AQ-Nov-2007-Jan-2008

Indian Council for Cultural RelationsAzad Bhavan

Indraprastha EstateNew Delhi-110 002

E-mail: [email protected] with the Registrar of Newspapers of India

Regd No. 14380/61

africaVolume 47, No. 4

Nov 2007-Jan 2008

I N D I A N C O U N C I L F O R C U L T U R A L R E L A T I O N S

Q U A R T E R L Y

! Finding the right formula for growth! A new destination for resources! A roadmap for Gabon# ALSO in the issue:! Profile: Navinchandra Ramgoolam! Revisiting Pin Parvati Valley

Africa Rising:A New Destiny

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Indian Journal of African AffairsVolume 47 No. 4, November 2007-January 2008

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONSNEW DELHI

africaQ U A R T E R L Y

A F R I C A Q U A R T E R L Y

NEW ECONOMY: FINDING THE RIGHT FORMULA FOR GROWTH

For sustainable growth, African economies have todiversify the sources of their growth, says Girijesh Pant

conte

nts

FISH FOR ALL:A PERFECT CATCH IS WHAT AFRICA NEEDSMwelwa C. Musambachime explores sustainable ways of reviving Africa’s dwindling fish stocks while protecting employment in the industry.

26

MISSION AFRICA: EMPOWERING A

NEW GENERATIONThere is a new mood of buoyancy andoptimism as India seeks to collaborate

with a resurgent Africa to create a new world order, says

A.B. Mahapatra

22

18


ROADMAP FOR GABON: CAN AFRICA’S RENTIER

STATE BAIL ITSELF OUT? If Gabon can diversify its oil-dependent economic

base, it can grow rapidly, says Rashmi Kapoor

PROFILE: Pravasi Samman award forMauritius Prime Minister

Navinchandra Ramgoolam was honoured for his sustained support for India’s causes and concerns, and for strengtheningIndia’s historical relationship with Mauritius

16

A HEALTHY AFRICA: In pursuit of a cure

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has to make deeperinroads into Africa which continues to suffer from a deteriorating health profile, says Manendra Sahu.

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HEART OF FLORA: CHANGING RATIOOF THE GREEN BELT AND SOCIETY

Sudha Srivastava presents the various perspectives on the state of forests and

their management in India and Africa

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INCREDIBLE INDIA: PIN PARVATI VALLEY, THE LORD OF THE WINDSThe trek through the 5,000 metre-high link betweenHimachal’s Kulu and Spiti via the Parvati and Pinrivers seems like an anecdote from J R R Tolkien’sepic fantasy the ‘Lord of the Rings’.

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BOOKS & IDEAS64

DOCUMENTS70

CONTRIBUTORS78

NEWS & EVENTS: South Africa opensFreedom Park for public

South African government has opened to visitors a uniqueFreedom Park that has two heritage themes based on the wall inscriptions of heroes who fought eight great wars, and a monument for spiritual enrichment.

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6 November 2007-January 2008


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Printed and Published byPavan K. Varma

Director-GeneralIndian Council for Cultural Relations

Azad Bhavan, Indraprastha EstateNew Delhi - 110002

Editor:Manish Chand

Cover Photo:Gold coins spilling out of sack

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7


November 2007-January 2008

AAfrica is in the middle of a defining eco-nomic resurgence that promises to havelasting implications for the global econo-my. The grim period of the African col-lapse of 1975-1990 and the decade-long

economic slowdown till the middle of the nineties is wellbehind the continent as it puts its house in order, acceleratethe pace of reforms and embrace new opportunities thrownup by globalisation. In many ways, the African continent,parts of which continue to be beset by political turbulence andcivil wars, is scripting a new chapter in its economic history.

Improved political stability, vigorous economic reforms,bold steps towards global integration, surplus oil revenues,robust commodity prices, cautious monetary and fiscal poli-cies are some of the key factors spurring the African eco-nomic resurgence. Despite the global economic slowdown,the IMF’s forecasts conjure up a relatively upbeat future andsuggest that Africa’s growth will only accelerate in the daysto come. African economy is expected to grow at an averagerate of over 5 per cent, which will be above the global aver-age. Average growth in the sub-Saharan economies was 5.4percent in 2005 and 2006. The consensus projection is 5.3percent for 2007 and 5.4 percent for 2008.

But this new economic buoyancy has also brought in itswake a host of challenges, not the least of which is the prob-lem of balanced and sustainable growth. What Africa is look-ing for, as Girijesh Pant writes in his article “Finding theRight Formula for Growth,” is a holistic approach in whichthe state plays a developmental role without impinging on theprospects of the market. “The state has to retrieve its space asa key driver setting the trajectory where market potentials arefactored in,” writes Pant in this edition of African Quarterlythat seeks to capture different strands of Africa’s growth story.

“African economies have to graduate from land-basedgrowth to human resources knowledge to move away fromdependent development and obtain the advantages of glob-alisation,” says Pant.

Oil and mineral exporters of Africa are leading the way.Of the ten top performers in Africa, half are oil producersnamely Angola, Libya, Mauritania, Republic of Congo andSudan. This underlines the compelling need for Africancountries to diversify their economies. Oil-based economieshave to take a hard look at evolving long-term strategies forharnessing oil profits for sustainable development and diver-sifying their economic base.

Gabon is a classic example of the perils of over-depen-dence on oil revenues that the choke growth of the non-oilsector. As its oil production plummets, Gabon is waking upto the need to widen its economic base and deepen eco-nomic reforms and promoting higher value-added produc-

tion to spur faster integration into the world economy. Theoil-producing West African country is also concentrating ondeveloping its forestry sector and the enhanced productionof commodities like manganese. But these measures are stillinsufficient for Gabon to achieve the millennium develop-ment goals. “In view of the unavoidable depletion of Gabon’soil reserves, the diversification of the economic base remainsthe main concern of the Gabonese government. The non-oil related economic sector remains uncertain as it is in therudimentary stage of development,” writes Rashmi Kapoor.

Besides oil and mineral resources, Africa has massive spreadof forest cover. Forests in protected areas cover about 5 per centof total forest cover. East Africa has the largest proportion ofits land under protection (12 per cent). Exploitation of forestsfor commercial gains, largely funded by external players, with-out tangible benefits for local Africans have underlined theneed for a coherent and sustainable forestry policy. If defor-estation continues at this pace, it is sure to have catastrophicconsequences for the biodiversity and eco-system of the con-tinent, argues Sudha Srivastava in her article. According toSrivastava, Africa needs to undertake the “Great Transition”that involves the establishment of democratic institutions thatfoster the widespread adoption of participatory approaches tolocal resource management. In the same vein, Mwelwa C.Musambachime argues for prudent use of fishery resourcesand explores sustainable ways of reviving Africa’s dwindlingfish stocks while protecting employment in the industry.

Economic development, however, can’t be sustainedwithout a healthy workforce. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis andmalaria are some of the major health threats that continue toundermine the economic vitality of the continent. There isalso an acute shortage of health professionals. India, with itswell-developed pharmaceutical industry that has come outwith affordable generic drugs for curing AIDS and a vibranthealth industry, is well placed to make a difference to thehealth profile of Africa, says Manendra Sahu.

Issues of governance and transparency also need to beaddressed head-on. There is an increasing realisation inAfrica about the costs of corruption on levels of productivi-ty and vitality. A host of debilitating problems like chronicviolence in some countries, endemic poverty and illiteracyand the curse of HIV/AIDS pandemic continue to hobbleeconomic potential of the resource-rich continent, but evenhere concerted efforts are being made to remove these obsta-cles on the way. A recent study by the World Bank has iden-tified infrastructure, investment, innovation, and institu-tional capacity as the critical areas that need to be addressedurgently if Africa is to make up for the lost decades of glob-al growth and catch up with its economic destiny.

Manish Chand

Africa’s tryst with its economic destiny

■■ From the Editor’s Desk


N E W S & E V E N T S

IIndia is confident that its tieswith Africa is poised for ‘a majorleap forward’ in light of the firstIndia-Africa Partnership

Summit scheduled in April this year topromote stronger economic ties.

“In the next five to 10 years, therewill be a major leap in relationsbetween India and Africa,” Minister ofState for External Affairs AnandSharma said at the sixth PravasiBharatiya Divas, the annual conclaveof overseas Indians, held in Delhi onJanuary 9.

Underlining the special tiesbetween India and Africa dating back tothe days of the common struggleagainst colonialism, Sharmaannounced the first India-Africa part-nership summit.

“Its aim is to create a structured for-mat of engagement between India andAfrica. We have set up working groupsfor the first India-Africa summit,”Sharma said. The summit will beattended by heads of eight regionalgroupings in Africa, five founding

members of the New Partnership forAfrica’s Development (NEPAD) andthe current and founding chair of the53-nation African Union.

“It’s a reaffirmation of India’s com-mitment to ensure that this partner-ship grows in the future,” Sharma said.

Without naming China that holdsannual summits with Africa, Sharmasaid the continent had become fash-ionable but the ties that bind it withIndia were deeper and unique in manyrespects.

Sharma also lauded the contribu-tion of the Indian diaspora in Africaand commended them for their multi-faceted contributions to their countryof origin as well as their adopted home-lands.

“We are appreciative of the contri-bution of persons of Indian origin inthe liberation struggle and in the fightagainst apartheid as well in the eco-nomic reconstruction of African coun-tries,” he said. “India’s diaspora hasenriched the socio-cultural milieus ofthe countries they live in,” Sharma said.

Welcoming India’s burgeoning eco-nomic ties with Africa, the ministercalled for doubling bilateral trade from$10 billion and underlined India’s con-tribution to Africa in the sphere ofhuman resource development.

Mauritian Deputy Prime MinisterRamakrishna Sithanen stressed on“leveraging social and cultural links”between India and Africa for econom-ic development.

Lauding India’s emergence as “aglobal player”, Sithanen sought moreinvestments from India in Africa, espe-cially in the infrastructure sector.

“Africa needs investment in infras-tructure. The continent needs a hugeinflow of funds in infrastructure andcapacity building,” he said.

“The political will is there. The timeis just right for the two sides to increasetheir economic engagement.”

