Should All Africas States Join the APRM?

This policy brief examines the African Peer Review Mechanism's (APRM) goal of achieving universal accession by 2023, arguing that the organization must prioritize clearing its backlog of unreviewed members and improving the implementation of governance reforms over simply increasing membership numbers.

• The APRM aims for universal membership by 2023, though it remains a voluntary instrument. As of March 1, 2020, 40 of the 55 African states are members, with Zimbabwe and Seychelles being the most recent additions in February 2020.
• There are no entrance criteria for joining the APRM other than geography, which differs from other governance systems like the Open Government Partnership (OGP) or the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) that require high standards before accession.
• The APRM faces a significant challenge with 'slow' states—members that joined over 10 years ago but have not started the review process. This group includes Cameroon, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo, all of which joined at the mechanism's launch in 2003.
• The mechanism has struggled with the implementation of National Programmes of Action (NPoAs) and the completion of subsequent reviews. In the 17 years since its start, only Mozambique, Uganda, and Kenya have undergone second reviews.
• The introduction of targeted reviews, which focus on specific areas rather than comprehensive assessments, is criticized for potentially allowing governments to avoid sensitive governance issues.
• The authors argue that the APRM should prioritize its core objective of conducting country reviews over expanding membership, and suggest implementing a sanctions mechanism for members that fail to make progress, similar to the OGP's 'inactive' status or the EITI's delisting process.

APA

GRUZD, S., & TURIANSKYI, Y. (2020). Should All Africas States Join the APRM? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-86-gruzd-turianskyi.pdf

Chicago

GRUZD, STEVEN, and YARIK TURIANSKYI. Should All Africas States Join the APRM? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2020. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-86-gruzd-turianskyi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=GRUZD |first1=STEVEN |last2=TURIANSKYI |first2=YARIK |title=Should All Africas States Join the APRM? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-86-gruzd-turianskyi.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gruzd2020should, author = {GRUZD, STEVEN and TURIANSKYI, YARIK}, title = {{Should All Africas States Join the APRM?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-86-gruzd-turianskyi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }