECD

project on African debt management and bond markets allows

African debt managers to integrate into a worldwide network of

their peers and to raise the awareness of advances in Africa among

policy makers, investors and others outside the continent.

In response to a request by the 2007 G8 Summit, the OECD intensified

its efforts to share best practices with African debt managers,

central bankers and other financial officials involved in public

debt management through a range of projects and annual fora. For

example, the OECD Forum on African Public Debt Management and

Bond Markets is an annual forum that addresses strategic policy

issues in the area of public debt management, shares experience

22

on OECD best practices and specific bond market development

issues of particular relevance to Africa.

There is great demand from within and outside Africa for reliable

information on outstanding government debt as well as more

general information on debt management policies and the

development of African bond markets. As part of a G8/G20 action

plan for developing bond markets in emerging markets, the OECD

has launched a database of African central government debt, using

OECD methodology to produce reliable statistical data that can lead

to comparative analysis and policy recommendations. The second

issue of the Statistical Yearbook on African Central Government Debt was published in June 2011.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/daf/pdm/africa

www.publicdebtnet.org

South Africa

South Africa has played a strong and pro-active role since the

inception of the OECD project on Public Debt Management (PDM)

and Bond Markets in Africa. Its Treasury has hosted the Annual

OECD meetings on African Public Debt Management and Bond

Markets for the last four years. On 30 June 2011, The Centre for

African Public Debt Management and Bond Markets was launched

in Midrand, South Africa, and is supported by the OECD and the

National Treasury of South Africa.

The Centre will enhance South Africa’s supporting role as a

conduit of good practices from the OECD to other African

countries by facilitating access to and encouraging the use of

leading OECD practices in debt management and bond market

development. It will also support the ongoing international policy

dialogue between debt managers from OECD countries and those

from African countries. The Centre will develop capacity building

programmes, produce studies on public debt management and

the development of government securities markets, and publish

an Annual Yearbook on Central Government Debt of African countries (based on the methodology of the OECD Annual Yearbook on Central Government Debt) and a Bond Monitor.

23

I have this faith in Africa’s ability to confront

and deal with its challenges. The continent

continues to show its ability to adjust to new

realities and remain focused on development.

It is this positive process that we in ECA in close

partnership with OECD are accompanying. We

believe, eventually, Africa will be transformed

into what we all aspire it to be: a continent that

governs itself better; utilizes its resources for

the benefit of its people; a continent whose growth has a positive

impact on its population. It is this belief which fuels my enthusiasm,

confidence and optimism in the future of Africa.

Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive

Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

24

3 GOVERNANCE

3.1 Fighting CorruptionThe OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public

Officials in International Business Transactions (OECD Anti-

Bribery Convention) has captured worldwide attention as the only

global instrument focused on fighting the supply side of bribery

in cross-border business deals. There are currently 38 State

Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (34 OECD Member

countries and four partner economies, including South Africa).

In 2009, the OECD and the AfDB developed the Joint OECD/AfDB

Initiative to Support Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Efforts in

Africa. The Initiative aims to help African countries fight bribery of

public officials and to improve corporate integrity and accountability.

Working in partnership with other international and regional

Strong public institutions at the local, regional and central level, strong public sector management, and corruption-free public and private sectors all help advance economic growth, trade, investment and job creation. The OECD produces internationally agreed instruments and principles to promote ‘rules of the game’ in these areas, and it is actively working with African partners to promote these standards in Africa as well.

organisations, as well as with key stakeholders in the region, the

Joint Initiative designs and helps put in place effective policies to

combat bribery and support business integrity. This will support

and reinforce the African Union Convention on Preventing and

Combating Corruption, the UN Convention Against Corruption and

the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

A Stocktaking Report on Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Legislation, Policies and Practices in Twenty African Countries

will be published in late 2011. Its findings will serve as the basis

for developing the Anti-Bribery and Business Integrity Course

of Action for Africa, which will underpin the Joint Initiative.

The Course of Action was discussed and adopted at the First

Regional Experts’ Meeting in January 2011. The next steps of

the Joint Initiative, including implementation of the Course of

Action, will be discussed at the Second Regional Meeting to be

held in 2012.

In North Africa, within the context of the ‘Arab Spring’, popular

discontent has been voiced about levels of corruption and the way

it is impacting the daily lives of citizens and deepening a sense

of insecurity. According to the public, corruption has prevented

individuals from exercising their rights and freedoms and diverted

away valuable resources that could have been used to promote

economic and social development.

The OECD has been supporting countries in implementing policies

and measures that promote integrity and corruption prevention

in the public sector. In particular, upon request from Morocco and

Egypt, the OECD conducted two peer reviews on integrity policies,

measuring the coherence with international standards such as

the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the OECD

Recommendation by using the OECD peer review methodology

(Joint Learning Study).

To respond to the urgent demand of Tunisia and Egypt to support

the implementation of integrity and corruption prevention reforms,

the OECD has started the implementation of two assistance projects.

In Tunisia, the OECD provides direct assistance to the Commission

on Cases of Embezzlement and Corruption in designing an integrity

strategy and action plan for implementation to investigate past

abuses and prevent corruption in the future. In a unique regional

project that brings together Tunisia and Egypt, the OECD provides

assessments, benchmarking, recommendations and capacity

building activities based on international good practices and

standards in enhancing integrity in public procurement.

South Africa

South Africa ratified the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2007,

the first African country to do so. South Africa is now a Member

of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business

Transactions and participates in the Working Group’s peer review

monitoring mechanism that oversees the implementation and

enforcement of the Convention. The OECD Working Group on Bribery

published evaluations on South Africa’s implementation of the

OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2008 and 2010.

Ensuring public sector integrity and preventing corruption in the

public sector help ensure a ‘level playing field’ for businesses and

are essential to maintaining trust in government. To this end, South

Africa has been an active participant in the Public Sector Integrity

Network and the Public Governance Committee. Benchmarks

from South Africa were used in the 2010 Integrity Review of Brazil. South Africa also contributed to the formulation of the OECD

Recommendation on Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement.

South Africa participated in the seminar on Internal Control and

Internal Audit: Ensuring Public Sector Integrity and Accountability,

in April 2011. More active participation in the work of the Public

Sector Integrity Network could help provide relevant and credible

data and benchmarks for South African policy makers on issues

related to the integrity of the public sector.

