APRM Set to Improve Zambia's Governance Profile

AFRICA, regarded in many respects as a continent trailing others, is awakening from a slumber to place itself on the right path. Its first point of call is to address its governance systems.

Africa in general lags behind in areas such as good governance in both political and economic spheres.
Using the selected four thematic areas of democracy and political governance, economic management, corporate governance and socio-economic development, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) seeks to improve the continent’s governance profile.

In Zambia, this process has taken off to a good start and the country is determined to be one of the pioneers that would join the few other countries in setting a new agenda.

Zambia and the 28 other African states that have acceded to the APRM process are making a statement that good political and economic governance are essential prerequisites in the promotion of growth and reducing poverty.

The APRM also seeks to promote market efficiency, control wasteful spending, consolidate democracy and encourage foreign direct investments for economic growth and poverty reduction.

The APRM, a home-grown, self-monitoring mechanism voluntarily acceded to by member states of the African Union (AU), has come at a good time when competition for foreign investment has taken strong cognisance of political stability as a major factor.

Zambians have an opportunity to participate in the process which is open to all citizens. It provides another window of opportunity for citizens to fully engage with policy makers on what sort of systems they want to see governors undertake.

The APRM will adopt best practices on how to govern and manage the economy, thereby improving on the positive processes already in motion.

It aims at promoting a stable climate for economic growth. If well implemented, it will lead to the adoption of policies, standards, codes and practices that will bring about lower taxes, access to basic human needs, access to markets, efficiency and transparency.

Under the economic governance and management thematic area, the APRM aims at guaranteeing that countries formulate economic policies that are credible, realistic and achievable.

These policies must be designed to reduce poverty, increase growth and assure sustainable development. 
In other words, the APRM seeks to foster SMART policies.

These policies are designed to be manageable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. If the APRM is to succeed in Zambia, it has to be non-partisan and devoid of finger-pointing since it is a governance project for all citizens.

The success of the APRM in Zambia will be assured when all citizens see it as a common project rather than a platform for finger-pointing. The only direction to point fingers is where the governance problems are.

This is why the National Governing Council (NGC), constituted in September last year, has embarked on a national sensitisation programme and implementation of the process.

On the economic front, the APRM, if effectively implemented, will help consolidate the strides the country has made in the economic sphere.

The implementation of the APRM will be another layer of involvement of citizens in wealth creation. 
Zambians, especially those in leadership ,should seek to enhance the role of the small and medium economic players so that they can effectively contribute to national development.

Those in leadership should be reminded that ignoring these integral scales would put the economy in peril. It is important to be mindful that citizens cannot create wealth from nothing. They need resources.

The Zambian Government thought it prudent to involve its citizens in building the economy and reducing poverty through wealth creation—by providing them with resources under the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).

The CEEC has a number of programmes under what it terms the nine pillars, among them capacity building, foreign direct investment, equity, management and the Greenfield investments.

In an effort to provide the best of services and resources, the CEEC works in liaison with other institutions such as the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) and the Zambia Chamber of Small and Medium Business Associations (ZCSMBA).

The essence is to provide a full package to Zambians so that they can fully understand their role in building the Zambian economy and participating fully in this task.

For instance, the ZCSMBA was recently involved in the simplification of guidelines to enable the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) access funds from the CEEC. 
According to ZCSMBA’s report for March, the association simplified the guidelines to a 10-page document for easy use by SMEs in accessing funds.

On the other hand, the ZDA conducts training for citizens who want to access funding from the CEEC on the production of business plans.

These are some of the areas where the APRM seeks to entrench good corporate governance practices to ensure that as many citizens as possible benefit from the wealth creation initiatives government has put in place.