The Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) has embarked in a new series of consultations in preparation of the third review of the implementation of the commitments made towards Africa’s development.

As in the two previous reports, OSAA will work in close collaboration with the relevant UN entities through the institutional framework of the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFA), which it convenes at both principal and expert levels. It will also work with other regional and international institutions both within and outside the UN System, including:

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO),
• World Health Organization (WHO),
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA),
• African Union Commission/NEPAD Agency,
• African Development Bank (AfDB),
• International Monetary Fund (IMF),
• World Bank,
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and
• United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD).

The 2017 series of consultations for the third Secretary-General report of the UN Monitoring Mechanism will take place:

• in Midrand, South Africa, on 20-21 April (co-organizers: OSAA and the NEPAD Agency),
• in Paris, France, on 16-17 May (co-organizers: OSAA, UNESCO and OECD), and
• in Bangkok, Thailand, on 29-30 June (co-organizers: OSAA and UNESCAP).

Objective of the 2017 Consultations

OSAA aims to further the link between the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism (UNMM), the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 follow-up and review framework at the regional and global levels, particularly through more interaction and alignment with the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development. The UNMM could also facilitate the collection, compilation and analysis of data.

Thematic Focus of the Third Review

The third report, which will be submitted to the 73rd session of the General Assembly in October 2018, will be focused on the following themes, and five cross-cutting issues:

1. Inclusive and sustainable industrialization and regional integration
2. Health, water and sanitation
3. Climate change
4. Finance and partnerships
5. Cross-cutting issues:
   • Peace and security
   • Gender and youth
   • Education
   • Migration
   • Wider partnership issues
   • Data availability and statistical capacity

The report will focus specifically of the delivery of commitments, the impact achieved and the challenges encountered and the way forward, differentiating among traditional and new and emerging partners. It will, as in previous reports, include a final section with its overall conclusions and policy recommendations delineated by actor: African countries, OECD DAC partners, and new and emerging development partners.

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Thematic Focuses

Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Regional Integration

Industrialisation and regional integration are key elements in Africa’s economic transformation agenda, central to its Agenda 2063 vision of ‘a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development’ (Aspiration 1), and an integrated continent (Aspiration 2), and essential to enabling resource-based economies to diversify and increase value-addition. Industrialization is also the subject of SDG 9, and the UN General Assembly has since adopted a resolution specifically proclaiming 2016-25 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa. There are strong linkages to the relevant UN and African follow-up processes. The inclusion of this theme thus provides an opportunity to follow up on the review of SDG 9 in the 2017 High Level Political Forum (HLPF), complementing this by adding a specific focus on Africa, ensuring synergies between the UNMM and the HLPF processes. It will also capture the outcomes of the various discussions and reviews currently underway including in ECOSOC, as well as linking with Africa’s priorities set out in Agenda 2063, and follow-up processes.

More specifically, industrialisation is part of the Agenda 2063 goal of Transformed Economies (Goal 4), essential to the attainment of many of the targets in its First-Ten Year Implementation Plan. Related continental initiatives include the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA). Closely related is fast-tracking the establishment of the objective of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), one of the key Agenda 2063 flagship programmes, as well as the development of information and communication technology including E-education, and regional projects such as the High Speed Train.

For their part, Africa’s partners have undertaken in SDG 9 to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, with related targets including facilitating access to finance and upgrading the technological capabilities of industrial sectors. They have undertaken in SDG 17 to improve access to their markets, and promote technology transfer. This theme will now address both issues specifically in relation to industrialisation. The G20 also undertook at the 2016 Hangzhou Summit to consider a range of actions to support structural transformation and industrialisation in African and other Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This section will also examine support for ICT, including e-education, and regional projects.

Finance and Partnerships

Achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 depends on the availability of the necessary finance from domestic and external, and public and private sources. The Inter-Agency Taskforce on the follow-up to the Financing for Development outcomes and means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (IATF on FfD) tracks progress on all commitments under the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The UNMM will bring a focused analysis on Africa, complementing the work of the Taskforce. The inclusion of this theme provides an opportunity to revisit the issues raised in the first biennial report, assessing progress since, and feeding into the wider reviews of SDGs 10 and 16 at the 2019 HLPF, as well as the annual reviews at each HPLF of SDG 17. It will thus ensure synergies with the HLPF process, the work of the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Financing for Development, and Africa’s priorities.

More specifically, Africa has undertaken to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation (DRM) as a key element of Agenda 2063 (Goal 20) including : public/fiscal revenue maximisation through the strengthening and broadening of the tax base, the mobilisation of private resources through increased domestic and intra-African investment, the development of capital markets, the leveraging of institutional financial resources such as pension funds, and the increased use of innovative financing including Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs), combined with measures to encourage and facilitate the flows of remittances. It has also undertaken to tackle the problem of illicit financial flows, by implementing recommendations of the High Level Panel on this issue chaired by former South African President Tambo Mbeki. There are important links to the issue of regional integration, including the development of African capital markets, and of closer regional cooperation to tackle illicit financial flows.

For their part, partners have reiterated under SDG 17 (Targets 17.2, 17.3) their earlier commitments to mobilise official resource flows including Official Development Assistance (ODA), with a specific target relating to Africa and least developed countries under SDG 10 (Target 10b). They have also undertaken under SDG 16 (Target 16.4) to reduce illicit financial flows and take stronger action to identify, recover and return stolen assets. There are also in addition various bilateral partnerships including with China (FOCAC), Japan, the US, the EU, Turkey, Brazil and India.