The country self-assessment processes draw from participatory and interactive methods of engaging citizens, civil society, the private sector and state entities. In addition to country self-assessments, external African experts add a layer of objective and complementary problem identification and solving. At the end of an assessment, the governance reform areas and targets identified are distilled into the National Programme of Action (NPoA) that is monitored over three years, although Ghana, which was the first country to be assessed in 2006 continues to monitor its NPoA. Other countries have integrated the NPoA into national planning and development processes and mainstreamed the APRM implementation, thus institutionalising implementation and monitoring. By reporting annually to the Africa Peer Review Forum constituting of Heads of State and Governments, Africa’s leaders discuss governance solutions in candid environments that reflect the spirit of peer review. The contributions of the APRM to enhancing governance analysis, discourse and actioning can be summarised in four broad areas: Participatory and inclusive governance discourse: The APRM has built credibility over time as an enabler of state-society dialogue. In the process of identifying the national governance issues, citizens and other non-state entities play a key role in shaping the discourse and identifying the issues. The national structures that oversee the process are required to have substantial representation of non-state actors. The National Governing Councils or APRM Commissions have been encouraged to reflect the leadership and independence of citizens over governance processes. This is a significant departure from past heavily technocratic, bureaucratic, externally donor imposed and driven review processes.179 As observed by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, ‘The APRM framework, principles, processes, and substantive content, provide a deliberative approach that can enhance state-society linkages for constructing such a developmental State.’180 Over the one and a half decades of APRM’s existence, a wide array of national level non state actors have participated in the public hearings of the APRM. The ability of the APRM to effectively probe governance, development and social justice issues 179 UNECA ‘Gender Equality and the APRM’ UNECA 2016 UN Economic Commission for Africa ‘APRM and the Quest for a Developmental State: The Role of CSOs in Implementing the National Programme of Action’ January 2012E/ECA/CGPP/3/3 180 64