Experts have cited bureaucracy as a key factor to the low implementation of policies in African countries.

This emerged yesterday at the start of a three-day summit in Nairobi that brings together over 100 African think tanks and policy makers seeking to provide insights on why policies and programmes are not effectively implemented in many African countries.

A concept paper for the Sixth African Think Tank Summit noted that from 2002 to 2018, 51 treaties and agreements were signed by countries under the African Union (AU) with 31 of them (60.8 per cent) yet to be ratified for implementation.

"Important agreements such as the recently signed Africa Continental Free Trade Area - which is expected to boost intra-African trade and enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level - will not take off if the implementation capacity challenges being faced at national, regional and continental levels are not addressed," said the paper.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich hailed the summit as timely adding that Kenya had effected some changes in order to address coordination failures in the implementation of key policies.

“Where we sit as government we sometimes underestimate what it means by capacity of government to deliver these development programmes. The African bureaucracies we have make implementation a challenge,” said Rotich.

He said that solutions to ensure full implementation included government’s having timely and reliable data, strong monitoring frameworks and enhancing coordination.

“One of the key challenges of implementation is coordination failure … in Kenya we are doing what it takes to deal with the challenge. Recently a committee was set up to deal with coordination challenges for the implementation of the Big Four Agenda,” he said.

The summit is themed: Tackling Implementation Challenges for Africa’s Sustainable Development and is organized by The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

One of the major outcomes expected from the summit is the increased understanding of the “human and institutional capacities and enabling environment required for the effective implementation of policies and programs in Africa.”

“The summit will also share insights on why well-crafted frameworks have failed,” said KIPPRA Executive Director Rose Ngugi.

Delivering the keynote speech Prof Adebayo Olukoshi, Regional Director for Africa and West Asia, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance called for a “wholesale revamping of public policy design and implementation.”

He added that the revamping should start with African civil servants.

Olukoshi also said that most policies suffered “excessive donorisation” and did not reflect African realities.

“The best ideas are ones that come from within our countries as opposed to guesswork from foreigners on what we ought to do,” said Olukoshi.

Kevin Chika, a senior director at the African Development Institute said that funding was a challenge for most African think tanks and warned that most were conducting “irrelevant” research.

Other key speakers included ACBF Executive Secretary Emmanuel Nnadozie, Afreximbank Director of and Global Head Strategy and Innovations Robert Ochola and AUDA-NEPAD head of Capacity Development Division Florence Nazare.

The Summit will end on Friday where recommendations will be shared.