press statement of the 22nd summit of the committee of participating

PRESS STATEMENT OF THE 22ND SUMMIT OF THE COMMITTEE OF PARTICIPATING
HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT OF THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM
(APR FORUM), ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 29 JANUARY 2015
The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) during the 22nd
Summit of the Committee of Heads of State and Government participating in the APRM, held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, on 29 January 2015. Cote d’Ivoire is the 35th African Country to accede to the
APRM.
On behalf of the APR Forum, H.E Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, who stood
in for the Chairperson of the APR Forum, welcomed and congratulated the Republic Cote d’Ivoire for
taking the commendable step in acceding to the APRM.
Press Statement_22nd APRM Summit_29.01.2015
The 22nd Summit of the APR Forum also witnessed the nomination of and acceptance by Kenya as
the new Vice-Chair of the APR Forum as well as the appointment of two new Panel Members,
Honourable Brigitte Mabandla (South Africa) and Chief (Mrs.) Chinyere E. Asika (Nigeria.) The
incoming Panel Members respectively replace Ms. Baleka Mbete, current Speaker of the South
African National Assembly, and Ambassador Professor Okon Edet Uya, who passed away in April
2014.
Ms. Brigitte Mabandla
Press Statement_22nd APRM Summit_29.01.2015
Chief (Mrs) Chinyere E. Asika
Honourable Mabandla is the current Chairperson of the National Orders Advisory Council of South
Africa. She served as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development of the Republic of South
Africa from 2004 to 2008.
Chief (Mrs.) Asika is a Board Member and Trustee in various Nigerian organizations. She has formally
served as Senior Special Assistant to the President on NEPAD, in the Cabinet of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
H.E Jacob Zuma also announced the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the APRM
Secretariat, Professor. Adebayo Olukoshi who until recently was Director of the UN African Institute
for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP). He is a Professor of International Economic
Relations. Until March 2009, he was Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social
Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
Prof. Adebeyo Olukoshi
Press Statement_22nd APRM Summit_29.01.2015
The President of South Africa, H.E Zuma congratulated and welcomed the newly elected officials and
expressed confidence in their ability to take the APRM to greater heights, considering their
antecedents.
He also expressed the Forum’s his gratitude to the outgoing interim CEO of the APRM Secretariat and
Head of the NEPAD Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki for providing strategic direction and
guidance to the Secretariat during the transitional period. He opined that the institutional development
and growth strategies adopted by Dr. Mayaki will significantly assist the incoming CEO on the
effective implementation of the APRM agenda. According to him, Dr. Mayaki has guided the
Secretariat through a challenging period and has built a solid foundation for future growth and
success. He said the Forum sincerely appreciates Dr. Mayaki’s leadership of the Secretariat.
The APR Forum Chairperson continued by conveying his gratitude for the resilience of the Secretariat
staff during a difficult period of transformation and is optimistic about how they will build on a
foundation of innovation to succeed in the future, built by the NEPAD CEO and encouraged them to
put their best feet forward at all times. He said measures are in place to turn around the fortune of the
continental Mechanism while broadening the scope for peer review.
The APR Forum meeting was held on the margins of the 24th Summit of the African Union which was
themed “2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an initiative of the African Union, was established in
March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). It is an instrument for self-monitoring and good
Press Statement_22nd APRM Summit_29.01.2015
governance for Member States. Currently, the APRM has thirty-four (35) member states that have
voluntarily acceded. Of these countries, seventeen (17) have completed their self-assessment
exercise and have been peer-reviewed by the Forum of Heads of State and Government.
For more information, contact:
Liziwe Selana
APRM: Communications
Cell: 092 992 1813 Addis number / Cell: 079 288 3318 South Africa
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Press Statement_22nd APRM Summit_29.01.2015

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