The Nordic Africa Institute – Publications

In their Natural Resource Governance and EITI Implementation in Nigeria, Musa Abutudu and Dauda Garuba provide the most up-to-date and in-depth analysis of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), providing a balanced yet critical evaluation of its performance, limitations and potential as an institution for helping Africa’s largest oil exporter to escape the so called resource curse and lay a firm basis for sustainable development. This Current African Issue contains valuable insights and information that will be of interest to all those with a keen interest in institutionalising transparency and accountability in natural resource governance in Africa.

This Discussion Paper explores Nigeria’s human development aid to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries under its international volunteer programme called the Technical Aid Corps (TAC). It critically examines the relationship between participation in international civic service and civic nationalism. Using a combination of empirical and analytical methods, the author is able to provide insights into the impact of two decades of Nigeria’s aid diplomacy within the context of South-South solidarity and into the inculcation of values linked to globally oriented citizenship in TAC volunteers. The findings of this study are of value to those interested in emerging African development cooperation in the global South and the expanding notions of citizenship beyond borders. Scholars, development actors and policymakers will find this study refreshingly different and highly informative.

The India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum is a trilateral development initiative to promote South-South cooperation and exchange. The forum was launched with the adoptionof the Brasília Declaration in June 2003. Each of the three countries has ambitions to play a leading role in regional and global affairs. The role of the Group of Twenty (G20) in respondingto the global financial crisis reflects growing acceptance of IBSA’s emerging position by the world’s established powers. An analysis of IBSA as a rising global power bloc is therefore critical to understanding the new dimensions of South-South relations, particularly in a post-Cold War world. This policy note addresses IBSA’s framework, principles, achievements and challenges in Africa’s development perspective.

Pengar i handen – barnbidrag, pensioner och andra kontanta stöd – minskar fattigdom och hunger effektivt. Det visar erfarenheter från en rad utvecklingsländer. Även små bidrag gör att människor kan äta mer och bättre, blir friskare och kan låta sina barn gå i skolan. Sveriges historia visar att sociala trygghetssystem krävs för att ge alla en dräglig levnadsnivå och en stabil samhällsutveckling. Ändå har det svenska biståndet inte stöttat utvecklingen av sådana system i fattiga länder. I denna antologi diskuterar 12 författare vilken roll sociala trygghetssystem kan spela i kampen mot hunger och fattigdom, och hur olika aktörer kan bidra.

Speech given at the opening session of the 4th European Conference on African Studies (ECAS4) 'African Engagements: On Whose terms?'. Uppsala, Sweden, 15 June 2011.

The world is at a critical juncture: there is the opportunity to come together to pursue a common agenda, or it can break into opposing groups based on differences in income, interests, religion or race. Globalisation exacerbates this tension between opportunity and threats. The most keenly felt tension is the sense that globalisation creates greater inequality in an already unequal world. If the world is unequal, then it must be undemocratic as well. As a result, globalisation and democracy come togetheras simultaneous challenges. As far as Africa is concerned, the challenge is how to gain voice in global governance.

This article analyses current trends in the struggle for democracy in Africa, including the role of social movements. Such movements found early expression in the anti-colonial movement, while recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are reminiscent of the second liberation struggles of two decades earlier. The article undertakes a critical evaluation of emerging democratic forces in Africa, arguing that such a review is vital to the analysis of the trends in the struggles for people power, and explores strategies for avoiding the pitfalls that undermined earlier waves of democratisation in the continent, particularly that of the 1990s when initial euphoria led to uncritical acceptance of movements that were later found to be opportunistic and undemocratic. The article concludes by examining the conditions under which an ‘emanicipatory’ African national democratic project—defined by an increase in people's participation in authoritative resource allocation—can be initiated and sustained in the face of a deepening crisis of the current neoliberal world order.

In recent years, China and India have become the most important economic partners of Africa and their footprints are growing by leaps and bounds, transforming Africa's international relations in a dramatic way. Although the overall impact of China and India's engagement in Africa has been positive in the short-term, partly as a result of higher returns from commodity exports fuelled by excessive demands from both countries, little research exists on the actual impact of China and India's growing involvement on Africa's economic transformation.

