“This paper investigates the relationship between the existing quality of a country’s political and economic governance and it’s government’s decision whether or not to participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). This relationship is tested using quantitative analysis of governance estimates from the World Bank of 2002, combined with four case studies, which illustrate different profiles of governance quality and APRM status. It concludes that although governance quality appears to be weakly related to APRM status, that position is also informed by at least 3 other variables, namely: the vulnerability of the state to external influences; the duration of the present government’s term of office, and the costs / benefits of joining. “
