The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD). Eine Zwischenbilanz

Abstract

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the transformation of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) and The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) emerged as parallel and at times competing initiatives. They have in the meantime moved towards closer cooperation, with NEPAD as an integral instrument of the AU. This article takes stock of the NEPAD and critically examines the suggested goals and the (lack of) achievements. It summarises the background to NEPAD, and emphasises the alliance it illustrates between the Nigerian and South African states as regional hegemonic powers. It further highlights the differences and commonalities with the AU and the underlying tensions with regard to another interest group among African states. It then explores the limits of NEPAD in terms of the political understanding originally formulated and the lack of implementation so far. This is followed by another investigation into the socioeconomic programme and its potential to address the current imbalances within the global economic structures. The special role executed by South Africa is then summarised, before a concluding part questions, if NEPAD has more to offer than merely a new pact among transnational elites. Given the little concrete evidence of new ground in both the political sphere and the economic sectors within the continent and in terms of global interaction, it is suggested that the scepticism towards NEPAD could claim a certain degree of justification.