How Bureaucracies Work: AUDA-NEPAD's Approach to Trade and Industrialisation

This research paper examines the role of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) in driving trade and industrialization in Africa. It analyzes the agency's efforts to implement structural transformation through frameworks like the AfCFTA and Agenda 2063, while highlighting the systemic tensions between continental ambitions, national sovereignty, and the influence of external donors.

• AUDA-NEPAD focuses on developmental regionalism to shift Africa from a reliance on commodity exports toward value-added production and regional market integration. This is guided by blueprints including Agenda 2063, the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), and the Africa Green Mineral Strategy (AGMS).
• The agency has supported the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through technical policy harmonization and capacity building. These efforts contributed to an increase in intra-African trade from approximately 10% in 2012 to about 15% by 2022.
• Despite policy progress, Africa's share of global manufacturing value-added remains stagnant, typically staying below 2%. This is attributed to structural bottlenecks such as skills mismatches, costly logistics, and unreliable power supplies.
• AUDA-NEPAD faces significant implementation barriers, including institutional complexity, a lack of independent evaluation systems (relying instead on self-reporting), and insufficient domestic funding for monitoring and project execution.
• The agency's effectiveness is hampered by coordination problems between AUDA-NEPAD, the AU Commission, and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which often lead to policy paralysis, duplication, or fragmented responsibilities.
• External donor influence from entities such as the World Bank, European Union, and bilateral agencies (e.g., GIZ, NORAD) has provided essential resources but has also created tensions, sometimes diluting the original vision of NEPAD and overshadowing African-driven solutions.
• While AUDA-NEPAD has integrated green industrialization into its agenda, it has struggled to translate these frameworks into action, specifically failing to mobilize adequate resources or expedite the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers for green mineral value chains.

APA

Toulassi, K. (2025). How Bureaucracies Work: AUDA-NEPAD's Approach to Trade and Industrialisation. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/how-bureaucracies-work-auda-nepads-approach-to-trade-and-industrialisation

Chicago

Toulassi, Kossi. How Bureaucracies Work: AUDA-NEPAD's Approach to Trade and Industrialisation. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2025. https://afripoli.org/how-bureaucracies-work-auda-nepads-approach-to-trade-and-industrialisation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Toulassi |first1=Kossi |title=How Bureaucracies Work: AUDA-NEPAD's Approach to Trade and Industrialisation |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=1 July 2025 |url=https://afripoli.org/how-bureaucracies-work-auda-nepads-approach-to-trade-and-industrialisation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{toulassi2025how, author = {Toulassi, Kossi}, title = {{How Bureaucracies Work: AUDA-NEPAD's Approach to Trade and Industrialisation}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://afripoli.org/how-bureaucracies-work-auda-nepads-approach-to-trade-and-industrialisation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }