Regional integration remains a priority for the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) as it constitutes a bedrock of development in Africa and is seen as an important ingredient for the success of the African Union Agenda 2063, said on Tuesday Dr. Robert Nantchouang at the 7th Community of Practice annual meeting on Managing for Development Results (AfCoP) and the second Africa for Results (AfriK4R) Forum, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from 8-10 June.
“The Foundation actively supports capacity building within regional economic commissions (RECs) at all levels – institutional, organizational and individual. And the ACBF also makes capacity interventions at regional level,” Dr. Nantchouang said. “Building bigger, more integrated sub regional markets deeply embedded in the global economy is one of the most urgent tasks for Africa to sustain its recent economic performance.”
Moreover, ACBF in partnership with the African Development Bank is updating a 2008 study on the capacity needs of RECs in Africa. The final report will be ready for release in the coming weeks.
Participants at the forum agreed that capacity building remained instrumental to the success of any regional integration programme as any effort in that direction would be ineffective in the absence of strong and effective regional institutions. While recognizing that progress was made in setting up RECs, participants said that the challenge remained the effective implementation of integration protocols.
The African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results (AfCoP) is a community made up of more than 4000 members from 41 African countries – and around the world, whose initial objective is to enhance the capacity of its members in managing for development results by establishing a platform to exchange experiences and knowledge among development practitioners across Africa.
The AfriK4R initiative was set up to build African MfDR capacity through sharing experiences and development solutions for results, networking and building strong learning relationships with MfDR practitioners in Africa and around the world. It also aims to enhance the capacity of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and their member countries to facilitate the implementation of regional policies and programs by using results-oriented approaches, thereby promoting regional integration and development results.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) in partnership with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), WAEMU and COMESA, launched the AfriK4R regional communities of practice in April 2012 and May 2012 respectively.
The three-day event is organized by the African Community of Practice (AfCoP), housed within the Quality and Results Department of the Bank, in partnership with ACBF.