25

Several African countries participated in the Multi-Stakeholder

Dialogue on Putting Anti-corruption Commitments into Practice,

held on 9-10 June 2011, in Rabat. A series of proposals to improve

governance and fight corruption was put forward in the Conference Conclusions, including the launch of an Integrity Forum to measure

progress in the implementation of time-bound government

commitments against corruption.

The DAC’s Network on Governance (GOVNET) is supporting donors

in a number of African countries to enhance co-ordination around

common anti-corruption response principles. In 2007, the OECD

received the African Investor Award, in recognition of its important

role in the fight against bribery.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/corruption/africa

www.oecd.org/corruption

www.oecd.org/gov/ethics

3.2 Public Governance and Regional DevelopmentThe consolidation of democracy and governance remains a key

concern in many developing countries. The SWAC Secretariat

is producing analyses of the regional dynamics of instability

and conflict, including: (1) a comparative analysis of counter-

terrorism laws in West Africa, (2) a case study on Chad with

regards to ECOWAS security policies and, (3) an analysis of West

African security issues, published within the OECD West African

Studies series. This work will be combined with dialogue activities

involving key stakeholders in West Africa.

South Africa

Discussions are underway for a further deepening of South Africa’s

engagement in the activities of the OECD Public Governance

Committee to facilitate regular policy dialogue between South

Africa and OECD countries on key governance priorities.

More active engagement in the data collection activities for

the publication Government at a Glance could provide useful

policy benchmarks to support South African policymakers in

advancing public sector reforms. Undertaking a set of governance

reviews could support South Africa’s commitment to unlocking

human capital and to strengthening and improving public sector

performance, with a focus on the sustainability of governance

arrangements.

26

The OECD provides analysis on governance of information and

communication (ICT) issues in African countries. This includes peer

reviews of e-government frameworks and practices, for example, an

ongoing project in Egypt to guide administrative reforms as part of the

larger transition in government. This is the first review in the Middle

East and North Africa (MENA) region of a country’s use of information

and communications technologies, and particularly the Internet, as a

tool to achieve better government and promote growth. The review will

help the Egyptian government to improve and streamline government

services to citizens and business and will provide other MENA countries

with policy guidelines and examples of good practices as they address

similar challenges.

Morocco chairs the MENA-OECD Focus Group on Green Growth and

Territorial Development as an observer in the OECD’s TDPC, and will

host a regional conference on territorial development in December 2011.

The conference will focus on the coherence of territorial approaches,

including urban, rural, environmental, and multilevel governance

aspects, to support countries in the region promoting sustainable

economic growth and reducing disparities between territories and

citizens. In addition, the OECD is currently conducting a rural review

on Morocco to identify how rural policies are conducted. The study will

enable the country to develop more coherent frameworks for future

rural policies that reflect current best practices in other countries.

With Tunisia, Egypt has launched the Task Force on Legal and

Constitutional Reform. At the request of Egypt, the Task Force will

focus on issues of the long-term consequences of the constitution

for building a public administration that works and delivers in a

transparent, accountable and efficient manner. The MENA-OECD

Governance Programme has supported Egypt’s efforts in the

review of the existing legislation in partnership with the Egyptian

Regulatory Reform and Development Activity (ERRADA).

South Africa

The OECD supports South Africa in its regulatory reform efforts

by providing expertise, exchange of information and organising

seminars on topics such as Regulatory Impact Assessment and

regulatory institutions.

The OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee (TDPC)

supports African countries with advice on ways to improve their

regional development policies that target both competitiveness

and equity objectives. South Africa has developed close and

consistent relations with the TDPC since 2007. South Africa is

currently engaged in developing and implementing a regional

policy agenda to address the wide regional disparities in

economic and social well-being, the spatial polarisation in

cities and the challenges of migration. These issues have been

assessed in OECD metropolitan reviews of Cape Town in 2008

and of Gauteng City Region (Johannesburg – Pretoria) in 2010.

The recently launched 2011 edition of the OECD’s Regions at a Glance includes for the first time regional statistics from South

Africa. Discussions are underway with Statistics South Africa

(SSS) on how best to cross-benefit from the SSS-University of

Stellenbosch Masters programme on Statistics, Space and City

Systems for knowledge generation to define a new statistical

agenda for South Africa.

27

GOVNET is developing links to a number of key continental

institutions, including UNECA and the African Governance

Initiative, as well as national accountability institutions, to

discuss improving donor support to domestic accountability. Multi-

stakeholder dialogue on improving donor support to domestic

accountability will take place in a number of African Countries,

including Mali and Mozambique. On human rights, GOVNET had

two consultations in 2010 in Africa (Kenya and Burkina Faso),

working with local practitioners and in-country staff from donor

agencies to anchor the Draft Principles on Human Rights and Aid

Effectiveness in the realities of local contexts.

As part of the initiative to help implement the capacity priorities

of the Accra Agenda for Action, the DAC is working with NEPAD

and the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) to tackle

systemic constraints and disseminate good practices in capacity

development for good governance.

In the area of regulatory reform, Tunisia hosts the Regional Centre

of Expertise for Regulatory Quality and has organised several

regional training courses on Regulatory Impact Analysis, Public

Consultation in the Rule-Making Process and Legal Review of

Gender-based Policies.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/dac/governance

www.oecd.org/governance

www.oecd.org/swac/security

www.oecd.org/gov/regionaldevelopment

3.3 Business Integrity in the Extractive SectorThe OECD is working closely with the International Conference on

the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and its Member countries (including

the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda) to

promote responsible business in the extractive sector and to break

the ‘resource curse’ that perpetuates underdevelopment and violent

conflict. The OECD Pilot Project in the Mining and Minerals Sector is

intended to clarify the nature of corporate due diligence and develop

user-friendly practical guidance in the mining and minerals sector

in conflict zones and other high-risk areas. The work is carried

out through a multi-stakeholder OECD-hosted working group that

includes OECD and African countries, international organisations,

regional organisations, metal traders and suppliers, and experts.

