Yesterday’s donors’ conference on Mali organised in Brussels by the EU and France “in close coordination with Mali” pledged over 3 billion euros. It gathered several hundreds representatives from all over the Sahel region, Western Africa, and the world, but was it just another donor-recipient show? The statements made today following the conference will inevitably be equally frustrating, but will the glass be half full or half empty? An electoral renaissance? In many respects, the glass is half full because the country is said to be half way to its next presidential elections, which are ...
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Visibility, everyone wants it, but how well are they achieving it? The EU is consistently criticised for low visibility on its external action, and now the European Parliament is calling for the issue to be dealt with in the on-going Review of the European External Action Service. This blog asks: what has actually been learned from efforts to promote EU visibility in external action? Surprisingly in 2010 the European Commission tasked what was formerly the Joint Evaluation Unit for External Relations to provide an answer to this very question.. ECDPM, along with DRN, led the ...
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[VIDEO] Exclusive interview with the new Secretary General of the ACP group, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni
The Cotonou agreement governs relations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states and the EU – and it will expire in 2020. It is a framework concerning political dialogue, development cooperation and trade, but thanks to the success of these three ‘pillars’ and a changing international landscape, the relationship has cause for some readjustment. In this video the new Secretary General of the Group underlines the self-reflection currently taking place within the ACP, as it looks for a different approach to Europe. A recent ECDPM/German Development institute paper has set out reasons to ...
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On May 25 this year, the African Union celebrates its golden jubilee anniversary in Addis Ababa. The event will be marked by numerous milestones, and is under the theme of Pan Africanism and African Renaissance. Beyond the confetti, however, there is a desire for the next 50 years to be sung to a better tune: one that is based on improved socio-economic opportunities, peace and political stability on the continent. One that builds upon constructive and strategic partnerships with old partners and newcomers that match the interests and the needs of the continent. The African Union ...
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The impact of European Commission support to private sector development (PSD)? We’re still none the wiser
Bruce Byiers blogs about an evaluation that is heavy in terms of pages, but light on recommendations With ever-increasing pressure for donors to “show impact” for their aid programmes, there was a lot of interest in last week’s presentation of the Evaluation of EC Support to Private Sector Development in Third Countries from 2004 to 2010. But what can the European Commission (EC) actually take from this evaluation? The report estimates that the EC spent €2.4bn directly on PSD over the period (plus €4.5bn if you count indirect support through general budget support and the ...
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The EU is eager to conclude trade agreements with Africa…but at what costs? After over 10 years, the EU has gotten tired of seemingly endless negotiations and is eager to move on. The European Union (EU) has given African and Pacific countries until 1 October 2014 to complete new trade agreements between the two, or ratify existing ones, if they don’t want their exports the risk facing higher restrictions to the European market. While the negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) are in a stalemate, the EU has engaged in a number of bilateral ...
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Millions of e-mails and documents, exposing the tax-evading activities of thousands of individuals across 170 countries, were recently leaked by a consortium of journalists. Leaks of this scale are rare, particularly in the clandestine world of tax havens and offshore banking. The media and tax justice advocates are hailing it as a “large haul”, but will “offshore leaks” change the tide for illicit financial flows from developing countries? Paper trail or paper tiger? It is not yet clear how much could be hidden by the activities noted in the documents. Estimates show that as much ...
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Since 2005, Africa shows a trend towards decreasing quality of democracy and continuing unconstitutional government changes. In this context, it is important that governance continues to be promoted. Within the African Union (AU), strengthening governance is high on the agenda. On the 15th of February 2012 the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (the Charter) came into force. The adoption of the Charter was followed by the official launch of the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and its African Governance Platform (AGP), in May 2012, designed to increase coordination between the different institutions with a ...
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This is a guest contribiton from Elsje Fourie* The assumptions and ideas that drive development policy are never static, but the rise of non-traditional donors and non-Western economic powers has accelerated the pace of change in recent years. In 2010, I conducted extensive fieldwork in Addis Ababa and Nairobi in order to understand one aspect of this change: the drawing of lessons from abroad by local policymakers. Many of the trends behind the way development is ‘done’ today in Africa stemmed, I found, from the emulation of a handful of East Asian countries. The return ...
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Currently there are different stories trying to grasp the dynamic taking place on the African continent On the one hand, there is a positive narrative saying the continent is on the rise. The Economist in 2000 called it the ‘hopeless continent’. Now the story is of hopefulness: they recently devoted a special issue called The Hopeful Continent showing trends towards better governance, economic growth and improving living standards. Not everyone agrees, however. In reaction to the idea of hopeful Africa, Rick Rowden countered with an article called The Myth of Africa’s Rise, in Foreign Policy ...
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