AU to finalize evaluation of partnerships with different nations, regions

The African Union (AU) has said it is finalizing the evaluation of its partnerships with different countries and regions in light of their relevance, effectiveness and value addition.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the pan-African bloc recalled that it has forged strategic partnerships with various countries and regions across the world to move forward Africa's development and integration agenda.

Those include the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) and partnerships with the Eurpean Union, South America, South Korea, Turkey, India and the Arab world, according to the statement.

The statement said Africa's strategic partnerships are aimed at mobilizing the necessary financial and technical support for the implementation of Africa's regional and continental programs.

The continental engagement with the partners would assist individual African countries to further build their bilateral relations, and attract and provide more investment and trade opportunities as well as other development programs, the statement said.

The AU however said the objectives, scope and modus operandi of these partnerships need to be reviewed in order to make them "balanced, more productive and action-oriented".

Such review will also help to address the challenges that the AU partnerships are facing at the moment, which include "lack of funding to implement agreed upon programs and projects, cumbersomeness of the action plans, absence of performance evaluation indicators and non-existence or inefficiency of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms", said the statement.

"The evaluation, which is expected to be completed in June 2016, will also identify the specific areas of cooperation for each partnership, aligning them with the First Ten Year Implementation Plan of (AU's) Agenda 2063," said the statement. Endit