In 2011, OECD Ministers adopted the Due Diligence Guidance for

Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and

High-Risk Areas. The OECD, the ICGLR and the UN Group of Experts

on the Democratic Republic of the Congo are working together to

implement the Guidance in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/daf/investment/mining

28

3.4 Corporate GovernanceThe importance of corporate governance in Africa is recognised by

the fact that, together with economic and political governance, it

is one of the three pillars of the African Peer Review Mechanism

(APRM). In establishing the APRM, the AU endorsed the OECD

Principles of Corporate Governance as a relevant self-assessment

benchmark. The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance have

also been used as a reference for corporate governance codes in

some African countries, including Egypt and South Africa.

The OECD collaborates closely with regional and international

institutions working to develop better corporate governance in both

the private sector and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including

the Global Corporate Governance Forum, the World Bank, the

International Finance Corporation, NEPAD and the AfDB.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/daf/corporateaffairs

www.oecd.org/daf/corporateaffairs/soe

www.oecd.org/daf/corporateaffairs/soe/africa

South Africa

The OECD has established a Southern African Network on

Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), to

which South Africa has served as anchor since the network

was first launched in Cape Town in 2008. The network supports

SOE corporate governance reforms through policy dialogue

among representatives of Southern African and OECD countries.

Discussions are based on the OECD Guidelines on Corporate

Governance of State-Owned Enterprises.

The OECD is supporting the South African Presidential SOE

Review Committee’s current review of governance and ownership

arrangements for South Africa’s SOEs. In December 2010, the two

bodies organised a seminar examining international practices

related to ownership and governance of SOEs, showcasing the

experiences not only of OECD Member countries, but also those

of economies from other OECD regional networks in Asia and

Southern Africa. The OECD also supports the Committee’s

Research and Development Unit by providing access to OECD’s

comparative research on these issues.

29

4 SOCIETY

4.1 Labour MarketsThe OECD has reviewed labour market conditions in South Africa

through economic surveys and through comparative work on

labour market conditions in emerging economies (published in the

Employment Outlook). The 2010 edition of the Employment Outlook

features a chapter on how labour markets in key emerging economies

have evolved during the recent global economic downturn and

identifies the main labour market and social policy challenges they

face. In particular, it highlighted numerous structural vulnerabilities

in the social protection systems of these economies.

An important challenge in designing effective social protection

systems in emerging economies is to ensure that these systems do

not weaken incentives for work. This was the focus of the chapter

on emerging economies in the 2011 edition of the Employment Outlook which provides an in-depth analysis of the role of social

assistance for labour market incentives in the case of South Africa,

a country with a relatively comprehensive and generous system of

cash transfers.

As part of an in-depth study on labour market developments and

inequality, jointly undertaken with the European Commission

(EU), the OECD organised two international conferences on the

role of recent labour market trends for the evolution of poverty and

inequality in South Africa (as well as in Brazil, China and India) and

the role that employment and social policies can play to alleviate

poverty and reduce inequality. This work culminated with the 2010

OECD report Tackling Inequalities in Brazil, China, India and South Africa: What Role for Labour Market and Social Policies?

The OECD helps shape not only economic policy, but also social policy in areas such as labour markets, education and training, health and migration, which are all essential to achieving sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction, and responding to the challenges of globalisation.

30

Key links:

www.oecd.org/els

www.oecd.org/els/social/inequality/emergingeconomies

4.2 Education and TrainingThe OECD provides policy support for better education and human

capital development in a number of countries in Africa. For example,

Tunisia is participating in the Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA). Following the success of the joint OECD/World

Bank Review of Higher Education Policies in Egypt, the new Egyptian

government has requested a review of pre-university and vocational

education and training and is exploring the possibility for a review

of higher education in regional and city development in the north

governorates of Upper Egypt.

The Egyptian National Authority for Quality Assurance and

Accreditation of Education is a regular member of the Institutional

Management in Higher Education (IMHE) Programme. Egypt is also

participating in the OECD feasibility study for an Assessment of

Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) and is involved in the

three strands of its work: Generic Skills, Economics and Engineering.

Higher education institutions from Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and

South Africa are also members of the Institutional Management in

Higher Education (IMHE) Programme.

The OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research

for Development (IHERD), launched in September 2011, is a multi-year

programme supported by the Swedish International Development

Cooperation Agency (Sida). The overall objective of the Programme is

to increase strategic and coherent investments in innovation, higher

education and research relevant to development on a global level,

through increasing the policy relevance of research, better informed

policy making, and policy coherence in investment in innovation,

higher education and research by national governments and

international funders. Africa will be a focal point of the Programme

that also aims to build partnerships with African countries.

In the context of its overall effort in capacity development, the

OECD/DAC is contributing to a joint international effort to generate

good practice guidance for training and ‘alternative approaches

to learning for capacity development’, with particular emphasis

on Africa.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/edu/nme

www.africaneconomicoutlook.org

www.oecd.org/dac/capacitydevelopment

South Africa

The South African province of Free State is participating in

the OECD review of higher education in regional and city

development. The report will be published in 2012. Cape Town

University of Technology (CPUT), a member of the Cape Higher

Education Consortium, participated in the OECD reviews on

quality teaching in 2010 and 2011.

31

4.3 HealthThe 14th APF meeting, held in Toronto in April 2010, placed

special emphasis on progress made in achieving the health MDGs,

specifically maternal and child health. Discussions concentrated

on the impact of the financial and economic crisis on health,

strengthening health systems in Africa, innovative financing,

innovative partnerships and science and technology for health.

The 15th APF Meeting, held in Lilongwe in October 2010, analysed

progress made on achieving the MDGs in Africa, including health,

and concluded that while significant progress had been made

towards attaining some MDGs, several commitments by a number

of countries had not been fully met, and that there was a need

to accelerate progress over the next five years to ensure that the

MDG targets are met.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/sti/biotechnology/nma

www.africapartnershipforum.org

4.4 MigrationThe OECD publishes an annual International Migration Outlook,

which monitors migration flows and policies in OECD countries.

In 2008, more than 290,000 immigrants from Africa came to OECD

countries, representing 5.4% of all inflows.

The database on immigrants in OECD countries (DIOC) provides

estimates of ‘brain-drain’ from more than 200 countries of origin.

This database has been recently extended to cover non-Member

countries of destination, including South Africa and several other

African countries.

