The Africa Progress Panel was a Swiss-based foundation that aimed to bring about

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

change through unique combination of cutting-edge analysis,

advocacy Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using fac ...

and

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. The panel's members had access to the worlds of politics, finance, business and civil society at the highest levels, globally and in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The panel was chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

and during its existence consisted of the following members: *

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

- Former Prime Minister of

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. *

Michel Camdessus Michel Camdessus (born 1 May 1933) is a French economist who served as the seventh managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, the longest serving in that position. He previously served as the Governor of the Ba ...

- Former Managing Director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

. * Peter Eigen - Founder and Chair of the Advisory Council,

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

and Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. *

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part o ...

- Musician, Businessman, Founder and Chair of Band Aid,

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

and

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

, Co-founder of

DATA In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

and ONE. *

Graça Machel Graça Machel (; née Simbine; , born 17 October 1945) is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–20 ...

- President of the Foundation for Community Development and founder of New Faces New Voices. *

Strive Masiyiwa Strive Masiyiwa (born 29 January 1961) is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of international technology groups Econet Global and Cassava Technologies. Masiyiwa has pr ...

- Founder of Econet Wireless. * Linah Mohohlo - Governor, Bank of Botswana. *

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...

- former President of Nigeria. *

Robert Rubin Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former government official. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government ...

- Co-Chairman of the Board, Council on Foreign Relations and former Secretary of the United States Treasury. * Tidjane Thiam - Chief Executive Officer, Crédit Suisse. Timeline ImageSize = width:600 height:200 PlotArea = width:405 height:175 left:100 bottom:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2007 till:30/12/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:a value:rgb(1,0,0) legend:Members Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2007 gridcolor:black PlotData = color:blue width:7 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from bar:Annan from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Blair from:start till:30/12/2010 bar:Camdessus from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Eigen from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Geldof from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Machel from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Mohohlo from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Rubin from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Thiam from:start till:30/12/2016 bar:Yunus from:start till:30/12/2011 bar:Masiyiwa from:01/01/2012 till:30/12/2016 The Africa Progress Panel sought to influence policy through robust, evidence-based analysis in the annual Africa Progress Reports, the Panel members’ high-level access and communications work.

History

In the wake of the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005 and the

Commission for Africa The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, was an initiative established by the British government to examine and provide impetus for development in Africa. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generat ...

Report in 2007, the Africa Progress Panel was originally formed through a UK Government initiative as a vehicle to maintain focus on commitments made to Africa by the International Community. As such, the Africa Progress Panel's work centres on complex and high-impact issues that are particularly relevant to Africa. Following the publication of the final report, the Panel reported that it had ceased its operations at the end of 2017.

The Secretariat

The Geneva-based secretariat was a non-profit foundation under Swiss law. The Panel's work was supported by a secretariat, established in 2008 and headed by Executive Director: Michael Keatin (2009-2010), Dawde Jobarteh (Acting 2011-12),

Caroline Kende-Robb Caroline Kende-Robb (born 23 May 1963, Fleetwood, England) is Senior Adviser at the African Center for Economic Transformation a Pan-African think tank influencing policy across Africa and globally to support Africa’s long-term growth through t ...

(2012-2016) and Maximillian Jarett (2017).

Publications

The Africa Progress Report

Published annually, the Africa Progress Reports were the flagship publications of the Africa Progress Panel. '
Africa Progress Report 2015—Power, People, Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities
'' Demand for modern energy in Sub-Saharan Africa is set to surge, fuelled by economic growth, demographic change and urbanisation. As the costs of low-carbon energy fall, Africa could leapfrog into a new era of power generation. Utility reform, new technologies and new business models could be as transformative in energy as the mobile phone has been in telecommunications. The Africa Progress Report 2015 explains the bold steps that leaders globally and in Africa must take to achieve this vision. Above all, the report shows that the global climate moment is also Africa's moment to lead the world. The 2015 Africa Progress Report was launched in Cape Town, South Africa on 5 June 2015 by Executive Director Caroline Kende-Robb and Panel Members Graça Machel, Linah Mohohlo, and Michel Camdessus. '
Africa Progress Report 2014—Grain, Fish, Money: Financing Africa’s Green and Blue Revolutions
'' To sustain growth that improves the lives of all Africans, the continent needs an economic transformation that taps into Africa's other riches: its fertile land, its extensive fisheries and forests, and the energy and ingenuity of its people. To achieve such a transformation, Africa will need to overcome three major obstacles: a lack of access to formal financial services, the weakness of the continent's infrastructure and the lack of funds for public investment. The Africa Progress Report 2014 describes how African governments and their international partners can cooperate to remove those obstacles – and enable all Africans to benefit from their continent's extraordinary wealth. The 2012 Africa Progress Report was launched in London, United Kingdom on 8 May 2014 by Kofi Annan, Tidjane Thiam, Bob Geldof, Peter Eigen and Caroline Kende-Robb. '
Africa Progress Report 2013 – Equity in Extractives: Stewarding Africa’s Natural Resources for All
'' In 2013, Africa's economies were riding the crest of a global commodity wave that had the potential to transform the continent's prospects. The 2013 Africa Progress Report explains how this unprecedented chance might lift millions out of poverty, and improve the prospects of generations to come, by strengthening fiscal policy and increasing equitable public spending on infrastructure, health, education, water and sanitation. The 2013 Africa Progress Report was launched at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa on 8 June 2013 by Kofi Annan, Linah Mohohlo, and Strive Masiyiwa. /sup> The report's hard-hitting findings and policy recommendations received substantial international attention. '
Africa Progress Report 2012 - Jobs, Justice and Equity: Seizing Opportunities in Times of Global Change
'' The 2012 Africa Progress Report looks at three of the most critical ingredients for transforming a promising economic upturn into a sustained recovery and lasting human development – jobs, justice and equity. The report explores the fundamental role jobs play in African's life-chances, and hones in on how, over the long run, issues of injustice and inequality can undermine long-term economic growth, productivity and the development of markets. The launch of the 2012 Africa Progress Report was covered by international news publications, including

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, 0/sup>

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

, 1/sup>

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

, 2/sup> and the African Business Magazine ran a cover story based on the report. 3/sup>As part of the launch, Executive Director Caroline Kende-Robb and Panel Member Olusegun Obasanjo were interviewed for the video series

This Is Africa ''This Is Africa'' is an English-language bi-monthly business publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd and edited in London. It examines African business and politics in a global context and seeks to make sense of the relationships that Afr ...

. 4/sup> '
Africa Progress Report 2011 - The Transformative Power of Partnerships
'' '
Africa Progress Report 2010 - From Agenda to Action: Turning Resources into Results for People
'' '
Africa Progress Report 2009 - An Agenda for Progress at a Time of Global Crisis: A Call for African Leadership
''

External links

Africa Progress Panel WebsiteAfrica Progress Panel FacebookAfrica Progress Panel TwitterKofi Annan Foundation

References

{{Authority control Foundations based in Switzerland International development in Africa Organizations established in 2007