In a similar vein, Logie Naidoo,Deputy Mayor of Durban, highlightedthe special historical, cultural and polit-ical relationship India and Africa haveshared. ■

‘India-Africa ties set for major leap forward’

IIn Belalanda, a small village of reedhuts in southwest Madagascar,women with faces smeared with

a skin-lightening face pack file awayfrom the local health clinic with pack-ages on their heads.

Each contains a free insecticide-treated anti-mosquito bed net, 1.5 mil-lion of which were distributed to preg-nant women and children during thebiannual Mother and Child HealthWeek in October. Malaria killsupwards of 1 million people annually,mostly young children in Africa. Onthis Indian Ocean island, the diseaseknown simply as ‘tazo’ (fever) is theNo. 1 cause of death, claiming twochildren every hour. The district ofaround 12,000 people in whichBelalanda is located, near the coastalcity of Tulear, gets about 20 cases amonth, two or three them fatal.

Waving away mosquitoes from thebaby clamped onto her breast,

Charline Herla saysshe was treated formalaria for threeyears with an old,cheap drug calledchloroquine towhich some formsof malaria havebecome resistant.

Help is now athand as donors,seduced by talk of a “winnable war”,dig deeper into their pockets to try toswat a disease that was banished fromWestern shores after a last push in theUS in the 1950s. “This is the mostmoney malaria ever got,” anti-malariacampaigner Louis da Gama said tri-umphantly after the Global Fund forHIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) andmalaria announced in November itwas more than doubling its spendingon malaria to $469 million. In explain-ing its decision to allocate 42 percent

of its total spending to malaria —compared with only 10 percent forTB, which kills 1.6 million peopleeach year — the Fund cited “spectac-ular” progress in 2007 in malaria pre-vention and treatment. With treatedbed nets that protect at least two peo-ple from night-feeding malaria-carry-ing mosquitoes costing only a few dol-lars, malaria prevention offers consid-erable bang for donors’ bucks. Lastyear the Fund financed bed nets for 46million families. ■

Seduced by ‘winnable war’ donors throw money at malaria

9



KKenyan PresidentMwai Kibakiwas declaredwinner on

December 30 amid re-ignitedviolence around the countryafter a tight, tense presidentialrace was marred by allega-tions of fraud. As Kibaki’ssupporters celebrated in thecapital Nairobi, pro-opposi-tion protesters countrywidetook to the streets chargingthe vote was rigged.

Leaders had appealed forcalm before Kibaki wasdeclared winner, but localmedia reported riots haderupted in parts of the capital,as well as in Kisumu, astronghold of defeated oppo-sition candidate RailaOdinga.

Thick black smoke billowed fromKibera, East Africa’s largest slum, whileenraged residents of Kisumu attempt-ed to storm the central police station,local station NTV reported.

At least 10 people were killed inthree days of widespread outrage thatmarked a disturbing change in the rel-atively stable country seen as a beacon

of hope in a troubled region.Tribal fighting was also sparked,

with Odinga’s ethnic Luo supportersand Kibaki’s Kikuyu backers burninghomes and looting stores in slumsaround Nairobi.

Kibaki won by some 200,000 votesover Odinga.

The 76-year-old garnered 4.58 mil-lion votes to Odinga’s 4.35 million andwas declared winner following a

tumultuous three days afterthe polls that saw ethnic vio-lence break out countrywidebetween rival supporters andelicited accusations of incite-ment and graft from bothsides.

“The commission dulydeclares honourable MwaiKibaki the President ofKenya,” said Samuel Kivuitu,the chairman.

Odinga was ahead in mostopinion polls before the voteas well as in the ballot count-ing and his supporters havealleged Kibaki’s win is due tovote rigging, alleging some300,000 votes added to histally.

A spokesman fromOdinga’s Orange Democratic

Movement (ODM) would not com-ment on the results but said the feelingamong the ODM members was “notso good”.

The European Union’s electionobserver team voiced concern over thepolls, with its chief, Alexander GrafLambsdorff saying “some doubtremains as to the accuracy of the resultof the presidential election”. ■

Kibaki declared Kenyan leader amid clashes, protests

AASouth African-based man-ganese producing companyhas unveiled an empower-

ment deal which, it says, will allow theblack population in Northern Cape toparticipate in a significant way in theeconomic activity of the region.

The deal will see SamancorManganese — one of the world’s lead-ing producers of manganese — togeth-er with its partner, NtsimbintleMining, creating a new mining com-pany, Hotazel Manganese Mines, andwill lead to deeper and wider partici-pation in the economy by black com-munities from the Northern Capeprovince.

Ntsimbintle is a broad-based con-sortium made up of mainly black enti-ties like Safika Resources, Nkonjane,

Wiphold, Northern Cape Women inMining, the Kgalagadi DevelopmentTrust, the Natural ResourcesEmpowerment Fund, the RetrenchedWorkers Association, the HotazelWomen’s Association and theNorthern Cape Community BusinessMen.

“The transaction providesNtsimbintle immediate ownership ofhighly profitable assets and their asso-ciated cash flow, whilst Samancor gainsaccess to further resources andreserves, some of which can be imme-diately accessed from existingSamancor mine operations,” Smancorsaid.

Sabelo Macingwane, also ofNtsimbintle, said Northern Capecommunities, who are shareholders in

Ntsimbintle, now have a meaningfulparticipation in the local economythrough Hotazel Mines.

“We welcome this partnership withSamancor, which is the leading man-ganese producer in the world,” saidNtsimbintle’s Saki Macozoma.

“This transaction will facilitate theadvancement of black economicempowerment in the Northern Cape,”said Vincent Maphai, chairman ofBHP Billiton SA, which holds major-ity.

BHP Billiton added that the trans-action is subject to approval by theDepartment of Minerals and Energyfor the transfer of Ntsimbintle’sprospecting rights and Samancor’smining and prospecting rights toHotazel Mines. ■

South African mining firm unveils black empowerment deal

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki



TThe South African government has opened tovisitors a unique Freedom Park that has twoheritage themes based on the wall inscrip-

tions of heroes who fought eight great wars and amonument for spiritual enrichment.

The Wall of Names is a series of inter-connectingwalls inscribed with the names of men and womenwho died during the eight conflicts that shaped SouthAfrica, BuaNews reported.

“These are Pre-colonial Wars, Genocide, Slavery,Wars of Resistance, the Anglo Boer War, the FirstWorld War, Second World War and the Struggle forLiberation,” the South African news agency said.

The two heritage sites are located in the Isivivanehill that has the spiritual centre and Sikhumbuto thathouses the Wall of Names, an amphitheatre, an eter-nal flame, a gallery and a sanctuary. The monumentin Isivivane demonstrates the link of all generationsof the South African nation.

For constructing the monument, nine provinces inthe country were consulted on obtaining a huge stonewith a historical significance. The Isivivane centre isa sacred space for spiritual enrichment.

“The opening of park to the public is an importantmilestone. Visitors will not be charged for enteringthe park,” said Mongane Wally Serote, chief executiveofficer of the park.

“Our objective is to accommodate all visitors dur-ing the festive season, which is a time for relaxationand exploration,” he said. The Freedom Park Trusthas trained 20 local youths to be employed as ourguides, which will help them to earn their livelihood.South African President Thabo Mbeki has called it“the most ambitious project of the democratic gov-ernment”. The Park covers an area of 52 hectares inPretoria. After the park was opened for the public, theSouth African Truth and Reconciliation Commissioncalled for a symbolic reparation of victims of pastatrocities to the centre. ■

South Africa opens Freedom Park for public

The monument in Isivivane demonstrates the links shared by all generationsof the South African nation.

TThousands of people attended thefuneral of Indian spiritual leader SriSwami Sahajananda, the head of the

Divine Life Society of South Africa, onDecember 11.

From the Premier of Kwazulu-Natalprovince, Sibusiso Ndebele, to leaders fromalmost every field, people thronged to paytheir respects to the Swami who set up or ini-tiated more than 600 projects, includingschools, old-age homes, clinics, peace and

skills training centres and hydroponic gardensfor nearly six decades in South Africa.

In keeping with his wishes, some of hisashes were scattered at the first ghat in SouthAfrica, which he had helped set up a few yearsago for use by Hindus here, while the rest isto be sent to India for immersion in theGanges. “Swamiji dedicated himself to uplift-ing disadvantaged communities in the deeprural areas of our country for the past 58years,” Ndebele said in his tribute. ■

Thousands pay tribute to Sri Swami Sahajananda

11



DDisaster managers in eightSouthern African andIndian Ocean countries

have agreed to work more closely tocombat the devastating effects of natu-ral disasters.

Faced with the worsening impact offloods and cyclones and heavy rain thisyear having destroyed the livelihoodsof more than one million people acrossthe region, the Comoros Islands,Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique,Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, andSouth Africa have signed a UN spon-sored Declaration of Intent (DoI).

Among other commitments, theemergency responders agreed in thedraft DoI to share information andcapacities for emergency response,establish regional rapid response teams,and develop protocols that allow for thefree circulation of emergency personneland relief materials in the region. Thegroup further agreed on the need forSouthern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) leaders todemonstrate the political will and finan-cial commitment necessary to ensure

the full implementation of their rec-ommendations, including the reactiva-tion of the SADC Disaster RiskManagement Team.

“This year, many governments inthe region have taken steps in their owncountries to be better prepared for thecurrent rainy and cyclone season, inparticular, undertaking contingencyplanning for disasters,” said KellyDavid, the head of the United Nations

Office for the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs for SouthernAfrica, which hosted the EmergencyPreparedness and Response Workshopin Johannesburg .

“Now they are looking beyond that— to see how they can help each otherand draw on international resourcesand technical expertise to better man-age the impacts they all face from nat-ural hazards.” ■

Southern Africa scales up disaster preparedness

TThe South African govern-ment has launched a jointventure with oil major

Bataung Oil and Gas and NT EnergyAfrica to develop sustainable alterna-tive energy in order to meet the coun-try’s increasing power demand.

Bataung Oil and Gas is to beginexploration from coal bed methanereserves as part of the $11.6-billionproject to meet the huge energy short-fall of the country. Bataung group’schairman Billy Modise has said that theproject comes at a time when the needto diversify the country’s energysources has become quite necessary.