International mobility of health workers has grown rapidly in

the past decades. Medical brain drain from African countries

exacerbates the health workforce crisis. To better monitor and

understand the causes and consequences of health worker flows,

the OECD in collaboration with the World Health Organisation

has carried out a project on health workforce and migration,

including a collection of data on doctors and nurses working in

OECD countries, by detailed place of birth and place of training.

Recent data by place of training is also available on African doctors

and nurses.

The OECD Development Centre works extensively on migration,

looking at two areas in particular: (1) the governance of

international migration at the global, regional, national and local

levels, and (2) the link between emigration and labour markets in

developing countries. Its work currently focuses on West Africa,

with specific studies conducted on the impact of migration policies

32

on rural welfare in Burkina Faso, and on integration policies in

South-South migration contexts in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. These

studies and others are used as a basis for policy dialogue among

policymakers in the region.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/migration/imo

www.oecd.org/swac/migration

www.oecd.org/health/workforce

South Africa

According to official data, there were an estimated 1.2 million

immigrants in South Africa in 2007. A large number of immigrants

have since arrived from Zimbabwe. Since 2008, South Africa is the

largest recipient of individual applications for asylum, worldwide.

The UNHCR estimates that South Africa was hosting 417,700 asylum

seekers at the end of 2010.

Emigration from South Africa is mainly towards the United

Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

Insecurity and poorer working conditions in some occupations are

among the main reasons for emigration. While absolute numbers

are now rather low, emigration concerns mainly qualified and highly

qualified South Africans. DIOC includes detailed information on

people born in South Africa and living in the OECD area, as well

as data on migrants in South Africa.

33

4.5 Income Distribution and Poverty ReductionThe OECD has been studying trends in South African income

distribution and poverty since the end of Apartheid. In 2010, the

OECD issued a Social, Employment and Migration Working Paper. An expert seminar was subsequently organised in Cape Town with

South African researchers and government representatives along

with OECD experts to validate the findings of the report and to

discuss policy implications.

In June 2011, the OECD organised jointly with the National Planning

Commission a Policy Forum in Pretoria on ‘How to address Inequality

and Poverty in South Africa?’ This Forum brought together high-

level policymakers from the South African administration with

representatives from Brazil, France and the OECD to discuss policies

and strategies to reduce poverty and inequality.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/els/social

www.oecd.org/els/social/inequality

www.oecd.org/els/social/inequality/emergingeconomies

Africa can benefit from OECD’s policy tools

to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable

economic growth. In turn, the Organization’s

knowledge pool can be enriched by the

region’s challenges and unique experience.

Closer co-operation between the OECD and

Africa will prove useful in the search for a

more inclusive globalisation process that

may benefit all.

HE Agustín García-López,

Ambassador of Mexico to the OECD

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4.6 Internet EconomyCreation of local digital contentIn 2011, the OECD partnered with the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Internet

Society (ISOC) to examine the relationship between Internet

infrastructure, Internet prices and the development of local

digital content.

The project included separate case studies on the development

of local content in seven countries including Egypt, Kenya and

Senegal, and a review of the mobile sector in Uganda. This

research showed a strong correlation between the development

of network infrastructure and the growth of local content, even

after controlling for economic and demographic factors.

In addition, the research found a significant relationship between

the development of international Internet capacity and the price

of local Internet access. The results indicate that more developed

local Internet markets tend to report lower international prices for

bandwidth and vice versa: markets with more intense international

Internet traffic tend to report lower local prices.

Egypt: the cost of cutting Internet accessThe Internet and communications infrastructure is a key platform to

conduct business, connect people and provide government services.

During the popular uprising in Egypt in January 2011, Internet and

communications services were shut down for five days. The OECD

estimated and published the direct costs of the shutdown at USD

90 million over the period of five days, or on a yearly scale, for

approximately 3-4% of GDP. The OECD figures were only direct effects

but the indirect effects of the shutdown on the large call centre

outsourcing business in Egypt (worth USD 1 billion per year) could

be significantly larger. This initial work in Egypt was the beginning

of a new OECD project to measure the size of the Internet economy.

4.7 Child LabourLaunched in 2008 at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and Development Co-operation of Belgium, the SWAC Secretariat

co-ordinated a regional initiative to combat the worst forms of

child labour on West African cocoa farms. A joint position paper,

signed by 14 key stakeholders, highlights the need for a regional

approach. A guidebook on best practices, elaborated by the SWAC

Secretariat in partnership with the International Cocoa Initiative,

will be presented at a regional stakeholder meeting in November

2011.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/swac/cocoa

35

5 CLIMATE CHANGE

5.1 Climate ChangeClimate change and its related challenges are a major focus of

OECD work. This includes work on carbon markets and climate

finance, effective and efficient policy mixes for both climate change

adaptation and mitigation, and support for discussions in the climate

negotiations on such issues as improving transparency of countries’

emissions, mitigation actions, and financing, scaling-up access to

the Clean Development Mechanism, and establishing low-emission

development strategies. Implementing the OECD Green Growth

Strategy will also be instrumental in connecting green growth policy

challenges and opportunities with those germane to climate change.

Climate Change was identified as a key issue for Africa at the OECD

joint meeting of Environment and Development Ministers in 2006,

where leaders endorsed a Framework for Common Action around

Shared Goals and a Declaration on Integrating Climate Change

Adaptation into Development Co-operation. This was followed

by a Policy Statement and Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate

Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation, which was

adopted by the Members of the OECD DAC and Environment Policy

Committee at their High-Level Meeting in May 2009.

The Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation

into Development Co-operation provides recommendations on

how to integrate climate change adaptation into donor activities,

as well as into national, sectoral and local planning processes. It

shows the impact of climate change on Africa and explains how

to ensure greater resilience to climate change and adapt to it. In

particular, the guidance includes examples of adaptation actions

36

Climate change is a major global challenge. The OECD has been working on climate change economics and policy for many years. Africa contributes least to the problem, yet it is the continent most affected. The OECD supports policy makers in Africa in identifying challenges and developing the policy responses required, and advises them on their implementation.

from Cameroon, Malawi, Kenya and South Africa. Germany’s GTZ

and the OECD developed a training course based on this guidance

which can be of use to African decision makers.

