needs addressing rather than the APRM‘s tradition of considering infrastructure in terms only of the adverse impacts of lack of infrastructure on social and economic activity; indeed, infrastructure could be treated as a cross-cutting issues that affects all thematic areas; (ii) pay attention both to the financial problems and the non-financial (often governance-based) issues that confront infrastructure programmes; and (iii) include in the country self-assessment questionnaire questions about what is hindering African countries from overcoming their infrastructural deficits. Bottleneck 4: Weak states and institutions While this is an area of utmost political sensitivity, particularly when it comes to issues of state security services, the APRM has repeatedly drawn attention to abuses associated with security forces, thereby bringing such issues up for public discussion. The APRM may consider going further in this area, e.g. by collating crime statistics and publishing them regularly and timeously. Considering the cross-border nature of much of contemporary conflict in Africa, the APRM could also serve as a platform for Heads of State and Government, and for government officials, to discuss such issues and explore options for possible collective response. Bottleneck 5: Fragmented markets, market access and expansion Regional integration and trade are of seminal importance to the APRM and there is ample room to treat these issues well in the review process. However, there are few issues on the African governance agenda that seem to be more insulated from the input of ordinary people. The APRM can therefore still help fill an important gap in this area in at least three ways: (i) raise public awareness of the importance of regional integration; (ii) assemble, analyse and disseminate data on the progress of regional integration; and (iii) use the APR Forum to put pressure on countries to meet their regional integration commitments. Bottleneck 6: Lack of industrialisation and low value addition The APRM addresses this issue as part of its analysis of the design and implementation of economic policies for sustainable development. A number of instruments, from the Abuja Treaty to Agenda 2063, also emphasise the imperative to build a viable manufacturing sector in Africa. The APRM could enhance its contribution in this area by, for example, (i) identifying and discussing in detail some of the hindrances to the attainment of industrialisation policy goals in its member states; (ii) disseminating best practices in the field of industrial policy and practice, including through the planned APRM ‗knowledge hub‘; and (iii) providing an additional platform for member states to coordinate their positions in international negotiations, including on trade and investment, that may have a direct bearing on their national industrialisation policies and goals. Bottleneck 7; Under-development of human resources: The APRM has done a creditable job of identifying the difficulties that African countries are confronting in this area, including on the state of education and health services in reviewed countries. Building on its record, the APRM may (i) seek to explore and explain possible factors for human development deficits in Africa and (ii) consider undertaking research into solutions to these problems appropriate for resource-constrained environments, including in collaboration with African universities and other research institutions. Bottleneck 8: Under-development of agriculture APRM reports address the issues of agriculture and land policy extensively. The APRM governance standards recognise the importance of farming to Africa and aim to promote a modernised and productive agricultural sector. They also encourage cooperation and harmonisation of efforts in the agricultural sector between African countries. However, the APRM has room to do even more in this area. To mention one example, the APRM has not taken much cognisance of CAADP, which it should do in future, including by recognising the 2003 Maputo Declaration as reaffirmed and further enhanced by the 2014 Malabo Declaration, as a relevant standard of governance against which countries would be assessed. Bottleneck 9: Under-development of the services sector Falling under this bottleneck are such financial services as banking and insurance that provide essential support to other elements of the economy and other services such as tourism, entertainment and the transfer technology that are the products of the modern era. A critical aspect pf services like these is that they tend to depend more on the skill pool in a country than the natural resource endowments therein. The APRM country review reports consistently identify the key 9