History
Background
The Pan-African Productivity Association (PAPA) was founded through a declaration made by delegations representing six African countries at the 7th World Productivity Congress in Malaysia in November 1990. These countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa) constituted the first Interim Committee for PAPA. The declaration referred to above recognise the close relationship between productivity enhancement and sustained economic development. This initiative had the full support of the World Productivity Confederation of Productivity Science (WCPS).
After a slow start, the Association was revived at the first General Assembly in Pretoria in November 1992, which was attended by Dr J Prokopenko of ILO’ Switzerland and Mr VK Ntandayarwo of the OAU, in Addis Ababa as observers. A new Executive Council was elected, the Constitution was revised and a new executive secretary was elected. The year 1996 proved to be one of many activities and a new lease on life for the Association. A quarterly newsletter was started, and the frequency of the newsletter increased to six is issues per year from middle of 1997. The first annual general meeting of PAPA took place at the General Assembly held in Ghana in July 1997.
In 1996 the proposal to grant observer status to PAPA was tabled by the South African Government at the 19th Ordinary session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission of the OAU which was unanimously accepted by the Commission and the Council Ministers. This put the association on a par with organisation such as ILO, The Pan Africa Employers’ Confederation (PEC) and the Organisation of Trade Union Unity (OATUU) which were recognised worldwide. This has been a highlight in the development of the Association and gave it a status which was recognised worldwide. The 20th Ordinary Session of the Labour and Social Commission of the OAU devoted considerable time to the topic of productivity.
It was envisaged that funding would come from member subscriptions, donations, legacies, grants from Governments, individuals and other organisations, proceeds from sale of publications, etc. No firm decisions were made regarding operationalisation of the above sources of PAPA funding. In the beginning most activities were funded by the sponsorship from ILO during 1995, while administrative costs were paid by the National Productivity Institute (NPI) of South Africa. In 1996 The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) pledged financial support to enable African countries to attend the World Productivity Assembly held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Assembly was a joint effort of the NPI, WCPS and PAPA. The World Bank granted US$15 000 to sponsor delegates to the Pan African Productivity Assembly in Ghana during July 1997.
In August 1999 the Heads of State and Government of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), meeting in Mbabane, Swaziland adopted a Declaration calling for the establishment and development of national productivity organisations within member states. The Declaration further calls for the launching of productivity awareness campaigns within the economic block.
The last PAPA Board meeting under the Presidency of Dr J. Visser, the then NPI (Productivity SA) Executive Director was held in 1998, and he subsequently retired in 1999. In February 2000 the new NPI Executive Director Dr Yvonne Dladla started discussions with other PAPA members to revitalise PAPA. PAPA was re-launched at a General Assembly in August 2001 in Pretoria South Africa. PAPA has been active since then.
Cooperation with International Productivity Organisations
Since the General Assembly in 1995, extensive contact was made with international productivity organisations. For instance NORAD, WCPS, World Bank, ECA, CIDA, ILO, EANPC, APO, IPS.
Funding
In the beginning most activities were funded by the sponsorship from ILO during 1995, while administrative costs were paid by the National Productivity Institute (NPI) of South Africa. In 1996 The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) pledged financial support to enable African countries to attend the World Productivity Assembly held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Assembly was a joint effort of the NPI, WCPS and PAPA. The World Bank granted US$15 000 to sponsor delegates to the Pan African Productivity Assembly in Ghana during July 1997.
Governance
In terms of the Constitution the PAPA management structure was made up of the General Assembly (Governing Body), the Executive Council which implements decisions of the General Assembly and the Secretariat. The latter is envisaged to be full time with an appointed Executive Secretary and a team. By November 1995 the NPI was the interim Secretariat.
The Executive Council was composed of the three Office Bearers and three other PAPA members elected by the General Assembly. At a meeting of PAPA held at the NPI in November 1995, the General Assembly elected an Executive Council as follows: RSA – President; Ghana – Vice President; Ethiopia – Vice President; Botswana – Member; Tanzania – Member.
Membership
By the late 1996 membership comprised of the following eleven organisations:
- Institute of Development Management (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland) Botswana
- National Productivity Centre, Productivity and vocational training Department, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Egypt
- Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
- Mauritius Employers’ Federation
- Export Processing Zones and Development Authority (EPZDA) Mauritius
- Malawi Institute of Management
- MBEU, Mozambique
- Centre for Resource and Transformation (CERET) Namibia
- National Productivity Institute (NPI) South Africa
- Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM)
- Mufulira Peri-Urban Development Framework Association (MPUDF) Zambia
Secretariat
The Secretariat of PAPA has been located in South Africa since its inception. The Presidency was held by South Africa from 1992 – 2003.