Economic Aspects of Adaptation to Climate Change: Costs, Benefits and Policy Instruments, published in 2008, assesses the costs and

benefits of adaptation. Harmonising Climate Risk Management Tools

provides an overview of the various tools available to development

assistance projects for conducting analyses of climate change risks

and offers suggestions which could improve the use of such risk

screening and assessment tools.

The OECD has recently launched a project to support countries

in assessing and promoting good practice policies to attract

private finance and investment for low-carbon, climate resilient

development. The project examines areas such as financial sector

regulations and investment and climate change policies, and will

identify good practice policies to address investment barriers in

different country contexts, including in Africa.

Africa is playing an increasingly important role in the international

climate negotiations under the UNFCCC, with South Africa

hosting the COP17 in December 2011. The OECD regularly invites

participation from African delegates to Climate Change Expert

Group seminars on key issues in the climate change negotiations.

The seminars in 2011 focused on carbon markets and the issue

of transparency (measurable, reportable and verifiable climate

actions, commitments and support), and benefitted from the active

participation of delegates from several African countries.

Climate change, its impact on Africa, and appropriate policy

responses from G8/OECD and African governments to adapt to

these effects, have been a major focus for the meetings of the APF,

which helped African countries build a common perspective to

speak with one voice at the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference

in Copenhagen in December 2009. To this effect, the APF Support

Unit co-ordinated the preparation of papers on Enhanced Action

on Technology Development and Transfer and Carbon Finance in

Africa. Current climate change and environmental sustainability

challenges facing Africa and policy options are analysed in the

UNECA/OECD 2011 Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa.

The SWAC Secretariat co-ordinated a project funded by the French

Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the UK Foreign and

Commonwealth Office on the Security Implications of Climate

Change in the Sahel (SICCS), which aimed to increase understanding

of the linkages and impacts of climate change and security in

the Sahel and on how climate change could contribute to future

insecurity.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/env/cc

www.oecd.org/env/mrv

www.oecd.org/dac

www.oecd.org/swac/climatechange

www.africapartnershipforum.org

www.oecd.org/apf/mrde

37

5.2 Other Environmental IssuesThe OECD has been working together with the European Union

(EU) Water Initiative in several African countries to support the

financial sustainability of the water sector. A project on strategic

financial planning in water supply and sanitation in Lesotho was

completed in 2009. Launched at the 5th World Water Forum in March

2009, Managing Water for All – an OECD Perspective on Pricing and Financing includes lessons learned from several African country

experiences as well as new data on water aid to Africa.

Case studies from South Africa and Uganda will be presented at the

OECD Global Forum on Environment in October 2011, which focuses

on the topic of ‘Making Water Reform Happen’. Several African

countries, together with other developing and OECD countries have

been invited to join discussions on effective ways to implement

reform in the water sector.

The OECD is also examining policy approaches to water security

as an engine of growth in South Africa, which was discussed at

the UN Water Conference ‘Water in the Green Economy in Practice:

Towards Rio+20’ in Zaragoza on 3-5 October, 2011.

The OECD, together with environment and development Ministries

and agencies, governments and institutions from Burkina Faso,

Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and other developing

countries are working together to develop Policy Guidance on

Chemicals, Nanomaterials, and Biotechnology

South Africa is a full participant in the OECD Mutual Acceptance

of Data (MAD) system, a multilateral agreement that shares

the results of a variety of safety tests done on chemicals and

chemical products across adhering countries. The country has

been a regular observer in the Chemicals Committee and its

subsidiary bodies since 2006.

South Africa has a well established strategy for addressing

the emerging field of nanotechnology and nanoscience and

has participated actively since 2009 in the OECD’s programme

on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. Currently, it is

leading the safety testing of gold nanoparticles.

South Africa also plays an active role in the Task Force for the

Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds, which deals with products

derived from genetically engineered plants. It led the drafting of

the food safety consensus documents on cassava and on sweet

potato, published in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

The country also provides expertise on other key tropical crops

such as sugarcane. South Africa is strengthening its participation

in the Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory

Oversight in Biotechnology which focuses on environmental

safety assessment. Currently, it is leading the drafting of an

environmental safety consensus document on sorghum.

38

Capacity Development for Environmental Management, to be

released in 2012. As part of this effort, a workshop took place in

Malawi in 2010 on Aid Effectiveness and the Environment, which

focused on integrating environment issues into national planning

and budgeting.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/env/policies/database

www.oecd-nea.org

South Africa

South Africa has requested an OECD Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of the country, which will be carried out in 2012 and

published in 2013. The review will focus on progress in achieving

national and international environmental goals and will identify

positive achievements as well as areas for further progress. OECD

EPRs provide mutually agreed recommendations to support

environmental progress and reforms in the reviewed countries,

in line with good international practices.

South Africa has also been actively involved in OECD work related

to Tax and Environment, and has provided inputs to the OECD/

EEA database on policy instruments used for environmental policy.

South Africa’s nuclear safety authority participates in the

Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP), a unique

international initiative with the aim of developing innovative

approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of national

regulatory authorities reviewing new reactor power plant designs.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) acts as the Technical

Secretariat for the MDEP. South Africa participated in two major

international conferences that the OECD/NEA organised with the

French Government, firstly, in March 2010 on Access to Civil Nuclear

Energy and secondly, in June 2011, in the G8-NEA Ministerial Seminar

on Nuclear Safety and the Forum of Regulators, dedicated to define

international measures after the Fukushima accident.

We must produce an environment conducive

to attracting investment, especially in

regional infrastructure. Infrastructure is

the key factor to facilitate trade and the

movement of goods in order to improve the

lives of people in our region.

The SADC Secretariat is pleased to be an

official partner of the project of investment

reviews, ‘Unlocking Southern Africa’s investment potential’, which

the OECD is undertaking with Southern African countries. This

should help to disseminate the results among the SADC member

states and promote additional reforms in a region whose growth

path is similar to those of many emerging economies.

