| NEPAD-KM-D8

An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law

Africa shall have a universal culture of good governance, democratic values, gender equality, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law.

We aspire that by 2063, Africa will:

Africa shall have a universal culture of good governance, democratic values, gender equality, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law.

We aspire that by 2063, Africa will:

Be a continent where democratic values, culture, practices, universal principles of human rights, gender equality, justice and the rule of law are entrenched;
and Have capable institutions and transformative leadership in place at all levels.

The continent’s population will enjoy affordable and timely access to independent courts and judiciary that deliver justice without fear or favour. Corruption and impunity will be a thing of the past.

There will be transformative leadership in all fields (political, economic, religious, cultural, academic, youth and women) and at continental, regional, national and local levels.

Africa will be a continent where the institutions are at the service of its people. Citizens will actively participate in the social, economic and political development and management. Competent, professional, rules and merit-based public institutions will serve the continent and deliver effective and efficient services. Institutions at all levels of government will be developmental, democratic, and accountable.

Goal11

Goal11

Democratic values, practices, universal principles of human rights, justice and the rule of law entrenched

The continent fell significantly short of realising its targets on ensuring that democratic values and practices are the norm, realising 27% of her 2019 target. The only significant progress that was recorded was on operationalising the African Charter on Democracy – with a score based on countries that have signed and ratified the Charter achieving 98% and 87% of the 2019 target respectively. However, progress on integrating the Charter into national planning and development instruments has been slow – exhibited by the weak performance of 22% against the 2019 target.

Similarly, the percentage of the African population who believe that elections are free, fair and transparent; and the proportion of the population on the continent that perceives that there is press freedom and associated freedom of speech – pitched at 26% and 13% respectively of the 2019 targets. This reflects a weak performance of the continent. Furthermore, the continent fell short by 86% of its 2019 target regarding the proportion of people who believe that there are effective mechanisms and oversight institutions to hold their leaders accountable.

Goal12

Goal12

Capable institutions and transformed leadership in place at all levels

The 2013 - 2019 reporting period highlighted discrete and collective efforts by Member States towards strengthening institutions and improving leadership with a view to ensuring that public services are more professional, efficient, responsive, accountable, impartial and corruption-free. The overall aggregate score, however, signals a very weak performance, achieving only 4% of the target value in 2019.

Measured by the proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and paid a bribe to a public official or were asked for a bribe by those public officials during the previous twelve months, there was an upsurge registered in the proportions in a number of countries.