Speaker: Prof Oladele Arowolo, African Research Fellow and chief research specialist, Research Use and Impact Assessment (RIA) unit, HSRC

Date: 6 March 2014

Time: 12H15 for 12h30  – 13H30  

Throughout its early years, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) experimented with a myriad of policies and strategies intended to galvanize the conglomeration of nation states from colonial exploitation and economic dependency into independent and vibrant sovereign states that would be able to promote social and economic development and compete with the other nations in the world in all spheres. Popularly referred to as ‘Pan-African’ initiatives, during the 1980s and 1990s, African governments were encouraged, with limited success, to embark upon policies and strategies that were supposed to address the yearnings of their peoples.

By the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) of 11 July 2000, the Charter of the OAU, in existence since 1963, was revoked by all the 53 African Heads of State. Regarded as a paradigm shift, NEPAD was adopted by OAU in 2001 and ratified by AU in 2002 to address Africa’s development problems, with the objectives to reduce poverty, put Africa on a sustainable development path, halt the marginalization of Africa, and empower women. The lack of focus on outcomes at country and sub-regional level and the ‎absence of capacity to track these outcomes at country level were identified as a key shortcoming of the implementation of NEPAD between 2002 and 2012.

In June 2013, the representatives of the AfDB, the AU Commission, the ECA, and the NEPAD Secretariat gathered in Tunis to discuss the AU’s ‘Agenda 2063’. Still in a draft form, the AU Agenda 2063 sets out to: i) establish a credible platform on which Africa can build its future development, and; ii) inspire African countries to continue emphasizing the themes of solidarity and collaboration that helped the continent emerge from colonial domination. 

What should be the response of the HSRC in particular and African scholars in general, to the onging process of improving and consolidating the draft agenda? Opinions are still welcome. This presentation offers some ideas on the foreseen challenges of programme design and management.

Kindly RSVP by 4 March 2014

This seminar may be attended via video conference in Pretoria, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal. Details as below.  

Cape Town : HSRC, 12th Floor, Plein Park Building (Opposite Revenue Office), Plein Street, Cape Town. Contact Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or JWitten@hsrc.ac.za

Durban :  First floor HSRC board room, 750 Francois Road, Ntuthuko Junction, Pods 5 and 6, Cato Manor, Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 or RKhan@hsrc.ac.za

Pretoria : HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za