Abstract
With the African Union being established in 2002 then the African Peer Review Mechanism being established in 2003 to promote good governance and accountability for the continent’s economic development program at that time, NEPAD. It has been over 20 years since the APRM was established, but there has not been a precise analysis of how it promotes Pan-Africanism that is meant to be implemented. The study moves from the assumption that Pan-Africanism is an ideology and vision adopted by various African leaders that has been translated into the programs, initiatives, instruments, and tools over the past two decades. It argues that Pan-Africanism can be reduced to measurable critical claims and postulations that can be used to understand whether there is progress in its implementation. Yet, the extent to which these programmes, initiatives, and organs have translated the vision into reality as expected is a matter requiring research. This study investigated whether the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) practically implements Pan-Africanism in the continent. Among the findings is that APRM ably links the continent’s development to the quality of governance in line with the comprehensive nature of Pan-Africanism (government-development nexus). Another is that the APRM is effective in assessing democratic government in African countries and providing recommendations on how to improve governance and accountability. However, the APRM’s effectiveness is limited by inadequate political will to give it full effect in the transformation of the African government and the insufficient support from the African Union, its members, and the various organizations needed to improve its effectiveness.