For South Africa to meet the devel-opment and job creation targets as out-lined in the Accelerated and SharedGrowth Initiative of South Africa, ithas become non-negotiable for devel-oping a sustainable alternative energysource, Modise said. Currently, SouthAfrica relies on about 1,400 megawatts

of power from South African electric-ity public utility Eskom. Managingdirector of Bataung Group KineshPather said, “Coal bed methane and theconversion of gas to liquid fuels willprovide a clean and long-term solution

to the current energy crisis.” The project would require a poten-

tial investment of $10 billion in thenext seven to 10 years and would bejointly funded by NT Energy andBataung. ■

South Africa launches $11.6-bn alternative energy project



ZZambia and South Africa havesigned a bilateral agreementfor cooperation in science and

technology. Zambia has a lot to learnfrom the scientific advancement thatSouth Africa has achieved, Peter Daka,Zambia’s Science and TechnologyMinister after signing the agreementsaid. He said both the countries wouldbenefit from the mutual cooperation.

Daka lauded South Africa forcementing its relationship with theZambia in the science and technologysector.

According to the agreement, bothcountries will share technologicalexpertise through exchange of scien-tists, technical experts and scholars invarious fields.

Seminars and workshops in areas ofmutual interest will also be organised.

Satyam ties up with Faritech

A partnership between Indian ITgiant Satyam and South African listedcompany Faritec is expected to boostemployment and create new opportu-nities in the African telecommunica-

tions market. The strategic partnershipfollows the recent appointment ofSatyam to support the 2009 FIFAConfederations Cup and the 2010Soccer World Cup in South Africa.The contract is worth millions of dol-lars. Faritec customer sales group exec-utive Dilley Naidoo confirmed hiscompany had been appointed bySatyam to assist with the security soft-ware, systems integration and ITinfrastructure for these events. Thisinitial partnership is also expected toextend into the local and regionaltelecommunications sector. Naidoo

said Faritec will leverage off Satyam’sintellectual property, global method-ologies and world-class best practices toshorten its own time to market in thetelecommunications sector.

Faritec is a leading, black empow-ered IT services and solutions compa-ny listed on the JSE SecuritiesExchange, South Africa.

Faritec combines intellectual capi-tal, resources, technology and businessprocesses to provide tailor-made ITsolutions with the objective of assistingcustomers to manage their businessesmore effectively. ■

TThe European Union (EU) and Africa summitwould go a long way in achieving the UNMillennium Goals (MDGs) by 2015, South

Africa’s Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Pahad said at the EU-Africa summit.

Addressing the media, Pahad underscored that “it wasthe first time that the countries present at the summitagreed on the issues affecting the continents”.

“We came out [of the summit] fully endorsing astronger political partnership, which includes the fightagainst terrorism, peace and security, climate change,poverty and migration,” the minister said. The eightMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) — which rangefrom halving extreme poverty to halting the spread ofHIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education by2015 — form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s coun-tries and all the world’s leading development institutions.The summit was aimed at strengthening South Africa’srelations with the EU with a view to consolidating theAfrican Agenda and meeting the objectives of the NewPartnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).

Nepad is African Union’s blueprint for socio-econom-

ic development on the continent. The first EU-AfricaSummit was held in Egypt in 2000 leading to the signingof the Cairo Declaration which sought to give a new strate-gic dimension to the global partnership between Africa andEurope for the 21st century. Referring to Zimbabwe’s pres-ence at the summit, Pahad said that the issue was discussedand all sides were able to put their concerns on the tableregarding the situation in Zimbabwe. ■

EU-Africa summit reaches for stronger political ties

Zambia, SA sign agreement to share technology

13



LLake Victoria is doomed,” lakespecialist Eric Odada says withcertainty regarding the future

of the world’s second-largest body ofwater. And on closer inspection, the direprediction seems like it might be right.Rows of filthy cars and trucks rest inthe murky water, as boys scramble to getthem clean, splashing soapy liquid thatforms a creamy film above the surface— just one scene from the lake shoreany environmentalist would baulk at.

Behind the cars is a vast carpet ofwater hyacinth, a plant that thrives inpolluted water and covers every inch ofthis bay on the shores of Kisumu,Kenya’s third city, stifling alreadydwindling fish stocks.

As environment ministers from 190countries met in Bali, Indonesia, to

thrash out a new emissions reductionplan, experts and some of the 33 mil-lion people who reside by or near thelake say urgent action was needed toprevent Lake Victoria from shrivellingup completely.

Odada, who sits on a UnitedNations advisory board and hails froma village by the basin, said Lake Victoriahas dried up three times in its history,but the risk of it happening again is duemostly to human-induced environ-mental effects, climate change beingonly one of them.

Deforestation from villages aroundthe lake or from the dozens of riversthat pour into it has caused silt and sed-iment to flow in, raising the water leveland thus increasing the speed of evap-oration. The water level has reduced

from 120 metres to 40 in less than acentury. Ultimately, Africa’s largestlake could dry up entirely, killing allfish species in it.

Odada said Lake Victoria was oncehome to 55 different fish species butnow contains no more than 20. This ispartly because of climate change,which has warmed the water, makingfood for fish less available.

It is also due to the erroneous intro-duction in the 1950s of the Nile Perch,a carnivorous fish that has devouredmany other species.

Lake Victoria draws some 80 per-cent of its volume from rainfall. Butindustrial activities in northern Africahave brought phosphorus-filled pre-cipitation south into the lake, filling itwith contaminated water. ■

Africa’s largest lake under threat

TThousands of locusts have invaded vast tracks ofland in Kenya and Ethiopia, eating up the cropsand raising fears of disease.

The locust infestation remains serious in northeastKenya and southeast Ethiopia, the UN Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

There have been new reports of infestations furtherwest in both the countries, FAO’s Desert Locust Bulletinreported. Swarms of locusts, originating from Somalia,began to infest Kenya’s northeastern district of Manderaand some areas of Somali region in eastern Ethiopia by the

end of November, but have since moved to other parts.“In Kenya, at least one mature swarm crossed the

Ethiopian border into Moyale district, west of Madera.“In Southeast Ethiopia, locust adults have been seen fly-

ing in the Borena area of Oromia region,” it reported.Lema Gebeyehu, head of the crop protection division in

the ministry of agriculture and rural development, Ethiopia,confirmed locusts covered 375 hectares of land in Yabelloand Teltale of Borena. According to experts, an averageswarm consists of 40 million locusts and a single locustcould eat up to two grams a day. ■

Thousands of locusts invade vast fields in Kenya, Ethiopia



TThe American consulate inMumbai hosted an eight-day African-AmericanUtsav to celebrate the

Black history month of the US, at theAmerican Centre from February 19

The event was organised in cooper-ation with the Katha Centre for FilmStudies. The consulate put together anelaborate programme to celebrate theevent, ranging from exhibition of jazzphotographs by Navroze Contractor,jazz performance by Rhys SebastianD’Souza, screening of movies, dramareadings and discussions.

The Utsav was intended to honourthe struggle and triumph of millions ofblack American citizens, who sur-mounted obstacles like slavery, preju-dice, poverty, as well as their contribu-tion to the nation’s cultural and politi-cal life.

The film screenings opened withthe movie ‘Eyes on the Prize’ (1987) byHenry Hampton.

The other films that were screenedinclude director Sidney J. Furie’s ‘LadySings the Blues’ (1972), ‘The Blood of Jesus’ (1941; director SpencerWilliams), ‘Song of Freedom’ (1936;director Elder Wills), ‘Killer of Sheep’ (1977; director CharlesBurnett), ‘Straight No Chaser’ (1988;director Charlotte Zwerrin), ‘SweetSweetback’s Baadasss Song’ (1971;director Melvin Van Peebles),‘Daughters of the Dust’ (1991; director Julie Dash), ‘Sankofa’ (1993; directorHaile Gerima), ‘Beloved’ ( 1998; direc-tor Jonathan Demme), ‘The

Color Purple’ (1985; director StevenSpielberg), ‘Mississipi Burning’ (1988;director Allan Parker), ‘Sanders of the River’ (1935; director Zoltan Korda),‘Hallelujah’ (1929; director KingVidor), ‘Carmen Jones’ (1954; directorOtto Preminger), ‘Imitation of Life’ (1959; director Douglas Sirk), ‘HerbieHancock Trio: Hrricane’ (1984), ‘Bodyand Soul’ (1925; director OscarMecheaux), ‘The Emperor Jones’(1933; director Dudley Murphey),‘Jericho’ (1937; director ThorntonFreeland), ‘Malcolm X’ (1992; directorSpike Lee), ‘King of New York’ (1990;director Abel Ferrara) and ‘Moon overHarlem’ (1939; director Edgar G.Ulmer).

The movies were introduced to theaudience by Prabodh Parikh, director,Katha Centre for Film Studies, AmritGangar, film scholar, KanchanaMahadevan, head of the department,Philosophy, Bombay University, Sobha

Ghosh, head of the department, EnglishLanguage and Literature, SIES College,Arun Khopkar, film scholar, AmitDutta, filmmaker, faculty, NationalInstitute of Design, Ahmedabad andKaushik Bhaumik, vice president,Osinama Programming. ■

US consulate celebrates Black history month

IIndia and South Africa areset to sign an agreementon the abolition of visa

requirements for holders ofdiplomatic and official pass-ports.

This decision will facilitatevisa-free travel for diplomaticand official passport holderswhile entering and transitingfrom the territory of the other

country, Indian Information andBroadcasting Minister, PriyaranjanDasmunsi, said on February 14 aftera cabinet meeting.

India and South Africa havestrong political and economic tiesdating from the time of sharedstruggle against colonialism. Thetwo countries are also members ofthe tri-nation IBSA forum that alsocomprises Brazil. ■

India, South Africa set to sign visa agreement

AAgala multicultural concertand a multimedia showwill kick off the firstIndia-Africa summit in

New Delhi on April 8 — an ambitiousexercise that will provide a more con-temporary character to ties between thetwo sides.

The move appears to have beeninspired by a similar summit China hasheld with African states and is aimed atreinforcing unique ties India has withAfrica so as to empower the 53-nationcontinent.

The multicultural song-and-danceextravaganza, choreographed on thelines of a similar show presented at theSaarc summit in New Delhi last year,is the brainchild of the Indian Councilof Cultural Relations (ICCR). Theconcert will be held on the evening ofApril 7 before the summit kicks off thenext day.

