1

Africa Institute

First Business Plan

2010 - 2011

PRETORIA

SOUTH AFRICA

The Africa Institute is a Basel Convention Regional Centre (BCRC) for English speaking African Countries. It has been established as an intergovernmental organization based in Pretoria, South Africa. It is housed within the Department of Environmental Affairs of the Government of South Africa. This Institute began operating in October 2009 following the closure of its predecessor, the Interim BCRC in 2007. As an intergovernmental organization the Africa Institute is governed by Council which comprises all the countries that have ratified the agreement that establishes it. There are now 7 countries that have ratified the Africa Institute agreement. Council has also establisheda standing committee whose responsibility is day-to-day oversight of the activities of the Institute called the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is made up of five countries,namelyBotswana (chair), South Africa (host), Mauritius, Tanzania and Nigeria. It is elected annually.

The strategic goals of the Institute are (1) to develop the capacity of the members to manage hazardous waste and other wastes, (2) to develop capacity of members to participate and influence international negotiations related to hazardous waste and chemicals, (3) to enhance implementation of the hazardous waste and chemicals conventions, (4) to enhance regional research and monitoring of chemicals and hazardous waste, (5) to facilitate access to and transfer of technologies for sound management of hazardous waste and (6) to disseminate information on environmentally sound management of hazardous waste and chemicals. These strategic goals will be achieved through training programmes, projects and development of collaborative linkages between institutions. The Africa Institute will serve as a platform that will build capacity of its members to face and arrest the challenges of hazardous waste and other wastes and chemicals. To do so it needs to build networks within the region and beyond. It needs to encourage sharing of experiences, expertise and resources.

Two workshops were held in Pretoria, which are “The Regional Awareness Raising Workshop on Enhancing Cooperation and Coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions in the English speaking African Countries”, held from 28-30 October 2009, and “The Training Workshop for the Rotterdam Convention Designated National Authorities” held from 2-6 November 2009. The two workshops provided the Institute with a picture of the challenges that member countries face. In summary these challenges are (1) fragmented, ineffective and sectoral legislations (2)unknown stockpiles of hazardous chemicals, (3) lack of disposal facilities for chemicals and hazardous waste, (4) e-waste, (5) lack of analytical capacity,(6)lack of expertise, and (7) non-implementation of the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals within the region and awareness towards it.To address these challenges the region must developits human resource in order to have the requisite skills and build itstechnical capacity.

The strength of the region to deal with these challenges will depend on its ability to work together. The Africa Institute will present itself as a coordinating agency. It is therefore important that even those countries that have not yet ratified the Africa Institute agreement do so. The Institute will therefore market itself to those countries using all available methods at its disposal during the term of this business plan. This will include (1) official meetings of regional groupings e.g. SADC, ECOWAS, AMCEN, (2) targeted country visitations and (3) national and regional workshops. The budget for this plan comprises costs associated with running the office, workshops and proposed projects.

I - Information on the Centre

A – Vision

To protect human health and the environment from the negative effects of hazardous wastes and other wastes and chemicals found in member countries of the Africa Institute.

Mission

To build the capacity within the region to adequately respond to multilateral environmental agreements that address the sound management of hazardous waste and other wastes and chemicals.

B – Background

Article 14 of the Basel Convention on the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste provides for the establishment of regional centers. English speaking African countries decided to establish a Basel Convention Regional Center (BCRC) and they named it the Africa Institute for Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous and Other Wastes. After an extensive consultative process and a feasibility study, it was decided that the Africa Institute will be based in Pretoria, South Africa.

The countries decided that the Institute will be an intergovernmental organization established through an agreement that interested member countries must ratify in order to become full members. Because the process of establishing this intergovernmental organization within this large geographic region was long and at least 5 countries were required to for the Institute to be established on a permanent basis, it was decided that an InterimCenterbe established. The InterimCenter was meant to further the same goals during the preparatory period of the permanent organization. This InterimCenter was established as a non-profit making organization.

A Taskforce was formed composed ofZambia, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and the Basel Convention Secretariat and indeed the InterimCenter was established in 2000. Over a period of five years that InterimCenter coordinated a total of 44 training programs in the region. The InterimCenter was also based in Pretoria,South Africa. Initially it was based at VistaUniversity but later was moved to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). This InterimCenter had its core staff, bank account and office equipment. It was supported by funding from the Embassy of Denmark, UNDP, and South Africa.