This book examines in detail the opportunities and challenges posed by the increasing presence of China and India in Africa, and proposes critical interventions that African governments must undertake in order to negotiate with China and India from a stronger and more informed platform.

At the start of the second decade of the 21st Century, Africa is viewed in a much more positive light by analysts, investors, observers and policymakers. China’s recent closer involvement with the continent has set the tone for new forms of engagement between Africa and the rest of the world. The authors discuss the implications for Africa’s future trajectories and how to understand the continent’s position in the international system. Furthermore, they demonstrate how the study of shifts in Africa’s international relations can help explain broader dynamics and the changing foundations of world order.

Migrant remittances – money and gifts sent to relatives back home – have attracted increasing international attention. The flow of remittances has become a major source of revenue for developing countries, exceeding the volume of aid. Three recent studies at Uppsala University bring this issue to light in the context of Sweden’s Policy for Global Development.

Very little has so far been known about the flow of remittances from Sweden; official data indicate an amount exceeding 4 billion kronor in 2006. The real flows are most likely higher; Swedish and international studies estimate that real remittances are 30-50 per cent above the officially recorded amounts. Statistics Sweden (SCB) is recommended to enhance its records of remittances in terms of desirable scope and reliability, for instance regarding specification of the amounts remitted to different countries.

Remittance flows from Sweden are linked to the remitters’ incomes and, hence, vary with the business cycle. Experience suggests that the ongoing world economic crisis will have a negative impact on remittance flows also from Sweden.

It is suggested that enhanced knowledge in Sweden about available remittance services and their costs and measures to promote a better functioning remittance market could increase the net value of these money.

Through examination of the alleged rationale of the anti-dumping (AD) instrument, this paper argues that it has little to do with fairness or with level playing fields. AD trade protection enjoys broad political support merely because its convoluted technical complexities prevent all but a few insiders and experts from understanding the reality that underlies the rhetoric, thus enabling inefficient but well-organised domestic producers to safely utilise the instrument to protect themselves from foreign competition, at times in collusion with foreign exporters and with the national AD authorities as a broker. While the best option for AD reform, i.e., complete removal, is not practically available, this paper proposes improving AD’s procedural institutions by enhancing the quality of public governance in the formulation of AD decisions by national authorities. It further examines the AD practices and laws of China and South Africa, arguing that poor governance in emerging economies contributes to their prolific use of AD, usually disproportionate to their small share of world imports. These economies already maintain higher tariff barriers than industrial countries, so that without effective steps to ensure better governance to restrain the arbitrary and proliferating use of AD, they may lose out significantly on the gains from the trade liberalisation for which they have been striving for decades.

CONTENTS

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. Anti-dumping: Rhetoric vs. Reality

2.1 The Rehtoric of AD: To Ensure Level Playing Fields by Offsetting Unfair Competition

2.1.1 The Economic Rationale of Free Trade and Competition

2.1.2 AD: A Competition-Distorting and Protectionist Instrument

2.2 AD: Misundertanding, Ignorance and Indifference

2.2.1 Collaboration between Special Interest Groups and Decision Makers

3. Harnessing Anti-Dumping: A Good Governance Approach

3.1 Good Governance in AD Decision Making

3.2 The Prolific Use of AD by Emerging Economies and the Low Quality of Governance

3.2.1 AD Desicion Making in China

3.2.2 AD Decision Formulation in South Africa

4. Conclusions

References

Le présent document examine certains aspects fondamentauxdu processus d’ajustement du secteur agricole et alimentaire européen, dans le cadre de la réforme de la Politique agricole commune (PAC). Il met en évidence le changement d’outils politiques opéré par l’UE, illustré par l’abandon du soutien aux prix agricoles au profit du soutien aux revenus de ses agriculteurs, ainsi que par la réorientation de sa politique en faveur de la qualité des produits agricoles et alimentaires et au détriment de la quantité. De même, le document passe en revue les conséquences d’un tel changement, l’UE étant de moins en moins en faveur d’un recours aux mesures de politiquecommerciale dans les politiques de développement agricole en faveur de pays tiers. Il rappelle, au passage, les implications d’une telle évolution pour les secteurs agricole et alimentaire en Afrique, avant de tirer des conclusions et de formuler quelques recommandations d’ordre général.

