Sirte, Libya – Cape Verde is set become the 30th African country to sign up for the continent’s good governance strategy, known as the African Peer Review Mechanism, which enables countries review themselves for weaknesses within their own economic, social and political spheres.

Cape Verde’s President Pedro Pires is expected to sign an agreement, committing his country to undertake the internal self assessment in conformity with the rules of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an organ of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who chairs the APRM panel, said the Cape Verde President will sign the memorandum of Understanding and prepare to undertake the assessment test later.

At least 16 African countries have taken the peer review, which aims to find weaknesses in Africa’s governance systems and make corrections in time.

The review is designed to allow African leaders to freely discuss the weaknesses their countries face in establishing sustained political culture and is aimed at making Africa more reliable destination for foreign investments. A key plank of the system is the fight against corruption.

Speaking during the opening session of the 11th edition of the forum of the APRM on Tuesday, Meles said Mali, Mozambique and Lesotho were among the 12 African states that had completed the review.

Rwanda was the first African country to undertake the peer review, followed by Kenya. The African leaders noted during January’s meeting that if the recommendations [they] made to Kenya on fighting tribalism in June 2007 were followed, the post-election violence in there would have been averted.

Mr. Meles Zenawi, chairperson of the APRM and Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, said Cape Verde signing the MoU will bring the membership of  APRM to 30.

He stressed that Mauritania's suspension is still enforced by member of APRM. He added that the APRM has been a key body in organizing African mechanism, adding that over the years the APRM has demonstrated it mettle and real potential of playing decisive role in “collective self-governance”.

He calls on the remaining 23 member states of the African Union, which have not joined the mechanism, to accede as soon as possible.

He said the implementation of the National Programmes of Action (NPOA) designed to address the various challenges identified in four thematic areas during the review process is progressing, adding that for the first time in history of the APRM, the forum devoted its January 2009 summit to a comprehensive and holistic review of progress in the implementation of the NPOAs, and this is yielding positive results.

He further disclosed that the Algiers recommendation on the revision of the Master Questionnaire, the APRM process manuals and the development of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework for NPOAs are also being implemented.