The ICCR is planning to invite atroupe of dancers and musicians fromeach of the 17 countries who will beparticipating in the summit, an officialsource said.

The multimedia show that will beone long ode to myriad hues of Africaand the vitality of India-Africa ties willbe presented April 8 in the presence ofAfrican heads of states and govern-ment.

The summit has been structured asa three-tier interaction between seniorofficials (April 4), foreign ministers

(April 7) and 17 heads of states/gov-ernment of the two sides (April 8) par-ticipating in this exercise.

The summit will be also attended byheads of sub-regional groupings likethe Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC), CommonMarket for Eastern and SouthernAfrica (COMESA) and the EconomicCommunity for West African States(ECOWAS).

Algeria, Burkina Faso, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia,Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, SouthAfrica, Uganda and Zambia are amongthe countries that will be attending thesummit.

Many geopolitical and economicfactors are at play in this summit.Although Indian diplomats like to

downplay Beijing’s growing clout inAfrica, the idea of direct dialogue hasbeen powered by New Delhi’s anxi-eties at increasing Chinese economicand energy engagement with the con-tinent. India has a special relationshipwith Africa rooted in historical and cul-tural linkages, points out a senior offi-cial. “We are not in any race withChina. Our main interest lies inempowering Africa through manpow-er training and technology transfers.”

The summit will be held at a timewhen there is a strong possibility of theUN reform plan being revived withcurrent members of the UN SecurityCouncil like Britain and France mak-ing a strong pitch for bringing the glob-al body in tune with contemporaryrealities. ■

Gala concert to kick off first India-Africa summit

IIndia is likely to announce dutyfree import of select items fromsome African countries at its first-

ever summit with 14 African countriesin April in New Delhi.

The April 8 summit will come outwith an action plan for reinvigoratingIndia-Africa ties, and a political decla-ration that will encapsulate broad pol-icy directions of this partnership in the21st century, a top official source said.

“We are working on a package ofduty concessions that may cover someagricultural items for least developed

countries of Africa,” official source said. Total trade with Africa for 2006-07

was estimated at around $20 billionwith exports to Africa growing by more than 180 percent.

The duty-free and quota-freeregime for some African countries willbe a big step to energise trade tiesbetween India and Africa.

India is leaving no stone unturnedto make the upcoming India-Africaforum summit a big success andexpects it to be a precursor to a biggersummit with the 53-nation African

continent. “The summit will showcasethe brand image of India in Africa.Africa has changed and so has India.The forum will be appropriate to givea new direction to the partnershipbetween the two sides,” said a seniorofficial.

India has also given generous linesof credit to assist the New Partnershipfor Africa’s Development (NEPAD)and written off the debt owed by theAfrican countries under the HIPC(Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Paris Initiative. ■

India plans duty-free imports to mark its Africa summit

15




P R O F I L E

Mauritius Prime MinisterDr. NavinchandraRamgoolam was amongthe 12 recipients of thePravasi Bharatiya SammanAward 2008 that recognis-es leading achieversamong the vast IndianDiaspora. He was hon-

oured for his continued support for India’s causes and con-cerns, and for strengthening India’s relationship withMauritius. The citation for the Mauritius Prime Minister,who was also the chief guest at the annual conclave, said theaward was not only honouring “intrepid Indians who left theshores of India nearly two centuries ago to courageously builda new country in difficult circumstances”, but was also to paytribute to his father, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam, who isknown as the Father of Mauritius. “As a popular leader, he(Navinchandra Ramgoolam) has also endeavoured to nurtureand further strengthen the bonds between Mauritius andIndia in all dimensions and has provided exemplary leader-ship to the Indian Diaspora,” it said.

In his address at the inaugural session of the Sixth Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas, Ramgoolam asked the global IndianDiaspora to grab the opportunity that India was providing asit rose to become a global power.

Ramgoolam extolled his country’s relationship with India,with several cultural and educational institutions setting upbases in the island nation. The headquarters of the WorldHindi Secretariat is hosted by Mauritius. “While we are total-ly loyal to our homeland, we also want to retain our connec-tion with India,” he said, adding that Indians in Mauritiuswere “uniquely placed” to interpret India to the world, dueto their “objective and deeply sympathetic view”. Indo-Mauritians, he said, were one of the “most well-establishedcommunities in the Indian Diaspora”.

He said that Indians all over the world were linked to“Mother India” through the “golden thread” of the umbili-cal cord. “It gives immense pleasure to see India rise as aworld power, as it was of satisfaction to you,” he said. “Myplea to the Indian Diaspora is to grab the opportunity thatIndia is providing,” he added. He called on India’s Ministryof Overseas Indian Affairs to set up an “active desk” to lookat contributions from the Diaspora. Earlier in his speech,Ramgoolam pointed out that it was no coincidence that theIndian Diaspora who were deeply inspired by the Indian free-

Navinchandra Ramgoolam was honoured for his sustained support for India’s causes and concerns, and for

strengthening India’s historical relationship with Mauritius

Pravasi SSamman aawardfor MMauritius PPM

Indian President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil confers the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr. NavinchandraRamgoolam, at the valedictory session of the Sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2008, in New Delhi, on January 9, 2008.

17



dom movement, were also at the forefront of the fight againstcolonialism in their own countries.

He pointed out that his father, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam,had been the president of the London branch of the IndianNational Congress and welcomed Mahatma Gandhi andSarojini Naidu to England. “It is no coincidence that a son ofan indentured labourer led the freedom struggle (inMauritius),” he said.

He also paid tribute to the “strides made by women ofIndian origin. Indra Nooyi, Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chawlaand Jhumpa Lahiri are role models for our society seeking togive women a rightful place”. While Indra Nooyi is the CEOof the US food and beverages giant PepsiCo, Sunita Williamsset a new women’s space walking record last year during her195-day stay in space. While Kalpana Chawla, also an Indian-American astronaut, perished in the 2003 Columbia spaceshuttle disaster, teacher-turned-author Jhumpa Lahiri wonthe 2003 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

He said, “it is a matter of satisfaction that India has recog-nised the unique potential of Pravasi Indians to contribute toits emergence as a global player. The networking that succes-sive Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conclaves have engendered amongIndian communities settled in different countries could be ofenormous significance as the world becomes ever more inter-connected and integrated.”

The Mauritian Prime Minister also said how cooperationbetween Mauritius and India has been thriving for several yearsin fields such as education and training, culture, science, devel-opment assistance, trade and investment.

“This would not have been possible without the deep com-mitment of both India and the fragment of the Diaspora thathas made Mauritius its home.”

He insisted that the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius could beconsidered as an example for the world. “The Indo-Mauritiansare among the most well-established communities of theworldwide Indian Diaspora in terms of political participation,economic and social integration and cultural affirmation.”Mauritius has also benefited a lot from Mauritians of Indianorigin. “They have reinforced the key values in our society: theimportance of family life, the improvement of our childrenthrough education, industry, enterprise, tolerance and mutu-al respect.”

The Mauritian leader also reminded the audience of thestrong links that bind Mauritius with India. The IndianImmigration Archives at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute con-tain the biographical data of more than 400,000 Indian immi-grants to Mauritius. “These archives constitute a tangible linkbetween present-day Mauritians and the remote villages ofIndia from where their ancestors came.”

Ramgoolam, born on July 14, 1947, was first Prime Ministerbetween 1995 to 2000, and was reappointed on July 5, 2005,after his Alliance Sociale (a coalition including his own LabourParty, the Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval, and severalsmaller groups) defeated the MMM-MSM coalition of thethen Prime Minister, Paul Bérenger, in the general elections.He trained as a doctor in Dublin, Ireland and achieved full reg-istration with the General Medical Council of the United

Kingdom in 1977. He later did a master’s in law at the LondonSchool of Economics before starting a political career.

His first prime ministership (1995-2000) was marked by twoby-elections that he won — though marred by island-wideracial riots after the death of Kaya (a famous Seggae singer), ofCreole origin in prison. In 2000, two political leaders, PaulBérenger and Anerood Jugnauth who joined hands, defeatedhim. Between 2000 and 2005, Ramgoolam was Leader of theOpposition.

In 2005, a coalition involving his Labour Party won the elec-tions on the rather controversial promise to introduce, if elect-ed, a free transport service for the elderly and students. He alsospecified tight deadlines for achieving various other populistmeasures to ensure that his party could strengthen their holdon the country in the local elections that followed a few monthslater in 2005. ■

“Indo-Mauritians are among themost well-established communitiesof the Diaspora in terms of politicalparticipation, economic and social

integration, and cultural affirma-tion. They have reinforced the keyvalues in our society: the impor-tance of family life, the improve-

ment of our children through edu-cation, industry, enterprise, toler-

ance and mutual respect.”

The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, withhis wife, Veena Ramgoolam.


N E W H O R I Z O N S

The World Bank’s report on Africaobserves: “Something decidedly new ison the horizon in Africa, something thatbegan in the 1990s. Many Africaneconomies are rewriting rules. Theirgrowth stories have eclipsed the greatAfrican collapse of 1975-90 and the eco-nomic stagnations of 1985-95. And for

the first time in three decades, African economies are grow-ing with the rest of the world. The average growth in sub-Saharan economies was 5.4 percent in 2005 and 2006. Theconsensus projection is 5.3 percent for 2007 and 5.4 percentfor 2008. Leading the way are oil and mineral exporters, thanksto the high prices.”[1]

Clearly the African growth hinges upon extractive indus-try; significantly all five sub-regions are heavily dependent onprimary commodities. It is observed that of the 10 top per-formers in Africa, half are oil producers, namely, Angola,Libya, Mauritania, the Republic of Congo and Sudan. Amongother five top performers, the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and Mozambique are mineral-rich countries.Consequently, in terms of economic growth, Africa mighthave better averages, but the disaggregation reveals wide dis-

parities across the countries and within, posing a serious chal-lenge to the stability and sustainability of the very growth pro-cess, which is essentially derived exogenously. Moreover, theextractive sector, being non-renewable in nature, has a timespan. Besides, some of its impact is irreversible like its rami-fications for environment and ecosystems.