For a long time it has been necessary to move beyond sterile debates for or against Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The real issue is: what kind of EPAs will support African governments in their efforts to promote the structural transformation of their economies, so that they can move beyond the production of simple and unprocessed products to the production of a range of higher value products, for national, regional and international markets, and in the process help them tackle poverty and employment issues. This paper seeks to situate the ongoing EPA negotiations and debate around contentious issues in the context of the wider European Union (EU) trade policy and African aspirations for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

This paper seeks to look at certain fundamental features of the EU food and agricultural sector adjustment process as it manifests itself through the reform of the CAP. It highlights the shift in policy tools, from price support for agricultural products to income support for EU farmers and the shift in policy emphasis from the quantity of agricultural products to the quality of food and agriculturalproducts. It reviews the implications of this policy shift for the EU’s diminishing tolerance of the use of trade policy tools as part of agricultural development policies in third countries. It highlights in passing the implications of these developments for the African food and agriculturalsectors, before drawing out some broad conclusions and recommendations.

The Kenya crisis came largely as a surprise, at least to outsiders. Was it possible to see it coming? Is Kenya a special case, or are there reasons to expect similar crises in other ”stable” African nations with politics, ethnicity and inequality forming an explosive blend?

This short exploratory note will approach these questions by taking a look at opinion poll datafrom the Afrobarometer 2005 and 2003. Were any signals of what was coming already there,before our eyes?

The potential link between child-related cash transfers and increased fertility is often raised asan issue of concern when debating their use. Old-age pension is a form of cash transfer wheretheory would suggest the opposite impact, i.e. pensions equal decreasing fertility. A handful ofSub-Saharan African countries have introduced non-contributory social pensions that cover thegreat majority of the older population. It makes them into a distinct group in relation to the rest ofthe region where public old-age security arrangements, if existing at all, are largely reserved forthe formal sector. This paper attempts to trace any impact these high-coverage pensionschemes may have had on fertility. Findings suggest that there has been such an impact, in therange of 0,5 to 1,5 children less per woman depending on model specification.

There is a striking variation in the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among countries and regions of the world, with a distinct geographical pattern. This paper explores the link between income inequality and HIV. It presents empirical evidence—a meta-study and additional cross-country regression results—that clearly support the argument that such a link exists. The interpretation of this link is an open issue. Four different hypotheses are discussed, each one pointing out a transit route from income inequality to HIV. The paper presents preliminary evidence on these routes and identifies potential areas for future research.

The forecast of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa have repeatedly been revised downwards over the last 6 months. It has now reached 2% which is close to a third of what it was a year ago, implying negative growth in per capita terms. Considerable uncertainties remain in these forecasts. Oil- and mineral exporters are likely to take a severe first hit, as collapsing commodity prices translate to reduced export revenues and foreign direct investments are paralyzed. Two additional flows that connect Africa to the global economy, where impact is harder to predict, are aid and remittances. This note explores how these flows have reacted in OECD countries during previous episodes of severe financial crises. It is shown that if these past episodes serve as a guide to the present, then a considerable reduction is to be expected. Remittances would react immediately, while the impact on aid would be lagged but being more prolonged. Given that projection, the critical need for more of accountability in international aid commitments is discussed.

In this paper, four theories on the causes of civil war are reviewed. One theory, associated with Paul Collier, emphasises feasibility over factors related to grievance. A second theory, espoused by Frances Stewart, focuses on the role of horizontal inequalities. The third theory, identified with William Zartman, highlights the different roles “need, creed and greed” factors play in various phases of a conflict. And the fourth theory, associated with the World Bank /World Development Report 2011, points out “commitment” problems leading to institutional failures as a crucial factor. Each of the theories leads to quite different policy conclusions. Their strengths and weaknesses, and their claimed empirical support, are discussed.In addition, some of the mechanisms underpinning the theories are highlighted on the basis of empirical data. In particular, the central role of horizontal inequalities between social groups is discussed.

