INTRODUCTION

The analysis of Africa over the past 50 years and the assessment of where the continent stands today shows remarkable progress but also many deep – seated challenges. At the same time, the continent has great opportunities and potential for tackling these challenges and achieving accelerated economic growth, social and economic transformation – see box below.

Examples of Opportunities in an Emergent Continent

• About a third of African countries had GDP growth rates above 6 per cent between 2000 and Only 24 per cent of that growth was associated with natural resources extraction.
• The average time to double incomes on the continent is 22 years and in several countries it will take just slightly more than a decade (11 to 13 years) to do
• Africa has a huge market to trade within itself and with the outside Africa has 52 cities with populations of over 1 million (about the same as in Western Europe), the percentage living in cities will be over 50 per cent by 2030, a middle class bigger than India and with discretionary spending power.
• There is increased stability on the economic, security and political fronts. There is increased macroeconomic stability, democratic reforms and significant declines in
• Africa will soon have the largest labour force in the world, swelling to 163 million and by 2035 bigger than China’s, and accounting for 25 per cent of the global
• Although intra-African trade stands at a paltry 11 per cent at the moment (in some regions it is 25 per cent) growth of Pan African companies and robust measures being taken at regional and continental levels will see marked improvement. The imminent launching of the Tripartite Free Trade Area of COMESA/SADC/EAC with a potential population of 625 million and 26 countries (nearly half the continent) and combined GDP of US$ 1.2 trillion (58 per cent of the continent’s GDP) will be a big boost for intra-African trade and free movements of people, goods, services and
• Africa has 60 per cent of the world’s potential arable land, which can make the continent an agricultural powerhouse while at the same time conserving Africa’s ecosystems, unique wild species and genetic resources.
• On average African governments spend 20 per cent of their budgets on education (compared to 11 per cent in the OECD countries). Education and skills development will be critical in determining whether the demographic dividend and the projected growth of the continent’s labour force will be a catalyst for growth and transformation, or lead to civil
• Mobile penetration was 2 per cent in 2000 and rose to 78 per cent today and it is projected to reach 85 per cent by 2015.
• The working age population 15 to 64 is expected to increase from 5 per cent to 62.8 per cent of the population between the two periods 2010 and 2030, and is estimated to be at

63.7 per cent in 2100. The increase in population can be the market driver for businesses/ Africa’s private sector. A bulge in the working age population relative to children and the elderly, means a lower dependency burden which will free resources for old age care and for developing human capital.

• Africa is projected to enter its urban age by 2035 when 50 per cent of the population will live in urban areas, and reach 1.26 billion in 2100, nearly a quarter of the world’s projected urban population. Given this demographic trend, Africa should not be left out in the creation of Smart Cities.
• A growing urban population and the largest workforce of the future provides an opportunity for Africa to transform itself into a global powerhouse and the next frontier

Achieving the long-term vision for Africa laid in Chapter 2 requires a bold and ambitious action agenda if the continent is to overcome the challenges seize the opportunities. This Chapter presents this agenda for action for attaining the vision for 2063. It covers the following aspects:

• Conceptual approach;
• Foundation of Agenda 2063;
• Goals, priority areas, targets and indicative strategies; and
• Highlights of Agenda 2063 Flagship

4.1.     CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

The approach adopted in Agenda 2063 is based on recognizing the continent’s diversity and building upon existing initiatives to fast track progress.

4.1.1   Recognition of Africa’s diversity

It is important to stress that while Agenda 2063 provides an overarching framework, its implementation will require country specific actions. This is in recognition of the fact that Africa is a diverse continent:

• Coastal versus landlocked countries — the latter with challenges related to access but can benefit significantly from investment in infrastructure linkages;
• Least developed versus middle–income countries;
• Natural resource and mineral rich versus natural resource and mineral poor countries;
• Countries with outstanding and good agricultural endowments and those less well endowed;
• Countries emerging from conflict with fragile institutions and low productive capacities, infrastructure deficit and unstable macroeconomic environment and those that are already experiencing the benefits of the absence of conflict and consistent investment in their economies;
• Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), which are challenged by similar issues as other developing/emerging market countries, but have to contend with the acuteness of combined risks such as rising seas related to climate change, isolation from contiguous land neighbours and markets, high populations density; in comparison to countries on the continent which can come together to manage risks – see box

These different categories of countries face distinct conditions and features which shape the development paths and strategies they pursue, although there are challenges that cut across the diverse country categories, such as high poverty levels; illiteracy; disease; and high child, infant and maternal mortality.