At the social level, its impact on community disruption anddisplacement has been huge. A related issue is that its devel-opmental benefits are grossly unevenly distributed at the costof local sustenance. In this essay, an attempt is made to arguethat for sustainable growth African economies have to diver-sify the sources of their growth and the market alone cannotaccomplish that diversification in extractive economies.

The state has to play its developmental role without imping-ing upon the prospects of the market. The political economyof extractive economies has distinct attributes unlike service-based economies. Further, the impact of globalisation toovaries between the two economies.

African economies have to graduate from land-basedgrowth to human resources knowledge to move away fromdependent development and obtain the advantages of global-isation. With the onset of globalisation, the extractive indus-tries have acquired strategic significance. The world market is

For sustainable growth, African economies have to diversify the sources of their growth, says Girijesh Pant.

Finding the right formula for growth

19



expanding, the global consumption is rising and the demandfor raw material is expanding. Consequently the prices ofminerals are up, leading to better returns to the extractive sec-tors. The mineral exporters find an opportunity in the priceboom and so try to maximise gains by expanding the scales ofproduction and in the process enhancing the share of extrac-tion in the gross domestic product (GDP). Significantly, glob-al corporates are making huge investments, particularly due toa shift in the economic regimes in the raw material exportingcountries.

In the past, the state was the owner of the extractive sectorin most countries. It was perceived as a national asset and thestate its custodian. Today the paradigm has shifted. Theeconomies are moving to the market mode and the ownershiptoo is moving to the private sector.

Thus the big companies are entering in a big way. “In 2006,the price of crude oil reached a level 10 times higher than itslowest point in 1998. Price increases have also occurred in met-als such as aluminium, copper, nickel and zinc and by June2007 they were far higher than the levels prevailing in 2003.As a result, corporate profits in the extractive industries havesoared and international investments have rebounded.”[2]

According to Fortune magazine, 500 companies in the extrac-tive industry had exceptionally high profitability in 2005 and2006 compared to other companies.

“The net profits of Exxon Mobil for 2006 were the highestever reported by a United States corporation. A study cover-ing some 80 percent of the world metal mining industry bycapitalisation found an increase in net profits, from $4.4 bil-lion in 2002 to $67 billion in 2006.”[3]

The extractive industry, being highly capital and technolo-gy intensive in nature, requires massive investments with rel-atively long gestation periods. It is indeed a billion dollarinvestment with a large scale and range of activities. Clearly,small and medium-size companies are not in a position to bearthe burden. Thus it has to be a large-scale company. In theextractive economies the entrepreneur base has been verysmall. Thus it is the state, which has been managing the sec-

tor. The state in most of the extractive economies today is notin a position to spare resources nor does it possess the tech-nology. Therefore, allured by the prices, it is privatising thesector. As local companies are not in a position to undertakethese projects, transnational companies are expanding theirparticipation in a big way. Participation of transnational com-panies indeed enhances the inflow of foreign investment, butit fails to accelerate the transformation of the extractiveeconomies into knowledge-based economies.

On the contrary, it promotes a rentier state and society per-petually dependent on the rent from the extractive sector.Hence the state has to redefine its role from instituting tofacilitating the transformation process. It has to play the roleof a ‘development state’. However, a development state has torecognise the role of the private sector in expanding the fron-tiers of the economy. It can even be argued that in the context

The state has to redefine its role frominstituting to facilitating the transforma-tion process. It has to play the role of a‘development state’. However, a devel-opment state has to recognise the roleof the private sector in expanding the

frontiers of the economy.


N E W H O R I Z O N S

of globalisation, the state has little choice but to engage themarket in charting out the transformation processes.

The point made here is that the neo-liberal model cannottrigger the transformation or sustainable development in thecase of extractive economies.

Being a resource-based economy, Africa has to conceive a“strategic approach to growth policy, identifying the bindinggrowth constraints and the activities and sectors that are poten-tial sources of job creation and growth. This strategy shouldalso establish incentive mechanisms to channel resources tothese activities and sectors.”[4]

The state has to retrieve its space as a key driver setting thetrajectory where market potentials are factored in.

Along with the state, the role of the corporates too has to bedefined to induce the transformation. While profit maximisa-tion could be the motivating factor for the companies, theimperatives of sustainability demand that the corporates areengaged in the development processes as well. The scope oftheir engagement with society and what is called social invest-

ment in the context of extractive economies cannot be limit-ed to a few philanthropic projects. It is argued here “in today’sworld, minimising input costs and maximising returns rela-tive to risk require corporations to utilise a model differentfrom that employed in previous decades. Inputs would beminimised not only to reduce production costs but also tominimise an extraction project’s environmental footprint ateach stage of the production change.”[5]

The companies have to redefine the parameters of theirbalance sheet from the perspective of sustainability, which hasa longer time dimension. Besides, they have to enhance thescope of their investment from merely transporting and mar-keting to local empowerment in terms of dividend, not innumbers of jobs alone but also in terms of enhancing capaci-ties and capabilities that could become input at a much lowercost. The point here is that high growth cannot be sustainedunless it is accompanied by social growth; hence the criteriafor investment have to include social concerns. Ironically, inAfrica it is observed that the extractive sector activity “is con-tradictory to the interests and concerns of local communitiesand the developmental priorities of African nationaleconomies.”[6] In that case the state and the market have torenegotiate the agenda for sustainable development.

A synoptic view of Africa’s growth performance reveals thatthere has been a significant disparity across the five sub-regions. “North Africa recorded the highest acceleration inGDP growth, from 5.2 percent in 2005 to 6.4 percent in 2006,followed by Southern Africa, from 5.6 percent to 5.9 percent.There was a notable deceleration in growth momentum inWest Africa, from 5.4 percent in 2005 to 4.2 percent in 2006.”What is disturbing is that differences between the oil exportersand others are widening. In 2007, the average real GDP growthrate for the continent was estimated to be 5.9 percent, with thedifference between the two groups of countries even moremarked at 7.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

Projections for 2008 are for slightly lower growth for oilexporters and about the same for oil-importers as in 2007. Thedifferential growth rates, shown in the following tables, clear-ly bring out the impact of oil prices.

Importantly, of the 10 countries that had budget surplusesin 2006, seven have been oil exporters, namely, Algeria,Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea,Gabon, Libya and Sudan. Though oil prices are not likely todive down, their volatile nature has a bearing on the future ofthese oil exporters.

“The dependence of government budgets on oil revenueand external aid constitutes a source of vulnerability for fiscalbalance and GDP growth. For oil producers, fiscal sustain-ability will require effective strategies for prudent managementof oil revenues and strategies to utilise these revenues forenhancing economic diversification. Non-oil countries needto design mechanisms for increased mobilisation of revenuefrom domestic sources.”[7]

The trajectory of transformation in the case of Africa’sextractive economies has to be seen in the context of the ear-lier experiences of African countries of diversifying theireconomies. According to a study, these economies show a

21



very low level of diversification. Broadly speaking, four dis-tinct phases could be discerned, the first phase up to 1982 ischaracterised by progress with diversification. The secondphase covered 1982-1991, when diversification was reversed.The third phase was initiated from 1992. “The macro-eco-nomic stabilisation policies of the 1980s may have contribut-ed to this positive development. Unfortunately, the gains reg-istered were fragile as the improvement in the diversificationindex lasted only up to 1998. Since then, in the fourth phaseof the diversification experience, African economies havebecome more concentrated, considering the upward trend ofthe diversification index from 1998 to 2002.”[8]

The study also observes that the African diversificationexperience has been volatile and the gains have been very frag-ile. What is important as pointed out by the study is: “In 1980,the most diversified sub-regions were COMESA and ECOW-AS. The least diversified was CEMAC with SADC and NorthAfrica in between. By 2002, the diversification gains at the sub-regional level had changed, with the most significant gainsmade by SADC, which is now the most diversified sub-regionon the continent. It is followed by COMESA and NorthAfrica. CEMAC has remained the least diversified sub-region.”[9]

The fact that the predominance of oil in Nigeria impactedadversely on the diversification index of ECOWAS underlinesthe apprehension that the current windfall gains could impingeadversely on the regional diversification parameters.

Apparently, without strategic investment the structuralwidening is not possible. Thus, while investment is a neces-sary condition, it is not sufficient because it is equally vital tosee where the investment is going. It is rightly observed:“Although total investment has a positive impact on diversi-fication, this is only possible if public investment crowds inrather than crowds out private investment. It is important toemphasise this caveat because it may not be the case at thecountry level that public investment crowds in private invest-ment.”[10]

It is argued that in Africa, the market has failed in mobilis-ing resources and investment; hence the state has to comeback. The state can pursue three objectives: namely, domes-tic economic integration, strategic external integration, andeffective allocation of resources to achieve clear developmentgoals.[11] “Policies implemented over the past quarter cen-tury have prioritised external integration over internal inte-gration, resulting in disarticulation of the internal structuresof most economies. It is now time to address this imbalanceby designing policies that emphasise a strategic and phasedexternal integration congruent with the overall developmentstrategy of each country. In part, this will require policies thatprioritise technological upgrading linked to a strategic pro-motion of FDI into those sectors synergistically connected todomestic research and development activities and nationaltraining programmes or skills formation within an invest-ment-export nexus.”[12]

From the political economy perspective of sustainabledevelopment in the extractive economies, the issue of trans-parency and governance also acquire significant importance.

