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Conference on the Political Dimensions of Poverty Reduction- the case of Zambia' organised by the University of Zambia

(UNZA, Lusaka) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany)

Holiday Inn, Lusaka9-11th March 2005

Good Governance and Poverty Good Governance and Poverty Reduction: The African ExperienceReduction: The African Experience

Fantu CheruFantu Cheru

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Contextualising PRSP Approach in Africa

Examining 6 years of experience with PRSPsWhat is really new? Does it add value? Does it create ownership?

Broader political economic process onto which PRS is grafted has to be considered

Economic globalisationQuestion: in what respect is Africa integrated/marginalised in the global economy?More policy space or autonomy in Africa?Africa is navigating without a compassPRSP: lofty ideals/goals in an envt where policy space is shrinking

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Response to the Challenge and PRSP ‘Gambles’

Response to challenge in Africa1) Embrace economic globalisation2) Muddle through: do everything by accident3) Guided embrace of globalisation: environment of shrinking political space and autonomy to act independently

Four major gambles in the PRSP Approach:Government will take poverty more seriously (political will)Promises to enhance gov – civil society interactionPromises to increase gov accountabilityDemocratise donor-recipient relations

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Managing expectations: PRSP is not a ‘magic bullet’

1) PoliticsConsiderable consensus that PRSP approach provides unique opportunity to reduce poverty, increase service delivery, etc.

2) Expanding space for broad range of social actors

BUT: experience shows poor timeframe for consultations: not about joint decision-making

3) Process is complicated and time intensiveTranslating policy commitments into indicators, plans and goalsDid not emerge from comprehensive analysis of poverty (issues of analysis)

4) No visible re-orientation of lending policies

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Managing expectations: PRSP is not a ‘magic bullet’

5) In no country has there been a broad debate about alternate policies

Content remains the same (growth, stability, etc)Policies of redistribution are missing

6) Given magnitude of challenge, external pressure for reform not been matched by resource flows

Harmonising and simplifying donor support has been disappointing

Principle of national ownership: being undermined by the separate reporting requirements of different donors.

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National Ownership

Is national ownership equivalent to national empowerment?

Real national ownership is an outcome of a number of factors

1) Political dimension: Real political commitment from the top to push public sector reform, decentralisation, etc. However, ownership tends to be narrowly defined resulting in ownership concentrated at the top. Need for similar commitment at lower levels of government and across sectors (broadening and deepening - mainstreaming).All phases of policy process require leadership at the top changing system of governance from the top;

2) Most governments do not allow citizens to participate in policymaking

Prior engagement with government. Government suspicious about engagement with civil society: constraint on opening up space. Civil service resistance to participation and consultation (view it as a pain on the neck)

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National Ownership

3) Technocratic/institutional dimension: capacity to implement state reforms:

High quality PRSPs with donor fundingRegulatory/legal capacity: produces Technical capacity: specialised abilitiesExtractive/taxation capacityAdministrative capacity

Capable stateCapacity is clearly lacking in many statesDomestic accountability in public financial management: difficulty of linking to budgetAccountability in a weak state: capacity issue

Hypocritical to talk about ownership in donor-gov relations

Loan conditions, SAPsNeed “policy space”: increasing policy options

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Concluding thoughts

Where to from here?Hinges on improving efficiency and effectiveness of stateInstitutional machinery needs to be revisited

PrioritiesCivil service reform: low capacity due to low wages, poor working conditions - affects responsiveness. Should focus on using existing capacity.Judicial reformPublic expenditureDecentralisation: getting closer to local level critical for legitimacy

ConclusionsPRSP does offer opportunity BUT requires strong state – a capable stateProblem in Africa: development never really started – have a confusion of agendasAre opportunities BUT requires development of state capacity