Dr Tomaz A. Salomão,

Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development

Community (SADC)

39

6 SURVEYS AND STATISTICS The OECD publishes biannual Economic Outlooks with analysis and projections for major world economies, plus almost yearly Economic Surveys of each Member country, and of selected partner economies, including South Africa. It is one of the world’s largest and most reliable sources of comparative statistical, economic and social data, with databases spanning areas as diverse as national accounts, economic indicators, trade, employment, migration, education, energy, health and development assistance. In addition, the Development Centre publishes yearly African Economic Outlooks, jointly with other international organisations.

6.1 Economic SurveysThe African Economic Outlook (AEO) is a joint undertaking by the

OECD Development Centre, AfDB, UNECA, and since 2010, UNDP.

Using comparative data and analysis on Africa’s economic, political

and social trends, and including original macro-economic forecasts,

it helps identify successful policies. The AEO currently covers 51

African economies out of 54, together accounting for over 98% of

Africa’s population and over 99% of its economic output. It also

includes individual country notes, a continental overview and

in-depth thematic analyses.

The OECD’s annual Going for Growth publication provides an

overview of structural policy developments in OECD countries

and six key emerging market economies from a comparative

perspective. Based on a broad set of indicators of structural policies

and performance, each edition takes stock of recent progress in

implementing policy reforms to improve labour productivity and

utilisation that were identified as priorities in the previous edition.

The set of internationally comparable indicators provided enables

countries to assess their economic performance and structural

policies in a broad range of areas. In 2011, South Africa was included

in Going for Growth for the first time.

The ‘West Africa Gateway’ aims to serve as a platform for exchanging

and sharing information between SWAC Members and any person

or institution concerned by West African issues. Due for launch

in late 2011, it is a resource pool that includes statistics, maps,

regional country profiles, thematic analyses, news briefs to which

one can subscribe by RSS feed, a contact and document database.

40

Key links:

www.africaneconomicoutlook.org

www.oecd.org/southafrica

www.oecd.org/swac/westafricaobserver

www.westafricagateway.org

South Africa

Within the context of the African Economic Outlook, the

Development Centre annually assesses the performance of the

South African economy in its regional context. Macroeconomic,

structural, social and political aspects are covered.

The 2010 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa highlighted the

country’s importance in the region not only as the predominant

economic power but also as an economic and political model

for other African countries. The Economic Survey reviewed

the impact of the global crisis on the South African economy

and discussed a number of issues linked to raising long-term

growth rates, including refinements to the macroeconomic

policy framework, while its in-depth structural chapter focused

on policy recommendations to increase South Africa’s low

employment rate.

Since 2008, the biannual OECD Economic Outlook has included

a country section on South Africa, with analysis of recent

economic developments and current policy issues, together

with projections for selected economic indicators.

41

South Africa believes that the Enhanced

Engagement process serves as an opportunity

to build partnership with the OECD

through a strengthened relationship and

a more structured interaction, based on

mutual interests. The success of Enhanced

Engagement will depend on our willingness

to establish mutually beneficial areas of work

and monitor progress.

HE Dolana Msimang

Ambassador of South Africa to France

6.2 StatisticsThe OECD is host to the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the

21st Century (PARIS21), which provides support for African countries in

the development of their statistical capacity. It helps countries design,

implement and monitor National Strategies for the Development of

Statistics (NSDS). Its activities include methodological guidance on

the design and implementation of these strategies, co-ordination with

international partners on resource mobilisation, and the archiving and

dissemination of existing survey micro data. PARIS21 also provides

support for the mainstreaming of statistics into high-level policy

discussions, and conducts annual surveys of technical and financial

support to statistics in all developing countries.

The OECD Development Centre and the OECD Statistics Directorate

are organising, in association with the Planning Commission of

Morocco (Haut-Commissariat au Plan), AfDB and ECA, an African

Conference on Measuring Well-Being and Fostering the Progress of

Societies, to take place in Morocco in April 2012. This conference aims

to promote a more holistic approach to development, and to leverage

statistical capacities in the region to promote the elaboration of data

and indicators capturing the most salient dimensions of well-being

for countries in the region. The outcome of this regional conference

will then be presented at the 4th OECD World Forum on Statistics,

Knowledge and Policies, in Delhi, India, in October 2012

Key links:

www.paris21.org

www.oecd.org/progress

www.oecd.org/statistics

South Africa

As a key partner, the OECD has intensified efforts to integrate

data from South Africa into its databases. South Africa is

an official observer to the Committee on Statistics and also

participates regularly in Working Parties on National Accounts

and on Trade in Goods and Services.

South African data has been included in the flagship monthly

publication Main Economic Indicators (MEI) and the OECD

Factbook for a number of years, but co-operative work is

now underway with Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) on full

integration of National Accounts and other data on a regular

basis.

The OECD also partnered with StatsSA and the World Bank

to organise the 4th International Seminar on Innovative

Approaches to Turn Statistics into Knowledge, in Cape Town,

in December 2010.

42

7DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATIONWithin the OECD, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has an established role on key issues of development co-operation. These include the monitoring of aid flows, the promotion of improvements in development effectiveness, the conduct of peer reviews of donor agencies, and the development of policy frameworks and guidance on specific issues.

7.1 Monitoring Aid Flows to AfricaAs part of its core task of providing comparable and reliable statistical

data, the OECD publishes detailed statistics and analysis of aid flows

to Africa as well as globally. These are presented in the form of charts

and comparative tables, highlighting specific features and main trends

in aid delivery to Africa (see Annex 2).

The OECD now also collects data on donors’ future spending plans that,

when combined with statistical analyses of aid fragmentation and

concentration, builds evidence to address existing aid fragmentation

and improve donor division of labour. The OECD also analyses the sector

allocation of aid. These analyses help compare recipient countries’

specific needs with the types and sectors of aid they receive.

The OECD annually collects, analyses and publishes data on aid and non-

aid (trade, direct investment, remittances, illicit flows, peacekeeping

expenditures) flows to about 30 Sub-Saharan African countries in

situations of fragility, to ‘ensure that fragile states are not left behind’.

7.2 Mutual AccountabilityJointly with UNECA, the OECD undertook the 2010 Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa report (MRDE) launched

by OECD Secretary General, Angel Gurría and UNECA’s Executive

Secretary, Abdoulie Janneh at the UN MDG Review Summit in

September 2010. This review is an exercise in ‘mutual accountability’

– assessing what has been done to deliver commitments, and a

review of ‘development effectiveness’ – assessing what results have

43

been achieved. It covers four main topics: sustainable economic

growth, investing in people, good governance and development

finance.