In this context it is desirable that the countries work for aregime like the one spelled out by the Extractive IndustriesTransparency Initiative (EITI). EITI aims at facilitating trans-parency and accountability around the payments and revenuesassociated with the extractive industries so as to reduce theincidence of poverty, conflict and corruption, otherwiseknown as the “resource curse”.[13] Importantly, EITI is acoalition of governments, companies, civil society groups,investors and international organisations. It is becoming theinternationally accepted standard for transparency in the oil,gas and mining sectors. African countries are gradually mov-ing to accept it. Nigeria has its Extractive IndustriesTransparency Initiative and its board was recently reconsti-tuted by the president. Similarly, other African countries toohave shown an inclination for such arrangements. The pointmade here is that the transformation of the extractive econo-my towards sustainable development would require bothvision and governance. In operational terms, the strategy forsustainable development has to synergise the interests of localstakeholders with those of the external players. ■

Notes and References

■ African Development Indicators 2007. The World Bankhttp://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSTATINAFR/Resources/adi2007_final.pdf■ World Investment Report 2007■ PricewaterHouse Coopers, 2007■ Economic Report on Africa 2007 Chapter 3, RecentEconomic Performance in Africa and Prospects for 2007www.uneca.org/era2007/■ Saleem H. Ali and Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh ExtractiveIndustries, Environmental Performance and Corporate SocialResponsibility■ http://www.elca.org/advocacy/corporate/extractive_indus-tries.asp#foot■ Recent Economic Performance in Africa and Prospects for2007■ Accelerating Africa's Development Through Diversificationwww.uneca.org/era2007/chap4.■ Diversification and Growth inwww.uneca.org/era2007/chap4.■ Reclaiming Policy Space: Domestic Resource Mobilizationand Developmental States■ http://eitransparency.org/eiti/summary


M I S S I O N A F R I C A

Africa is emerging as the new darlingdue to its vast swathe of largelyuntapped resource base andWesterners and Asians are in fiercecompetition to tap them on theirterms and conditions. This hasgenerated unprecedented levels ofcriticism and counter criticism inrecent times as to who protects

Africa’s interests better. India being a new entrant in thisresources competition is drawing much attention these days.

But at the centre of all Africa’s issues and challenges lies thepersistence of poverty. Africa is by far the poorest continentand marginal in the global trading system. Poverty adds to thepotential for conflict, the vulnerability to terrorist influence,the pressures of illegal migration and the spread of disease; itconstitutes a drain on worldwide aid resources. Thus, thehumanitarian problems return centre stage.

The purpose of providing humanitarian aid is not altruisticphilanthropy but a brazen attempt to stay ahead and satiate thegrowing Western need for mineral resources, raw materials,natural gas and crude oil from Africa. The Chinese are at theforefront of this race for resources with no concern for any

despotic or tyrannical regime, humanitarian disasters or inter-national opinions. China being a P-5 member of the UNSecurity Council has a huge advantage over India, Brazil andKorea and so on in its dealings with the region.

Some basic analysis suggests that Africa’s problems revolvearound following areas and without tackling these there can-not be substantial progress.! Fierce competition for resources in Africa led aggressively by

China, along with India, Korea, Brazil, Malaysia and the ilk. ! Importance of African energy to the US, in light of the prob-

lems with existing sources in the Middle East and Latin America.! The strength of African numbers in trade negotiations at WTO,

and their collective bargaining power in concert with India and Brazilat the Doha Round.! Africa’s importance in the global ‘War on terror’, to counter the

influence of Al Qaeda in the region. ! Concerns over the current state of health in Africa — TB,

AIDS, avian influenza, malaria etc. In turn, the Indian approach to Africa is more comprehen-

sive and fundamentally better suited for Africa. Many Indiangoods have much greater suitability for African than Westernmarkets. Indian computers and Tata cars, for instance, are inmuch demand in many African countries.

There is a new mood of buoyancy and optimism as India seeks to collaborate with a resurgent Africa to

create a new world order, says A.B. Mahapatra.

Empowering the next generation

23



India’s democracy in a postcolonial setting has relevantlessons for Africa. India also offers important experiences inagricultural expansion, clean water management, and in com-bating the growing threat of climate change.

But in some areas, the Indian approach is also similar to theChinese and the Western patterns. Indian firms like IOC-OIL and ONGC-Mittal in Nigeria and Mittal Steel in Liberiahave been equally controversial and impenitent in their meth-ods and dealings. India’s hope for success vis-à-vis China inthe dark continent is queerly buoyed by statements like thisattributed to Zambian opposition MP Guy Scott: “People aresaying, ‘The Whites were bad, the Indians were worse, but theChinese are worst of all’.”

Interestingly, Africa has been known to India for centuriesculturally, economically and geographically. Afro-Indian linkseven date back to the time of the Indus Valley civilisation.Mahatma Gandhi had predicted: “Commerce between Indiaand Africa will be of ideas and services, not of manufacturedgoods against raw materials after the fashion of westernexploiters.”

China’s rising power is, of course, based heavily on itsremarkable economic success. The African DevelopmentBank meeting took place in the Pudong district, Shanghai’smost remarkable development site, last summer. Chinese offi-cials stressed the crucial role of public investments, especial-ly in agriculture and infrastructure, to lay the basis for private-sector-led growth. In a hungry and poor rural economy, asChina was in the 1970s and as most of Africa is today, a keystarting point is to raise farm productivity. Peasant farmersneed the benefits of fertiliser, irrigation, and high-yield seeds,all of which were a core part of China’s economic takeoff. Twoother critical investments are also needed: roads and electric-ity, without which there cannot be a modern economy.Farmers might be able to increase their output, but it won’tbe able to reach the cities, and the cities won’t be able to pro-vide the countryside with inputs. The officials stressed howthe government has taken pains to ensure that the power gridand transportation network reaches every village in China.

Of course, the African leaders were most appreciative of thenext message: China is prepared to help Africa in substantialways in agriculture, roads, power, health, and education.African leaders already know that this is not an empty boast.All over Africa, China is financing and constructing basicinfrastructure. During the meeting, the Chinese leadersemphasised their readiness to support agricultural research aswell. They described new high-yield rice varieties, which theywere prepared to share with their African counterparts.

China is succeeding where the World Bank is failing. TheBank’s failures began in the early 1980s when it tried to getAfrica and other poor regions to cut back or close down gov-ernment investments and services. For 25 years, the bank triedto get governments out of agriculture, leaving impoverishedpeasants to fend for themselves. The result has been a disas-ter in Africa, with farm productivity stagnant for decades. Thebank also pushed for privatisation of national health systems,water utilities, and road and power networks, and grosslyunder financed these critical sectors. This extreme free-mar-ket ideology, also called “structural adjustment”, went againstthe practical lessons of development successes in China andthe rest of Asia.

Practical development strategy recognises that public invest-ments — in agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure— are necessary complements to private investments. TheWorld Bank has instead wrongly seen such vital public invest-ments as an enemy of private-sector development.

China’s engagement with Africa is showing a massive com-petition even at political level. China is dealing with despoticand tyrannical regimes of Africa which are corrupt. Thesedespots are happy dealing with China for their personal ben-efits. It would be great if they would implement the Chinesemodel and uplift their towns and villages. Actually, theChinese come to a place, get their own contractors, sub-con-tractors and labourers. There is very little trickle down effect,if any at all, for the local community. The locals have alreadystarted resenting the new colonialists, who speak in Mandarin.

On the other hand, Indian needs to do better and take these


M I S S I O N A F R I C A

fallouts into account. There is no point following the Chinesemodel — it is doomed. India should dehyphenate itself fromChina and charter its own path, a sustainable model differentfrom the ex-colonial masters, China or the West. It is a chal-lenge to attain that paradigm shift and time will tell whetherIndia was able to rise to the challenge.

India is initiating a new round of cultural and political con-tacts with Africa. Recently, Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh visited Nigeria which was in fact the firsthigh-level contact in decades. India also offered timely assis-tance during the worst ever floods in Africa which is experi-encing massive climate change due to global warming.

India’s involvement in West Africa is expanding beyond itstraditional Commonwealth partners (Nigeria and Ghana).Although Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner (worth $3billion in trade — mostly oil), Indian investment in Côted’Ivoire will grow to $1 billion during the period 2006 to 11-10 percent of what Indian companies have invested abroad inthe last decade.

Benin accounted for more than half of India’s exports toFrancophone Africa in the 1980s. Its main import — the so-called real Madras handkerchief or‘Madras George’ — was, in fact,handloom material cut in strips mea-suring 8 x 1 yards, which was used tomake women’s dresses.

At present, India is the largestinvestor in Ghana, the second-largesttrade partner of Senegal and the third-largest export destination forNigeria, after the US and Spain; itobtains about 20 percent of its oilrequirements from Nigeria. Morethan half of India’s imports of cashewnuts are from Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau, while Mali,Benin and Burkina Faso export high-quality cotton to India.

Moreover, of the 12 fastest-growing emerging markets inthe world, six are in Africa and no fewer than five in WestAfrica. Thus, India launched an initiative in 2004 calledTechno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement(TEAM-9), together with eight energy- and resource-richWest African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Within theframework of TEAM-9, India extended lines of credit total-ing $500 million to the eight West African countries. It hasbecome so successful that at least six other countries are inter-ested in joining the initiative.

But India is in search of energy all over Africa. India facesfierce competition from the West and other Asian countriesto secure West African resources. India’s quest for energy inWest Africa is not a core component of the government’s ener-gy security policy, rather it is part of its bid to diversify ener-gy sources. India is prepared to offer package deals offeringinfrastructural investments in addition to cash bonus pay-ments on signature of contracts. There has also been contro-

versy in Liberia over a $900-million deal to mine ore withMittal, whose contract allowed the company to opt out ofnational human rights and environmental laws. The contracthas undergone few rounds of review by the Liberian Senateto unravel the wrongdoings.

In Africa, energy interests are fast expanding like the uni-verse. The US currently derives 15 percent of its oil suppliesfrom Africa as compared to 22 percent from the Persian Gulf.Within the next 10 years, the US could be depending on Africafor a quarter of its oil supplies, according to the US NationalIntelligence Council. Nigeria alone is the fifth-biggest sourceof US oil imports, with the US accounting for half of Nigeria’soil exports. Similarly, in recent years, China’s political, eco-nomic and military relations have been subordinated to itsquest to secure energy resources in the African continent asenergy resources are being secured in exchange for aid, armsor infrastructure investment.

A major deal that India lost to China in 2004 illustrates theintense Chinese-Indian competition over energy in Africa.Angola’s state-owned Sonangol reportedly blocked an Indianmove to buy Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell’s 50 percent

share in Block 18 for about $620 mil-lion. India’s state-run Oil andNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC)had almost closed with Shell, but theChinese evidently cut a deal with theAngolan government at the lastminute, resulting in Sonangol exer-cising its pre-emption rights. Thisstymied Shell’s move to sell its staketo ONGC, a deal that would haveyielded about five million tonnes ofcrude oil daily for New Delhi from2008 to 2009. It is widely believedthat China managed to swing thedeal by offering aid to the tune of $2billion for a variety of projects to

Angola, compared to India’s offer of $200 million for devel-oping railways.