The Interim Centre ran into financial constraintswhen funding from Denmark ended and the host country (South Africa) had to shoulder most of its expenses. After a series of consultative meetings between the Basel Convention Secretariat and the Taskforce a decision was taken to liquidate the Interim Centre which was liquidated in 2007. In 2008 seven countries had ratified the agreement that establishes the permanent regional Centre as an intergovernmental organization namely Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania.Since the minimum number of countries that was required to establish the Institute had been reached, the agreement came into force and the Africa Institute was formally established.

As an intergovernmental organization members are required to pay on an annual basis their assessed contributions. These contributions are used to run the Institute. They are calculated following an AU model.Thus 50% of the operating costs of the Institute areshared equallyby members and the other 50% is based on each country’s GDP. At the moment fourcountries have already paid their assessed contributions, they are Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Mauritius. The other three countries have indicated that they are in the process of arranging payments. The Institute has also received funds from the Embassy of Denmark which are meant to assist in the establishment process.

After the required ratifications had been achieved the next task was recruitment of the Executive Director who would then lead the establishment of the rest of the structure of the Institute. This process was completed in October, 2009 and the Africa Institute was officially in operation. It is hosted within the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

In its short existence the Institute has participated in the regional awareness raising workshop on synergies among the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions and the Rotterdam training workshop that were held in October and November 2009 respectively in Pretoria. The synergy workshop was attended by participants from the three conventions plus a representative of SAICM. From the region participants were drawn from 19 countries with representation coming from governments, NGOs and industries.

C. Legal Structure

Ratification of Agreement Establishing the Africa Institute

The agreement establishing the Africa Institute was first opened for signature in Jevu, Korea in 2004. It was signed by 11 English-speaking African countries namely, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia at an event in the margins of the UNEP Governing Council. This agreement indicates that for it to come into force it must be ratified by at least five countries. So far seven countries have deposited instruments of ratification and the Institute is officially operational.

As it was mentioned before, the Institute has now been established as an intergovernmental organization hosted by the Government of South Africa. The hosting agreement has been signed by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa and the Executive Director of the Africa Institute.This Agreement confers diplomatic privileges and immunities to the Africa Institute. These include tax exemption and inviolability of the premises of the Africa Institute.

In addition the agreement that established the Africa Institute outlines the following among other issues:

  • Membership and obligations of members
  • Council meetings and procedures
  • Functions of the Executive Director and the Secretariat
  • Relations with UN Bodies
  • Sanctions of members in case of non-compliance

Governing Council

In terms of governance, the agreement that established the Africa Institute also established the Governing Council comprising all the countries that have ratified the agreement. At the moment as indicated there are seven countries that constitute the Governing Council and their numbers will continue to increase as more countries ratify the agreement. The chairmanship of the council rotates between members annually following the English alphabetic order of the first letter in their names. Thus, at the moment the first chair of the council is the representative from Botswana.

The functions of council include inter alia:

  • establishment of policies and principles for the Institute
  • approval of annual budget and programs of activities
  • determining assessed contributions of members
  • determining sanctions in case of non-compliance
  • appointment of the Executive Director
  • receipt, consideration, approval of reports submitted by the Executive Director
  • authorizing the Executive Director to enter into agreements
  • approving financial rules for receipt, custody and expenditure of funds
  • establishing ad hoc committees when required

It is expected that from now onwards the Council will meet at least once a year and may meet more if there is a need in accordance with the stipulations of the agreement establishing the Institute. During this formative period (2008 – 2009) the Council met twice, first in November 2008 and then in April 2009. Many interactive emails and teleconferences took place to finalise the policies of the Institute. The next meeting of Council is scheduled for March 2010.

Another important document relating to the governance and legal framework for the Africa Institute is “The rules and procedures” document. This document outlines many things including how meetings of the Council and by extension of standing and ad hoc committees have to be conducted. The document elaborates on how the following issues must be handled professionally and transparently in the interest of the states that constitute the Africa Institute, the Institute itself and the public in the region.

  • date and place of Council meetings
  • observers at Council meetings
  • media presence
  • agenda for Council meetings
  • representation and credentials for Council meetings
  • roles of officers of the Council (Chairperson, Vice Chairperson)
  • functioning of committees and working groups of the Council
  • functioning of the Secretariat
  • conduct of business
  • voting

Executive Committee

The agreement also provides for the establishment of an Executive Committee which is a standing committee of the Council that is mandated to provide oversight on the running of the Institute and then report to the Council accordingly. This Executive committee is made up of five members including the representative from the host country and the chairman. It is appointed on an annual basis. The Executive Committee meets four times a year (quarterly) and may meet more if there is a need.