It has been argued that aid donors should focus more on supporting low-income countries to broaden their tax base and raise overall taxation. Besides increasing revenue, this has also a political objective. When citizens are taxed without excessive coercion, taxation can contribute considerably to improved governance and accountability, and to state building. Due to the effects of the financial crisis, calls for increased mobilisation of domestic resources are now being renewed. But is broadened taxation a viable strategy? Some signs of progress are visible in sub-Saharan Africa. However, governments and donors need to see taxation as part of the broader framework of social contracts and not to lose sight of the bigger picture.

In any international comparison, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most pervasive poverty. The study of African societies requires the study of numerous dynamics, processes and situations with links to poverty issues. Recent methodological innovations hold that research into poverty should be multidimensional, dynamic and cross-disciplinary. But how can such research be undertaken? This volume comprises two separate articles. The first provides an overview of major conceptual positions on poverty. With the focus on theoretical and methodological issues, it argues that the epistemological and normative elements have not been sufficiently emphasised in the attempts to bring different disciplinary approaches together. Such elements constitute fundamental dividing lines in the poverty debate. However, the article goes on to argue that the capability approach has promising potential for bridging these divides.The second article is an empirical study of recent poverty developments in Tanzania and Burkina Faso. Common to both countries – one in East and the other in West Africa – is that a largely subsistence agricultural sector dominates their economies. The article combines quantitative and qualitative methods to show that regional differences in the structures of agricultural production may in large part explain variations in poverty.

Over the last few years, there has been both talk about and action regarding the long-term neglect of agriculture in development. An agricultural revival has occurred, with African governments committing themselves to spending at least 10 per cent of their budgets on agriculture. Donors such as the World Bank and many bilateral organizations are refocusing on the sector. This is partly due to the prevalence of rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in South Asia. Despite this, the debate on the appropriate role of agriculture in economic growth lingers on among academics and policymakers. In particular, agriculture’s contribution to broader economic growth is questioned. Should growth be driven by agriculture or by something else? Recent empirical studies and earlier theoretical work demonstrate that growth in the agricultural sector has contributed more to poverty reduction than growth in non-agricultural sectors. This paper discusses this issue and highlights some of the preconditions for the achievement of this outcome.

Twelve years have passed since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), an event that marked an important milestone in China-Africa relations. The forum is a platform to promote mutually beneficial South-South cooperation between China and Africa, based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries. In its ten year existence, FOCAC has achieved in deepening China-Africa relations in the economic field. Trade, investment, infrastructure and capacity building have been comprehensively promoted. But as FOCAC prepares to enter the second decade, a number of steps must be taken by Chinese and African partners to improve the current institutional arrangement by expanding space for private sector and civil society participation in decision-making and by increasing the frequency of follow-up processes to ensure effective implementation of agreed upon targets.

The Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African Studies was established at the University of Dar es Salaam in 2008. The main objective of the chair is to reinvigorate intellectual debate on the campus and stimulate basic research on burning issues facing the country and the continent from a pan-African perspective. This is the first state of the art paper published by the chair.

The Agrarian Question in Tanzania. There are about four million peasant families in Tanzania. They farm on the smallest scale, the average farm being two acres in size. The principal agricultural equipmentis the hand hoe. Since the onset of the colonial era, those in authority have pursued policies to dominate the peasantry. It is argued that the small scale of operations has contributed to the widespread poverty among farmers. There is still good agricultural land that is not farmed, but the current land tenure of peasants reproduces itself on new farmland. The conclusion is that in order to accelerate agricultural development, land tenure must be institutionalized.

This Discussion paper investigates the extent to which China’s own experience in regional infrastructural development as the center piece of its development strategy can be replicated in the African continent. The author argues that China’s extensive investment in Africa’s infrastructure—from dams to major trunk roads—is a positive development in light of the neglect of this important sector by Africa’s western development partners for many decades. The increasing penetration of China in the African market is spearheaded by the major Chinese state-owned construction, telecommunication, and energy exploration companies who have access to long-term financial support from the Chinese state. This is an opportune moment for African countries to address the backlog of infrastructure investmentthat has kept African development at the minimum.