To date, African leaders have responded to China’s interestin West Africa positively, seeing it as an alternative source ofinvestment and countervailing force to Western interests andinfluence. But when the tide turns against China, India maybe more welcome in the region for similar reasons vis-à-visChina as China is against the Western powers. India also hasthe relative advantage that English is one of its official lan-guages. While the ‘softness’ of the Indian state and its demo-cratic procedures as well as its incoherent approach are con-sidered liabilities today, they may prove its biggest assets.Indeed, India should guard against blindly copying theChinese model in West Africa as well as the rest of Africa andallow its own distinct policy towards the region to evolve.

However, Western assessment of India’s Africa policy isquite demeaning. In January 2005, the US NationalIntelligence Council (NIC) convened a group of leading USexperts on Sub-Saharan Africa to discuss likely trends in theregion in the medium term. The NIC report assumed that

Afro-Indian links date back to the time of the Indus Valley

Civilisation. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi had

predicted, “Commerce betweenIndia and Africa will be of ideas and services, not of

manufactured goods against raw materials after

the fashion of westernexploiters.”

25



India has no Africa policy: “Over the next 15 years, there isprobably a greater possibility of India developing a distinct for-eign policy with political interests toward Africa.”

Today, the growth in economic ties between India and West Africa seems dramatic because it started from a very low base; indeed, it is likely to flatten in the coming years. India is in direct competition not only with the old colonialmasters in the region (such as France) but also with cash-rich China for a share of the West African pie. The unstablesecurity climate, the patterns of conflict, the fragile politicalstate, weak democratisation, religion, terrorism and the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS all have the potential to derailthe Indian success story.

Whatever role India ultimately plays in West Africa, perhapsthe most important element it introduces is competition. “ForAfricans, it is quite a welcome change from the approach theyget from Western governments that manages to be both patro-nising and demeaning at the same time,” Duncan Green, headof research at the British aid organisation Oxfam, comment-ed recently. The immediate reaction is to compare it to the ITrevolution in India — substantial, silent and largely unno-ticed. But there is a significant difference — the governmenthas played a major role in kick-starting this process and thattoo over two different ruling formations and under three dif-ferent foreign ministers.

Essentially, India’s focus on Africa is about more thannatural resources. Instead, India is — perhaps judiciously —focusing more on investments in service industries andencouraging Indian companies to take significant stakes inAfrica’s economic development. This avoids competitionwith China, and can only be good for both Africa and India.Over the past four decades, India has provided more than$2 billion in technical assistance to the countries of theSouth and most of it has gone to Africa. In the 1990s, a

number of projects were initiated with Indian help. AnEntrepreneurial Training and Demonstration Centre(ETDC) costing $4.49 million has been constructed inDakar (Senegal) by Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) andhanded over in June 2000.

In Namibia, India has assisted in setting up a PlasticTechnology Demonstration Centre. In 1994, the governmentlaunched a programme for cooperation with select Africancountries for the development of small-scale industries (SSI). These countries were Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe,Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. The govern-ment offered finance for implementation of these programmesunder ITEC. A small-scale industry development project isalso under execution in Zimbabwe.

An important training-cum-demonstration project entitled Indian Farmers Project is to be set up in Burkina Faso. In Senegal, Indian officials have been involved in pro-viding feasibility studies for a dairy development project andan incense stick project.

Feasibility studies for the establishment of a poultry vaccinelaboratory in Mali and for improvements in the educationsystem in South Africa were also conducted.

Since 1964, India has also provided civil training to over 14,500 trainees from various countries, mainly from Africa, under the ITEC programme. The countries wereNigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda,Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Therefore, India’s policy has to strike a balance about asearch of its own needs in Africa as well as long-term presenceand empowering Africans — a key element which theWesterners have diluted for decades. There is no need forIndia to follow any available model, rather it can introduce anew one, It based on long-standing historical ties and thetransformation underway in both countries. ■


F I S H F O R A L L

In the last decade, poverty alleviation hasbecome a priority agenda for many develop-ing countries. The agencies of the UnitedNations, the World Bank and other donoragencies have recognised the elimination ofpoverty as the primary challenge whichneeds to be tackled and reduced by half by2015 as stated in the Millennium

Declaration adopted by the world leaders at the MillenniumAssembly in September 2000.

The developing countries have limited resources and fundsto pursue their national development agendas. To alleviatepoverty and promote economic development the developingcountries have stressed on the importance of effective South-South cooperation, a concept that was evolved by leaders ofthis block to foster economic ties and encourage technologytransfer among member countries from those who are in theposition to lend their helping hands. Sharing crucial expertiseand knowledge as well as best practices and experience amongdeveloping countries is an important component to ensure thesuccess of South-South Cooperation.[1]

The economic, social and cultural relationships betweenIndia, the islands and the East African Coast in the West IndianOcean (hereafter WIO) have a long history of antiquity. Forcenturies, using dhows and supported by the monsoon winds,

lucrative trade in ivory, spices, silk and cotton cloth, cowriesshells which were used as a currency, timber, slaves and otheritems flourished between Western India, the islands in theIndian Ocean and the East Coast stretching from Mogadishuin Somalia to Sofia in Mozambique and way south to parts ofSouth Africa, fitting in neatly in the theme of the conference.Lucrative trade brought wealth, new technologies and ideas tomany individual traders, families and ports and the sur-rounding neighbourhoods for centuries. Today, countries inWIO region continue with the centuries old relationships.[2]

Since the developing countries still share common needs,the South-South cooperation is more valid and relevant thanever. Today, new industries in information communicationtechnologies have emerged in WIO Rim varying in quantity,quality and sophistication. However, one industry that is notgiven prominence is the fishing industry, supplying fish fordomestic consumption and external trade. In the WIO fish-ery, in the marine environments, fishing is an ancient humantradition that satisfies vital food needs of millions of people andis economically, socially and culturally a very important activ-ity. While fishing itself is a male-dominated activity, womenplay an important role in handling, processing, distributionand marketing of fish as well as in financing fishing activities.The involvement of women varies from country to countrydue to differences in cultural norms and beliefs. The family

MWELWA C. MUSAMBACHIME explores sustainable ways of reviving Africa’s dwindling fish stocks while

protecting employment in the industry.

A perfect catch iswhat Africa needs

27



incomes remain low compared to the national average.[3] For centuries, just as they do today, fishing communities

have harvested varieties of fish species and marine life for theirconsumption. Fish has served as an inexpensive and easilyavailable source of complete protein and essential nutrients inthe diets of many countries in the region. Marine fisheries giveemployment to millions of full-time and part-time fishers.The incomes of the fishing families are generated by the fish-ing and related activities such as boat and gear manufacturingand repairing, fish handling and processing, distribution andmarketing. To these must be added fuel and lubricants, boats,wood and carpentry. They all depend on the economic vibran-cy of the sector.[4]

It is also an important economic activity. Although fisheriesare a small sector in the economies of the countries in WIO, theyare, individually and collectively, making an ever-growing con-tribution in supplies of food, food security and stability to thecommunities living along the coast, lakeshores, riverbanks,swamps and streams; thus, contributing in the employmentand well being of coastal communities, and earning of foreignexchange. And in a number of countries, capture fisheries arebeing supplemented by aquaculture. Fish proteins are essentialand critical in the diets of the populations of all countries, wherethe total protein intake level may be low. The latter involves theexport of local catches by artisanal fishers and also of thosecaught by distance fleets from the European Union, EastEuropean and the Far East, which are posing a great threat tothe fishing resources. The combined activities are resulting inover fishing, depletion of fish resources and degradation of thefisheries. There is therefore an urgent need for the countries inthis region to work together and formulate sustainable strate-gies and to manage and exploit fish resources.[5]

This fishery has the following characteristics:

! Very few small-scale fisheries are subjected to any form of management; ! The fishery has open access, with little or no control over the gearand the fishing effort; ! The fishery has not been subjected to a specific management plan;! There is no linkage between scientific information and structuralmanagement plans; ! There is potential for conflict; although virtue level of wasted bycatch is low, the impact on juveniles of target and other species is high.[6]

Threats to Fishery

With the advent of the industrial age, fishing has been trans-formed from a subsistence or artisanal activity into an indus-trial resource extraction. In the last decades this process hasbeen assisted by improved management systems, improve-ments in technology, port and road infrastructure, Land, seaand air-transportation, communications, conventions andagreements and by sustained demand. Besides those who aredirectly involved in primary production of fish, there are oth-ers who are involved in ancillary industries, such as boat build-ing, gear making, ice production, packaging, marketing, dis-

tribution, refrigeration, engineering, and many others whoare involved in research, development and administration con-nected with the industry. In a region faced with chronic scarci-ties of foreign exchange, exports of fishery products representvital sources of exchangeable earnings. The shrimp fishery onthe Sofala Bank contributes up to 40 percent of Mozambique’sforeign exchange, despite seemingly low land. Landings byregional countries in the area have somewhat stagnated sincethe 1990s. Many of the reported catches are not identified tospecies, preventing an analysis of resource status at specieslevel. However, there does not appear to have been any reduc-tions in fishing effort and thus the relative constancy of catch-es indicates that the resources exploited by regional countriesmay be “fully” exploited. However, reported catches by dis-tant-water fishing nations have increased dramatically throughthe 1990s with Spain and France together accounting for over50 percent of these catches.[7]

Landings by regional countries in the area have stagnatedsomewhat since the 1990s. Many of the reported catches arenot identified to species, preventing an analysis of resource sta-tus at species level. However, there does not appear to havebeen any reductions in fishing effort and thus the relative con-

FEEDING FRENZY: Fishing is the most important economic activity inDiego Suarez, North Madagascar. As the region is not shielded by anylarge neighboring landmass, it is exposed to strong currents that pun-ish the Indian Ocean. Navigation is hazardous that even freight shipscannot pass the Cap d’Ambre. Yet almost daily, fishermen go by theirdaily chores of venturing out into the bay in single hull small boats. Beingsmall is an advantage here.


