Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania -01 December 2023. The APRM continental secretariat organized a three-day technical workshop to work on the conceptual and measurement framework of the APRM Governance Index at Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel in Tanzania from 29^th November to 1^st December 2023. The APRM Governance Index project is led by a steering committee that provides supervisory and conceptual guidance, among others, of the development of the framework and the indices. The steering committee, which is made of experts across the continents and the APRM national structures, is presided by H.E Dr. Ousmane DIALLO, APRM Panel of Eminent Persons and Amb Ashraf RASHED as the Vice President. The three-day technical workshop was led by Amb Ashraf RASHED, Representative of the Chief Executive Officer of APRM Continental Secretariat: Mr. Ferdinand Katendeko; Representative of the Focal Point of Tanzania, Amb. Hemed Mgaza; Prof. Hassa Mlawa – Chair of the National Governing Council of Tanzania and distinguished experts and representatives of Government, Agencies, Academia, Private sectors, Civil society across the steering committee and APRM Secretariat in Tanzania.

The conceptual and measurement framework of the Governance Index project was first developed and validated by the steering committee in Johannesburg from 29^th July to 1^st August 2022. The framework was then piloted in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt to assess data availability of the indicators from November to December 2022. Among the key outcomes of the pilot test was the bulkiness of the sub-dimensions and the indicators. Hence, the main objective of the workshop is to reduce the number of indicators to the barest minimum, considering the production cycle and availability of data at the national level and the relevance of the indicators in the context of Africa. Specifically, the workshop offered an opportunity to the experts working on the framework to reduce the number of indicators across each of the five thematic areas.

During the Sub-Technical workshop on the Revision of the APRM Governance Index framework, experts across the working thematic areas conceptualised each of the fiver pillars -Democracy and political governance; Economic governance and management; Corporate governance; Socio-economic Development and State resilience to shocks and disasters –as well as the different sub-dimensions. The indicators under each of the sub-dimensions were then reduced to the barest minimum taking into consideration all relevant factors. This will reduce the data collection fatigue from the various stakeholders of the member states. Both qualitative and quantitative indicators were profiled and clearly defined to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the interpretation. The next phase of the APRM governance Index project will be data collection and production of the index report in selected member states.

At the same time APRM Tanzania National Secretariat had the opportunity to participate in the workshop opened by Ambassador Hemedi Mgaza on behalf of the Focal point of APRM Tanzania: Hon. January Y. Makamba (MP). Having explained the real situation of APRM and Good Governance in Tanzania, he expressed his gratitude for hosting the workshop to be held in Dar es Salaam. According to him, this encourages and challenges APRM Tanzania to deepen its commitment towards improving governance in the country.

It is to be recalled that, Tanzania undertook its base review in 2013. The Country Review Report emanating from this exercise was launched in 2017 by the then Vice-President H.E Samia Suluhu Hassan. Following the launch of the report, the main activities for APRM Tanzania had been the coordination of the implementation of the National Program of Action (NPoA). Out of this, the first progress report on the implementation of the NPoA was produced in 2019. APRM Tanzania is at the phase of revitalization of the mechanism across all the provinces as they are gearing up for the second-generation review.

About the African Peer Review Mechanism

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an initiative of the African Union, founded in March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).  The purpose of APRM is to facilitate the adoption of policies, principles and practices that contribute to political and economic stability and growth, additionally to leading sustainable development. The four thematic areas of APRM are composed of 1) Democracy and Good Political Governance; 2) Economic Governance and Management; 3) Corporate Governance; 4)Socio-Economic Development; 5) State Resilience to Shocks and Disasters

In January 2017, the AU Assembly of Head of States and Government expanded the APRM mandate to Monitoring and Evaluation of the implementation of AU Agenda 2063 and SDGs 2030. While the January 2018 Assembly, amongst other things, welcomed steps taken to position the APRM as an early warning tool for conflict prevention in Africa, in the context of harmony and synergy between the APRM, African Peace and Security Architecture, and the African Governance Architecture

For more information contact: Mr. Sampson Osei, Statistician, Monitoring & Evaluation Directorate, E-mail: sampson-osei@aprm-au.org;, Website: http://aprm-au.org/