Migration from and within Africa, just like migration elsewhere in the world, often generates anti-immigrant sentiment and ignites heated public debate about the migration policies of the destination countries. These countries include South Africa as well as others outside the continent. The countries of origin are also keen to minimize losses through “brain drain” and to capture resources such as remittances. Increasingly, international organizations and human rights advocates have stressed the need to protect the interests of migrants themselves. However, while the UNDP’s 2009 Human Development Report talks of “win-win-win” solutions, in practice it is the perceived interests of destination countries that enjoy the greatest attention, while the rights of migrants themselves are afforded the least. Yet migration is not just an issue in itself: it also points to structural inequalities between countries and regions. Managing migration and protecting migrants is too limited an agenda. Activists and policymakers must also address these inequalities directly to ensure that people can pursue their fundamental human rights whether they move or stay. It is not enough to measure development only in terms of progress at the national level: development must also be measured in terms of reductions in the gross levels of inequality that now determine differential rights on the basis of accident of birth.

The Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and Action Plan was adopted in Lisbon in 2007. This new strategy, which is often referred to as a ‘people-centred partnership’, was launched with the purpose of scaling-up political dialogue between the African Union (AU) and the EU in the interests of building a solid and sustainable continent-to-continent partnership. It aims to reinvigorate and elevate cooperation between Africa and Europe in the fight against poverty, injustice, human rights violations, lawlessness, insecurity and political and social instability. The priorities of the partnership programme are organised around eight themes: peace and security; democratic governance and human rights; trade, regional integration and infrastructure; the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); energy; climate change; migration, mobility and employment; and science, information society and space. The programme stipulates that Africa and the EU will pursue and implement policies and programmes that facilitate the active involvement of diaspora communities in the implementation of the strategy.

Rules of Origin (ROO) determine the economic nationality of an imported product. Where margins of trade preferences are higher, ROO tend to be very restrictive and even sometimes dilutes the benefits of such preferences. As the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations enter a critical phase, the devil of the agreement will be in the detail of the impending EPAs ROO. According to the original mandate, EPA is supposed to be concluded by December 2007 and should be development friendly. Yet, the recent EC ROO offer to the ACP countries (Commission Staff Working Document Concerning the Definition of “Originating Products and Methods of Administrative Cooperation”) are seen by commentators as completely undermining the development dimension of EPA. Bearing in mind the current EPA negotiations, Roberto Rios explains how ROO impact the pattern of trade between countries and how they can be development friendly.

In recent years, Africa has emerged as a dominant region in China’s foreign policy. As an emerging center of economic growth in the world economy, China is striving towards establishing a stronger footprint in Africa than ever before. The need to understand this rapprochement has been exacerbated by the current financial crisis.With focus on agricultural trade, this book uses empirical data spanning up to year end 2007 to explain the potential benefits of China growing trade in Africa on South Africa’s economy. The studies cover both China and South Africa’s positions as importer and exporter of agricultural products in each other’s markets. In doing so, they have carefully analyzed data from Chinese and South African sources. In order to give a fresh perspective to the analyses, a section of the work has been devoted to the nature of non-tariff barriers that face South Africa’s exporters into the Chinese market.

Since the end of the Cold War, Africa’s status in the internationalgeopolitical order has risen dramatically. The continent was once treated as a convenient battlefield in the global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Now, the continent’s increasing importance as a source of energy supplies and other raw materials, has radically altered the picture. This has led to the growing economic and military involvement of China, India, and other emerging industrial powers in Africa and to the re-emergence of Russia as an economic and military power on the continent. In response the United States has dramatically increased its military presence in Africa and created a new military command – the Africa Command or Africom – to protect what it has defined as its “strategic national interests” in Africa. This has ignited what has come to be known as the “new scramble for Africa” and is transforming the security architecture of Africa.