The 15th APF meeting, held in Lilongwe in October 2010, focused on

monitoring the delivery of development commitments by Africa and

its development partners to achieve the MDGs, using the MRDE as

the main background document. The 16th APF, held in Paris in April

2011, addressed private investment and job creation, and examined

the key preconditions for successful economic growth, including

regional and market integration, development of infrastructure.

The APF Support Unit, which prepares a number of publications

for the APF such as those on development finance, responsible

investment, corporate responsibility and private sector development,

works in close partnership with the NEPAD Agency, UNECA, the AU

and development partners to organise these bi-annual meetings

and thematic APF Special Sessions.

Key links:

www.africapartnershipforum.org

www.oecd.org/apf/mrde

7.3 Improving Development EffectivenessThe OECD/DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness (WP-EFF) is

an international partnership of 80 donors and partner countries

working to ensure aid is most effective in helping to reduce poverty.

It oversees the implementation of the 2005 Paris Declaration on

Aid Effectiveness and 2008 Accra Agenda for Action. The Working

Party is now preparing for the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid

Effectiveness, to be hosted by Korea in Busan in November 2011.

The WP-EFF is also mandated to assess progress towards the

objectives of the Paris Declaration including monitoring the

implementation of commitments made in Paris and Accra. The third

and final round of monitoring supported by the DAC Secretariat

took place in early 2011 with over 39 countries participating from

Africa. Ten African countries had participated in the in-depth

Evaluation of the Paris Declaration in 2010. The results of both

the monitoring and the evaluation inform future commitments

expected to be reached at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid

Effectiveness.

Other OECD-supported work, focused on public procurement and

financial management (co-chaired by Malawi and Zambia), strongly

involves African countries. The DAC Secretariat along with the

co-chairs and members of the Working Party, have facilitated broad

country-led dialogues to implement country-specific commitments

to improve the effectiveness of aid for development (including in

Mali, Ghana and Rwanda, in 2010).

44

Key links:

www.busanhlf4.org

www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness

7.4 Developing Policy FrameworksThe OECD is engaged in policy analysis and dialogue on key

development issues. Some specific examples include:

• Policy work on Armed Violence Reduction (AVR), with a strong

focus on Africa. This is being followed up with work on how to

reduce urban violence, youth violence and to enhance SSR-AVR

inter-linkages.

• Dialogue on Security System Reform (SSR), leading to the

development of a handbook on tackling the challenges of insecurity

and development in Africa, followed by in-country consultations

in Burundi, Guinea Bissau and the Central African Republic, and

practical training courses. SSR work on gender and monitoring

and evaluation is now underway.

• An International Dialogue on Peace Building and State Building

was launched in December 2008. It comprises donor countries of

the OECD/DAC, as well as other donor governments and partner

countries. The International Dialogue is currently co-chaired by the

Democratic Republic of Congo. Other African partners include the

AfDB, AU, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d´Ivoire,

Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Togo.

The OECD is developing an analytical toolbox to improve the design

and implementation of Aid-for-Trade programmes, with a focus

on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), most of which are in Africa.

South Africa

South Africa is a leading member of the WP-EFF, leading work

under the Task Team on South-South Co-operation which gives

new recognition to the importance of Southern providers of

development co-operation. South Africa shares its experience

both as a recipient of aid and as a recent provider.

South Africa has also co-ordinated work on ‘responsible and

transparent aid’ aimed at improving aid transparency and

predictability, reducing aid fragmentation and improving the

use of conditionality.

As it scales up its co-operation programmes, South Africa is

seeking to strengthen its capacity to manage assistance. In order

to gain an insight into the aid management practices of an OECD

country, South Africa participated as an observer in the 2010

DAC Peer Review of New Zealand’s development co-operation.

45

It has established jointly with the WTO a monitoring system on

Aid-for-Trade to improve its effectiveness.

The OECD is continuing its work to assist donor and partner

countries in using the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda

for Action as tools to advance gender equality and to empower

poor women and men, based on the DAC Guiding Principles for Aid Effectiveness, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2008).

Two practical briefs on managing for gender equality results – in

donor agencies and in partner countries – were developed in 2009,

using examples from Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda and Ghana.

The DAC and the Learning Network on Capacity Development

(LenCD) are supporting key African partners, including the African

Capacity Building Foundation and NEPAD to set up a broad based

learning platform in capacity development for Africa.

Key links:

www.oecd.org/dac

www.oecd.org/incaf

www.oecd.org/apf/mrde

www. oecd.org/fsprinciples

www.oecd.org/dac/capacitydevelopment

46

ANNEX 1

Participation of African countries in official OECD bodies

Below is a list of African countries that participate as full participants

or regular observers in OECD Committees and other bodies.

Most African countries along with the AU, NEPAD Agency, AfDB and

other key institutions working on African development are members of

the APF. Regional organisations, such as WAEMU, CILSS and ECOWAS

are members of and financial contributors to the Sahel and West

Africa Club.

REGULAR OBSERVER• Steel Committee

• Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy

• Public Governance Committee

• Tourism Committee

• Committee on Consumer Policy

• Competition Committee

• Education Policy Committee

MAURITIUSFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

MOROCCOFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

PARTICIPANT• Investment Committee, for work on the Declaration on International

Investment and Multinational Enterprises

REGULAR OBSERVER• Public Governance Committee

• Territorial Development Policy Committee

SENEGALFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

CAPE VERDEFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

EGYPTFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

• Freedom of Investment, National Security and Strategic Industries’

Project of the Investment Committee

PARTICIPANT• Investment Committee, for work on the Declaration on International

Investment and Multinational Enterprises

47

48

SOUTH AFRICAFULL PARTICIPANT• Governing Board of the Development Centre

• Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions of

the Investment Committee

• Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and the Working Party on

Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology, as far as it relates to the

Mutual Acceptance of Data

• Working Group of National Co-ordinators of the Test Guidelines

Programme

• Working Group on Good Laboratory Practice (EPOC)

• Co-operative Action Programme on Local Economic and Employment

Development (LEED) and its Directing Committee

REGULAR OBSERVER• Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and the Working Party on

Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology

• Joint Working Party on Agriculture and Trade

• Steel Committee

• Committee on Statistics

• Competition Committee

• Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy

• Committee on Fiscal Affairs

• Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy

• Working Party on Private Pensions (IPPC)

• Committee for Agriculture, its Working Party on Agricultural Policies

and Markets and Commodity Groups

• Territorial Development Policy Committee

The following African countries are members of the Global Forum

on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes:

• Botswana

• Ghana

• Kenya

• Liberia

• Nigeria

• Seychelles

• South Africa.

