Legacy Report - President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa

The Republic of South Africa succeeded the Republic of Chad as Chair of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in February 2020 at the 29th Ordinary Summit of the African Peer Review (APR) Forum of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa. H.E Cyril Ramaphosa, at the start of his chairship, declared that he “gladly accept[ed] the honour of leading the APRM for the next two years” and “pledged to take forward the achievements and gains that have been registered with equal, if not greater vigour.

I am delighted to welcome readers to President Ramaphosa’s Legacy Report. The objective of the Legacy Report is to highlight the many achievements made by the African Peer Review Mechanism during the Chairship of President Ramaphosa from February 2020 to February 2022, in the spirit of gratitude to him for his leadership, and as an example for Member States who will lead the Mechanism in the future.

The APRM is pleased to note, among the many highlights in this report, that the Mechanism completed its full integration into the AU family during the chairship of President Ramaphosa. It is also noteworthy that, despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of the chairship in February 2020, APRM was able to complete a record number of review missions in 2021, including the Second Review Mission to South Africa. APRM was also able to advance the AU Assembly decision for Universal Accession to the APRM with Zimbabwe and Seychelles acceding in 2020, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2021 and Burundi in 2022. All of these achievements would not have been possible without the commitment, energy and enthusiasm of President Ramaphosa as Chairperson of the APR Forum.

I am delighted to take this opportunity to thank H.E President Ramaphosa, as well as all the officials in the Government of South Africa who made the chairship such a success.