Africa Up Close

I recently attended an international conference in Pretoria, which, in addition to the excellent presentations and deliberations on the foreign policies of so-called “African driver states”, also featured a passionate exchange between a former South African diplomat and an Ethiopian intellectual. The exchange took place in the context of a session that was dedicated to interrogating challenges to South Africa’s regional leadership. Not surprisingly, the issue at hand was whether South Africa’s diplomacy in Africa was in sync with the expectations of other countries on the continent or, at least, was conducted in a manner that recognized the leadership of other African regional heavyweights. Earlier, a delegate from neighboring Botswana, citing examples of regional development projects that were supposedly derailed by South Africa, had in the same context likened South Africa’s behavior in the region to that of a self-interested hegemon. But, it was a suggestion from the Ethiopian scholar that seemed to have hit a nerve, and prompted me to reflect on the significance of historical bonds of solidarity to contemporary relations among African states.

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In April 2014, the New York Times published an online article on the merits and demerits of USAID’s new development strategy, especially as it pertains to the direct engagement of local actors in delivering development projects in recipient countries. From a technical point of view, the arguments on both sides of the debate are compelling. However, facts must be separated from myths, and the politicking and lobbying on Capitol Hill must reach equilibrium so the outcome of the debate can be a more refined, cost-effective, accountable, and transparent development aid regime that can better serve the objectives and vision of USAID and the American people.

The emergence of ‘new’ international development partners like China, India, Brazil and Turkey has been welcomed across the developing world as representing a window of opportunity for fast-tracking much needed socio-economic development.  This is particularly true for Africa where not long ago most countries seemed to be left with no other option but to put up with annoying western conditions and meddling in a bid to continue receiving development assistance. The development cooperation of leading southern states is couched in the rhetoric of South-South cooperation with its attendant principles of solidarity, respect for sovereignty, non-interference, self-reliance and mutual benefit, which stand in sharp contrast to the paternalistic tendency that defined traditional North-South cooperation. It is no wonder therefore that in Africa as in other parts of the developing world, South-South cooperation, as an expression of a re-commitment by countries of the global South to support one another, has gained prominence in development discourses.

~ If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, let’s just call it a duck ~

I recently attended an international conference in Ottawa on the role of emerging powers in democracy promotion. As the theme suggests, the objective of the conference was underpinned by a two-part assumption, the first being that democracy promotion has an inherent value – presumably in line with the instrumental dimension of the democratic peace argument, which makes a case for expanding the circle of liberal democracies as a cost-effective strategy to promote world peace, stability, and prosperity. The second part of the assumption flows from the first and suggests that as contenders for seats in privileged multilateral forums, rising powers in the South should play their part in providing this global public good.  The subtext of this construct suggests that there is a golden standard [read: Western standard] of promoting democracy that emerging powers don’t seem to measure up to. The objective of the conference was therefore to examine why these new claimants to world power, distinguished by their own democratic credentials, appear to display so much reluctance in sharing the burden of expanding the global community of democracies, as if to echo President Obama’s recent bemoaning in Pretoria that “everybody wants a seat at the table, but when it comes time to step up and show responsibility, sometimes people want to be free-riders.”

In May 2013, the United Nations’ High Level Panel, tasked by the UN Secretary General to make recommendations on the development agenda beyond 2015, released a report making the bold assertion that “our vision and our responsibility are to end extreme poverty in all its forms in the context of sustainable development and to have in place the building blocks for sustained prosperity for all.”  To back this claim, the report makes a strong case for a new paradigm in tackling the obstacles to global development on the basis of the lessons learned from the implementation of the soon-to-expire MDGs. It proceeds to recommend five transformative shifts as pillars of the new development framework. Conspicuous among these principles is the recognition of peace and good governance as “core elements of wellbeing, not optional extras.” The recommendation of the High-Level Panel for issues of peacebuilding and good governance to be explicitly incorporated into the future development framework is bound to stir some controversy among member states of the G77+China group in the UN. Nevertheless, this institutional transformation holds significant relevance for the success of future development efforts, especially in Africa.

May 25, 2013 marked the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which has, since 2002, been rechristened the African Union (AU). From Addis Ababa, the birth place of the OAU and current seat of the AU, to Johannesburg, the epicenter of the 2008 xenophobic attacks on African migrants, there has not been a shortage of ‘Africa Day’ events, celebrating the vision, fighting spirit and achievements of the founders of the OAU. As one would expect in the context of persistent development challenges confronting Africa, celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of the OAU, officially marked under the theme ‘Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance’, have not been limited to pomp and fanfare. The anniversary has also served as an opportunity for the current generation of Africans, both on the continent and in the diaspora, to reconnect with the spirit of the forefathers and take ownership of the African Renaissance movement that they pioneered.

In recent times, there have been renewed efforts by major developing countries to stimulate South-South cooperation, an effort which has resulted in improved political, economic, and socio-cultural relations among the countries of the so-called Global South. The new wave of South-South cooperation, which, to a large extent, has been spurred by the improved economic prospects of middle-income developing countries and is best captured in, but not limited to, cooperation frameworks like BRICS, IBSA, BASIC or CIVETS, is touted to play an influential role in determining future international processes. More importantly, it comes with a wealth of immediate opportunities for the countries of the South in their efforts to surmount intractable development challenges. In the case of Africa, deepening South-South cooperation, if sufficiently leveraged, could become a catalyst for successful post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts, particularly with regard to the often intricate task of rebuilding state capacity.