Appointment of the Executive Director

The Council of the Africa Institute mandated the Executive Committee to oversee the process of appointment of the first Executive Director of the permanent Africa Institute and report to the Council as appropriate. The Executive Committee appointed Dr Taelo Letsela from Lesotho who assumed his duties in October 2009.

Bank Account

The Africa Institute has opened atransactional bank account with Standard Bank of South Africa which is one of the four top banks in South Africa that is also found in other countries of the region as well.The account is now fully operational and funds can be deposited into it. Before the Africa Institute’s bank account was opened, the money for the Institute was deposited into a holding account with the South African Reserve Bank. Those funds came from donors and assessed contributions from members. After the oppening of the bank account those funds have successfully been transferred to the Institute’s bank account at the Standard Bank.

Financial Management

All funds in the custody of the Institute are managed by the Executive Director with oversight provided by the Executive Committee and ultimately Governing Council of the Institute. The Financial management policy of the Institute mandates that accounts of the Institute must be audited on an annual basis. The Institute will therefore appoint accredited auditing companies to audit the accounts and produce a report for consideration of the Council. The Institute’s “Financial Management Policy” covers among other issues the following:

  • Arrangements of financial transactions
  • Arrangements of communications
  • Statement of policy (objectives)
  • Role and responsibilities of the Council as accounting authority
  • Annual reporting and financial statements
  • Assignment of powers and duties by the Council
  • Appointment of auditors

D – Contact information

Dr Taelo Letsela

Executive Director

Africa Institute

315 Pretorius Street

FedsureForumBuilding

921 & 922 NorthTower

Pretoria 0001

South Africa

Tel: +27-12- 310 3627

Fax: +27-12-320 1421

E-mail:

II – The Institute and the Basel Convention

A – Performance of the Core functions

The Africa Institute has just been re-established after a lull of about two years. Its predecessor the Interim BCRC had a remarkable success having undertaken a total of 44 training workshops in the region. The current institute, the Africa Institute is going to build on this foundation that was achieved by its predecessor. It proffers to focus on the following core functions:

  • development of the capacity of member countries to manage hazardous waste and other wastes

This, the Institute expects to achieve by first assessing the capacity needs of the member countries and then developing targeted responses. A needs assessment study was done in the region by the previous Centre almost 10 years ago. The Africa Institute needs to build on that study and re-assess the needs of the region given the challenges that have arisen.

  • developmentof the capacity of member countries to participate and influence the international negotiations related to hazardous waste and chemicals management to take into account the needs of developing nations.

The Institute proposes to achieve these by summarising the proposed decisions by COPs and evaluate the likely impact on the region and then assist delegates from the region to participate fully in the multilateral processes in the chemical and waste management arena.

The Institute will then coordinate comments from the members and facilitate discussions on guideline documents and tools. Additionally, the Institute will conduct training on issues related to multilateral processes, guidelines and tools developed through these processes.

  • enhancing the implementation of the provisions of hazardous waste and chemicals conventions, among English speaking African countries at national, sub-regional and regional level

The Institute plans to develop programs that will help countries in the region to effectively implement the chemicals and hazardous waste management conventions. Furthermore, the Institute plans to assist countries to develop polices and legislative frameworks that will help them implement these conventions effectively and also promote exchange of best practices in chemical and waste management.

  • enhancing regional research and monitoring on aspects related to the safe management of hazardous waste and chemicals

The Institute intends to facilitate research and coordinate activities in the region in order to capacitate members to influence decisions and positions in multilateral processes. As part of this the Institute intends to promote collaborative work between institutions in the region as well as with institutions in the North in order to facilitate skills and transfer of expertise. This may involve twining of institutions (academic linkages) and exchange programs. This will assist members to generate data that is relevant to the region so that response programs could have desired impact.

  • facilitating access to and transfer of technologies for environmentally sound management of hazardous waste in English Speaking African countries

This Institute intends to facilitate the transfer of appropriate and affordable technologies for environmentally sound management of hazardous and other waste in the region. Also investigate internationally acceptable technologies and best available technologies for the treatment and management of chemical and hazardous and other wastes as identified by the conventions.

The Institute further plans to facilitate regional and perhaps sub-regional efforts to promote development of facilities and infrastructure for the sound management of hazardous and other wastes and the listed chemicals in the conventions.

The Institute will develop a database of institutionsthat are involved in research in technologies that address environmentally sound management of hazardous waste and chemicals within the region.