ANNEX 2

Aid to Africa at a GlanceODA TO Africa - Summary

1. Top 10 ODA receipts by recipient

USD million, net disbursements in 2009

1 Ethiopia 3 820 8%

2 Tanzania 2 934 6%

3 Cote d’Ivoire 2 366 5%

4 Congo, Dem. Rep. 2 354 5%

5 Sudan 2 289 5%

6 Mozambique. 2 013 4%

7 Uganda 1 786 4%

8 Kenya 1 778 4%

9 Nigeria 1 659 3%

10 Ghana 1 583 3%

Other recipients 25 028 53%

Total 47 609 100%

2. Top 10 ODA donors

USD million, net disbursements in 2009

1 United States 7 672 16%

2 EU institutions 5 606 12%

3 IDA 4 823 10%

4 France 4 092 9%

5 United Kingdom 2 795 6%

6 AfDF 2 582 5%

7 Germany 2 084 4%

8 IMF (SAF, ESAF, PRGF) 2 076 4%

9 Spain 1 578 3%

10 Japan 1 499 3%

Other donors 12 803 27%

Total 47 609 100%

49

5 252

2 229

4 142

8 123

27 863

Least Developed Countries

Other Low Income

Lower Middle Income

Upper Middle Income

Unspecified

4. ODA by income groupUSD million, 2009, net disbursements

5. Sectors in 2009Commitments

Trends in ODA 2008 2009%

changeODA net disbursements(2008 UDS million) 43 926 49 081 11.7%

ODA Commitments (2008 UDS million) 55 349 62 283 12.5%

Population (Thousands) 985 042 1 007 904 2.3%

Net ODA per capita (USD) 44.6 47.2 -

3. Trends in ODA

50

Receipts 2007 2008 2009

Net ODA (USD million) 807 1 125 1 078

Bilateral share (gross ODA) 79% 79% 81%

Net ODA / GNI 0.3% 0.4% 0.4%

Net Private Flows(USD million) 12 604 5 505 -377

Top Ten Donors of gross ODA(2008-09 average) USD million

1 United States 451

2 EC Institutions 159

3 Germany 130

4 United Kingdom 93

5 Netherlands 43

6 Global Fund 42

7 France 35

8 Norway 27

9 Denmark 24

10 Ireland 22

ANNEX 3Aid at a Glance for South Africa

For reference 2007 2008 2009

Population (million) 48.3 48.8 49.3

GNI per capita (Atlas USD) 5 760 5 870 5 770 Bilateral ODA by Sector (2008-09)

51

52

Who’s who OECD and Africa: Contact Points

OECD Directorates

Global Relations Secretariat Relations with non-Member economieswww.oecd.org/globalrelations ccnmcont@oecd.org Development Co-Operation Monitoring Aid Flows to Africa, Improving Development Effectiveness, Developing Policy Frameworks, Climate Changewww.oecd.org/dac dac.contact@oecd.org Economics Surveys and statisticswww.oecd.org/eco eco.contact@oecd.org Education Education and trainingwww.oecd.org/edu edu.contact@oecd.org Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Migrationwww.oecd.org/els els.contact@oecd.org

Environment Climate Changewww.oecd.org/env env.contact@oecd.org Financial and Enterprise Affairs Investment, Public debt management, Fighting corruption, Corporate governancewww.oecd.org/daf daf.contact@oecd.org Public Governance and Territorial Development Budget reform, Fighting corruption, Public governance and regional developmentwww.oecd.org/gov gov.contact@oecd.org Science, Technology and Industry Innovation, Health www.oecd.org/sti sti.contact@oecd.org Statistics Surveys and statistics, Measuring the progress of societieswww.oecd.org/std progress@oecd.org

Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Taxwww.oecd.org/ctp ctpa.contact@oecd.org Trade and Agriculture Trade, Agriculturewww.oecd.org/tad tad.contact@oecd.org

Find out more about OECD work with Africa: www.oecd.org/africa

53

Other Bodies

Africa Partnership Forum Support Unit Investment, Trade, Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Financing, Peace and Security, Financing for Development, Crisis impact and MDG Monitoringwww.africapartnershipforum.org apf.contact@oecd.org

Development Centre Surveys and statistics, Education and training, Migrationwww.oecd.org/dev dev.contact@oecd.org www.africaeconomicoutlook.org

Paris21 Surveys and statistics www.paris21.org contact@paris21.org Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat Agriculture and food security, regional security implications of climate change; child labour; land investment and tenure policies; migration; and cross-border co-operationwww.westafricaclub.org swac.contact@oecd.org

© October 2011: Global Relations Secretariat, Africa Partnership Forum Support UnitOriginal design and layout: AdNova, www.ad-nova.com

Photos: Daniel Nicholson, Nacho Fradejas, ILO, Worldbank, Noora Kero, Nawal Hassan RCRC National Society

The Global Relations Secretariat (GRS) is part of the OECD’s General Secretariat and oversees the strategic orientations of the OECD’s global relations with non-Members.

2, rue André PascalF-75775 Paris Cedex 16FranceTel: +33 1 45 24 82 00Fax: +33 1 45 24 91 77E-mail: ccnmcont@oecd.orgWebsite: www.oecd.org/globalrelations

The Africa Partnership Forum (APF) was established in November 2003 as a way of broadening the existing dialogue to encompass Africa’s major bilateral and multilateral development partners. The APF’s mission is to strengthen partnership efforts in favour of Africa’s development.

2, rue André PascalF-75775 Paris Cedex 16FranceTel: +33 1 45 24 87 75Fax: +33 1 44 30 61 33E-mail: apf.contact@oecd.orgWebsite: www.africapartnershipforum.org