NEPAD in relation to Africa and the wider world - Research Seminar

Dr Henning Melber is the Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. He studied political science and sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin, where he graduated in 1977. He obtained his PhD in 1980 and the venia legendi for development studies in 1993 at Bremen University. He has been a senior lecturer in international politics at Kassel University (1982-1992) and Director of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit in Windhoek (1992-2000) and is currently one of the vice-presidents of the European Association of Development Research (EADI).

At the beginning of this century two initiatives emerged on the African continent with far-reaching implications for continental policy. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) transformed itself into the African Union (AU) with a set of newly defined collective responsibilities and institutions. Its Constitutional Act marks a new official paradigm for the continent-wide body. Parallel to this declared (though not yet fully implemented) shift in paradigms, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) emerged as a new blueprint for the continent’s ambitions in mainly socio-economic but also political terms. This seminar analyses the origins, main aspects and potential dynamics of NEPAD vis-à-vis both African stakeholders and international/global actors, in particular the G7/8. The corresponding and conflicting agendas of the AU and NEPAD will be explored in this seminar with particular reference to the potential role of African interests in the global arena. Special reference will be made to South Africa’s policy as a driving force behind NEPAD.