Consequently, it is reasonable for Agenda 2063 to be viewed as a shared vision within which African states, individually and collectively, will chart their respective common but adapted development paths to achieve the vision of an integrated, united and prosperous continent.

Each country and region must therefore define the optimum combination of policies and strategies to reach the goals and milestones proposed. What is important is to ensure robust monitoring and tracking systems, and putting in place a process of mutual learning.

Furthermore, there will also be differentiated responsibilities between Member States, Regional and Continental bodies in attaining these proposed milestones and targets. This is worked out in greater detail to ensure, coherence and unity of action, in the First 10-Year Implementation Plan.

4.1.2   Building upon existing initiatives

Agenda 2063 would be implemented through successive 10-year implementation plans. In the short term, Agenda 2063 will place emphasis on accelerating the implementation of key continental frameworks that have been adopted, key flagship programmes and fast tracking of regional integration. Additionally, African countries would expedite domestication of the relevant legal frameworks, protocols and similar instruments related to governance, democracy, human rights and peace and security.

Such an approach would provide the traction for long-term progress, as well as critical evidence of forward momentum to demonstrate impact and lend credibility to Agenda 2063.

Such an approach would provide the traction for long-term progress, as well as critical evidence of forward momentum to demonstrate impact and lend credibility to Agenda 2063.

4.2         FOUNDATION OF AGENDA 2063

Agenda 2063, as depicted in the diagram below, is anchored on the Constitutive Act, the AU Vision, the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration and the African aspirations. It also builds upon national, regional and continental priorities reflected in these plans and frameworks.

4.3         GOALS, PRIORITY AREAS, TARGETS AND INDICATIVE STRATEGIES

The goals of Agenda 2063 are linked to the aspirations and are presented in the table below.

• A set of 20 goals has been identified based on the AU Vision, seven African aspirations and the 50th Anniversary Solemn declaration.
• The goals also take cognizance of the goals and priority areas contained in the Common Africa Position (CAP) and the post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
• The strategies in general reflect those contained in Member States/regional plans, continental frameworks, UNECA / AU Economic Reports65 on Africa, the 2014 Africa Transformation Report and Africa Vision 2050, as well as others.
• Goals and priority areas have also been informed by the outcomes of the consultations and take into account existing continental and regional initiatives, as well as outcomes of reviews of Member States medium and long-term plans and

The Agenda 2063 goals, priorities, targets and indicative strategies described in this chapter should, in this context, be considered as Africa’s Development Goals or the “MDGs for Africa”, and should therefore galvanize the concomitant political and financial commitments.

Annex 3 and 4 present in detail the goals, priority areas, targets and indicative strategies for the respective aspirations, at national and regional/continental level. Table 2 below presents an overall summary.

65 Economic Report on Africa 2013-Making the Most of Africa’s Commodities Industrializing for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation and Economic Report on Africa 2014 ——–

TABLE 2: OVERVIEW OF ASPIRATIONS, GOALS AND PRIORITY AREAS OF AGENDA 2063

4.4         THE AGENDA 2063 FLAGSHIP PROGRAMMES

The Bahir Dar (Ethiopia) Ministerial Retreat of the Executive Council of 24 – 26 January 2014, deliberated on the Agenda 2063 framework and agreed on actions to strengthen the sustainable management of African resources and accelerate transformation and development.

Specifically, it agreed to provide a big push to propel Africa’s growth and transformation through fast tracking the implementation of programmes identified by Agenda 2063. Furthermore, at the Malabo AU Summit, June 2014, the Executive Council mandated the AU Commission to continue to explore and prepare concrete actions in the implementation of these fast track programmes and initiatives (EX.CL/Dec.821 (XXV)).

The Key Agenda 2063 Flagship programmes agreed to by Africa’s political leadership are the following:

• The Integrated High Speed Train Network: aims to connect all African capitals and commercial centres to facilitate movement of goods, factor services and people and also relive transport congestion of existing and future
• A Pan-African E-University: designed to accelerate development of human capital, science and technology and innovation through increasing access to tertiary and continuing education in Africa by reaching large numbers of students and professionals in multiple sites and developing relevant and high quality Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) resources; as well as ensuring that African students are guaranteed access to the University from anywhere in the world and
• Formulation of a commodities strategy: aims to enable African countries add value, extract higher rents from their commodities, integrate into Global Value chains, and promote vertical and horizontal diversification anchored in value addition and local content development, as part of a set of holistic policies to promote the development of a vibrant, socially and environmentally sustainable commodities
• Establishment of an annual African forum: designed to bring together, once a year, Africa’s political leadership, the private sector, academia and civil society to discuss developments and constraints as well as measures to be taken to realize the Aspirations and goals of Agenda 2063.
• Fast track the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017: aims to significantly accelerate growth of Intra-Africa trade and use trade more effectively as an engine of growth and sustainable development. It includes doubling of intra-Africa trade by 2022, strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations and establishing the financial institutions within agreed upon timeframes: African Investment Bank and Pan African Stock Exchange (2016); the African Monetary Fund (2018); and the African Central Bank (2028/34).
• The African Passport and free movement of people: aims to fast track continental integration, a common African Passport, free movement of people is a pillar of African integration and accelerated growth of intra-African This programme aims at transforming Africa’s laws, which remain generally restrictive on movement of people despite political commitments to bring down borders with the view to promoting the issuance of visas by Member States enhance free movement of all African citizens in all African countries by 2018.

• Silencing the Guns by 2020: aims to fulfil the pledge of the AU Heads of State and Government meeting on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Anniversary of the founding of the OAU, “not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans, “to end all wars in Africa by 2020” and “make peace a reality for all African people and rid the continent free of wars, end inter- and intra-community conflicts, violations of human rights, humanitarian disasters and violent conflicts, and prevent ”
• Implementation of the Grand Inga Dam Project: aims to boost Africa’s production of energy. Africa’s hydropower potential remains almost untapped with a mere 7 per cent of the hydropower currently exploited; and Africa continues to have the world’s lowest hydropower utilization rate. The optimal development of the Inga Dam will generate 43,200 MW of power (PIDA) to support current regional power pools and their combined service to transform Africa from traditional to modern sources of energy and ensure access of the African citizenry to clean and affordable
• The Pan-African E-Network: designed to boost services, it involves a wide range of stakeholders and envisages putting in in place policies and strategies that will lead to transformative e-applications and services in Africa; improve physical infrastructure, especially the intra-African broad band terrestrial infrastructure; and cyber security, making the information revolution the basis for service Further, the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS); e-Transform Africa, which envisages transforming Africa into an e-Society and PIDA and the manufacturing component parts for e-devices merit priority consideration.
• Outer space: aims to strengthen Africa’s use of outer space to bolster its development. Outer space is of critical importance to the development of Africa in all fields: agriculture, disaster management, remote sensing, climate forecast, banking and finance, as well as defense and Africa’s access to space technology products is no longer a matter of luxury and there is a need to speed up access to these technologies and products. New developments in satellite technologies make these very accessible to African countries. The Brazzaville meeting on aerial space technologies underlines the need for appropriate policies and strategies in order to develop regional market for space products in Africa.
• A Single African Airspace: This flagship project aims at delivering a single African air transport market to facilitate air transportation in Africa. Continental Financial Institutions: Establishment of the African Continental Financial Institutions aims at accelerating integration and socio-economic development of the continent, as they are important institutions for the mobilization of resources and management of the financial
• The flagships described above will serve as catalysts for a wide-ranging transformation of the continent, with benefits across a wide cross section of the The programmes will form the basis for the First 10 – Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063.