F I S H F O R A L L

stancy of catches indicates that the resources exploited byregional countries may be “fully” exploited. However, report-ed catches by distant water fishing nations have increased dra-matically through the 1990s with Spain and France togetheraccounting for over five percent of these catches.[8]

Within the context of the Millennium development Goals(MDG 1), improving the productivity of natural resourcesbase on which the fishers depend and working for pro-poorpolicies will result in direct benefits in terms of eradicatingpoverty and hunger. The United Nations Food andAgricultural Organisation (FAO) has estimated that for everyperson involved in direct primary production, there are fourto five jobs created to facilitate the sell of fish to the consumer.Fisheries are, therefore, an important sector in the WIO fish-ery.[9]

The FAO has divided the world’s marine environment into

19 fishing areas. One of the largest is the Western IndianOcean (WIO) stretching from the western shore of India tothe Eastern Shore of Africa, accounts for eight percent of thetotal global waters, designated by the FAO as Statistical AreaNumber 51. (See the Map.) The WIO area has a surface areaof around 30 million km. The East coast of Africa representsa wide range of oceanographic environments and the westernIndian Ocean is the site of some of the most dynamically vary-ing large marine ecosystems in the world.

The region comprises 14 coastal states whose territories aresituated wholly or partly within the region, encompassing themainland states of the Arabian Peninsula (covering Yemen,Oman and the United Arab Emirates), Iran, Pakistan; thewestern shore of India and Sri Lanka; East Coast of Africa:Somalia Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, to the easternpart of South Africa’s Cape Agulhas covering a coastline of

8,440 km. Further to the south, SouthAfrica has fisheries of a temperate and sub-Antarctic nature; and the island states of theIndian Ocean, the largest beingMadagascar, Mauritius, Comoros,Seychelles and Reunion, that have theirown characteristic fisheries reflecting theiroceanic character.[10]

Where this is possible, the WIO coun-tries claim up to 300 km (200 nauticalmiles) as Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),covering over 5,000,000 km², of which231,184 km² are along the African Coast...The continental shelf along coasts is nar-row, usually extending not more thanbetween 6 to 30 km from the shore, and insome, such as in the area from Raps Astirto Raps Amber off the coast of Somalia,which are up to 60 km wide. The distribu-tion of fish stocks is strongly influenced byenvironmental factors such as the temper-ature, salinity, nutrients, upwelling, and thethermo cline. Seasonal variations in abun-dance are considerable with two peaks inthe landing: in November and in Marchwith Southwest monsoons.

The WIO area is exceptionally rich inbiodiversity and mariner resource encom-passes regions with greatly differing fisheryresources and characteristics.

Fish Resources

This fishery has a huge potential for off-shore fisheries development. FAO studiesshow that in the entire West Indian Ocean,75 percent of fishery resources are current-ly being fished at their maximum biologi-cal productivity. The other 25 percent areover-exploited and require better manage-ment. The catches are normally dominat-

English Name Scientific Name Barracuda Sphyraena spp. (Sphyraenidea)Cobia Rachycentron canadu (Rachycentride)Cobia Rachycentron canadu (Rachycentride)Croaker Otolithes rubber (Sciaenidae)Dolphin Fish Coryphaena spp. (Coryphaenidae)Emperors Lethrinus spp. (Lethrinidae)Frigate Mackerel Euthynnus affinis (Scombridae)Goatfish Upeneus spp. (Mulldae)Grouper Epinephelus spp. (Serranidae)Hammer Shark Sphyna zygaena (Sphyrnidae)Mullet Liza spp. Valamugil spp. (Mugilidae)Rays Numerous species (Rajiidae)Sailfish Istiophorus platypterus (Istiophoridae)Sardine Sardinella spp. (Clupeidae)Saw Shark Pristis pectinata (Pristidae)Skipjack Tuna Katsuwonus pelamis (Scombridae)Snapper Lutjnus spp. (Lutjanidae)Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus commerson (Scombridae)Spinefeet Siganus spp (Siganidae)Swordfish Xiphias gladius (Xiphiidae)Tiger Shark Galeocerdo cuvieri (Elasmobrachchii)Trevally Carangoides spp. (Carangidae)Wolf Herring Chirocentrus spp. (Chirocentridae)Wrasse Bodianus binulatus (Lambridae)Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares (Scombridae)Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares (Scombridae)Marine Crustaceans SpeciesSpiny Lobster Panulirus spp. (Palinuridae)Shrimp Penaeus spp. (Penaeidae)Other SpeciesCuttlefish Sepia spp. (Sepiidae)Squid Loligo spp. (Loliginidae)Octopus Octopodidae spp. (Octopodidae)Source: FAO, 2004.

Table 1: The Major Commercial Marine Species,Crustaceans and Other Species Exploited in Coastal

Waters of the WIO Region

29



ed by large and small pelagic and demersal fish species. (SeeTable-1)

Fishers regard this fishery as a “common property naturalresources” open to unlimited and unrestricted exploitation.The fish stocks found in a fishery cannot be controlled in thedirect and positive way a farmer or rancher controls his domes-tic stocks. They do not have a single owner. In open fisheries,there is no restriction on the number of fishers who can enterthe fishery and the amounts of fish caught — the type of gearused dictates, the space in the canoe or boat, market demandsand ability to preserve the fish from going bad. In the WIOfishing activities are mostly unregulated. However, there isinadequate capacity, or effective institutional frameworks, toexercise jurisdiction over the EEZ of most countries and thereis a lack of reliable information about the nature, size andpotential harvest of living resources. The relationshipsbetween the environment and fish abundance are neitherunderstood, nor predictable. There is inadequate informationon the potential threats to the environment as a result of fish-ing activities.[11]

Threats

Like other marine regions, the Western Indian Ocean isaffected by five principal sources of overfishing, pollution,shipping, dumping, seabed activities, and destruction of thehabitat.

i. Overfishing: As fishing technology has become moreadvanced over the decades, bigger catches of fish have beenharvested, leaving behind hundreds of decimated species thatfind it difficult to populate their species to healthy levels. Inwaters that have been over fished, the populations of fish havenot bounded back to sustainable levels. Overfishing has pro-gressed from ocean to ocean and has led to drastic problemswith the food supply of today. Many nations have recognisedthis problem and have implemented fisheries programmes toremedy the situation. However, these remedies might havecome too late.[12]

ii. Oil Spills: The WIO region is vulnerable to the impactof oil spills. The main transportation arteries for oil from theMiddle East and the Gulf carrying 470 million tonnes (30percent of the world’s oil) to Europe and the Americas, tra-verses the western Indian Ocean region. A further 6.5 milliontonnes are shipped into the countries of this region, render-ing the coastal areas highly vulnerable to oil spills from thetransit shipping and trans-shipments in the harbours. Therehave been five major oil spills in the last thirty years in theMozambique Channel involving between 22,000 and 90,000tonnes of hydrocarbons. Oil spills could be caused by cyclones,impacts against reefs or accidents between vessels. The coun-tries of the WIO region do not have the capability or ability todeal with any potential disaster relating to oil spills.[13] iii. Pollution: Pollution is probably the major source of habi-tat destruction of species within the oceans. It can destroy andseep into every aspect of the ocean, killing and displacing thou-sands of species at the same time. Displacing and destroyingmarine mammal and fish habitats alike, can cause such stress

to species that they simply cannot carry on the survival orreproduction of their species any longer. The Convention ofthe Law on the Sea also addresses the conservation of marinemammals. Article 65, Marine Mammals, of the Conventionstates, “Nothing in this part restricts the right of a coastal Stateor the competence of an international organisation, as appro-priate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marinemammals more strictly than provided for in this Part. Statesshall co-operate with a view to the conservation of marinemammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular workthrough the appropriate international organisations for theirconservation, management and study.” Since this Conventionapplies to all signatory states, marine mammals are supposed-ly guaranteed protection and conservation.[14]

iv. Unregulated Illegal Fishing: Unregulated and illegalfishing activities in the region are a threat to the balanced sur-vival of the Ocean ecology. This issue is recognised by allcountries in the region. The fishery is increasingly tapped bydistant fleets with very sophisticated factory-fishing vesselsfrom the Russian Federation, North and South Korea, Japan,the Philippines, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China,France, Germany, Great Britain, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan,Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, SovietFederation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Yemen,which are modelled for distant-water fishing. They see in thefishery opportunities to offset their decreased landings fromtheir own and other fisheries. Their concern is short-term out-look and a refusal to acknowledge ecological limits is devas-tating. In recent years, there has been a substantial amount ofillegal fishing in the Somali waters.

The devastating Somali civil war led to drastic collapse ofthe fishery activities resulting in massive losses of jobs. Afterthe overthrow of President Said Barre in 1991, the illegal fish-ing heightened after the disintegration of Somalia into clan-based states. There have been reports of gunfights betweenSomali fishers and illegal fishing ships.

Taking advantage of the absence of surveillance, monitor-ing, control and patrolling securities, the foreign ships usedprohibited and destructive fishing methods like drift nets,dynamites, breaking coral reefs and destroying the coral habi-tats where lobsters and other coral fish live. Their destructivefishing technique reduce the local population’s harvest anddamage nets and traps set by local fishermen. More seriously,there are reports of nuclear and waste dumping in the Somaliwaters from the industrialised world, similar to that of Coted’Ivoire, which poses environmental hazards and health dan-gers to human beings.[15]

Monitoring, Control and Surveillance

The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) unit offisheries management is based on the need to monitor andcontrol fishing activities in order to verify that industrial prac-tices and behaviour are consistent with the regulations estab-lished to implement the government’s fishery policy objectives.Regulatory measures have little effect unless they are imple-mented. However, monitoring, control and surveillance tend


F I S H F O R A L L

to be costly activities, and the optimal extent of their use willdepend critically on the industry response, i.e. how actualbehaviour is modified and the magnitude of resources devot-ed to evasion. The fisheries policy objectives and the regulato-ry measures of policy implementation should, therefore, takefull cognisance of the costs of the monitoring, control andsurveillance necessary to undertake the programme, aiming atmaximum objective achievement with a minimum burden ofmonitoring, control and surveillance. Therefore, the MCSstructures have an important role to play as a key contributorto the provision of public education, to develop and maintaina sufficient degree of favourable public attitudes to resourceconservation and responsible fishing. If a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis does not yield positive conclusions, there maybe a case for reconsideration of the corresponding regulationsand underlying policy objectives.[16]

Vessel Monitoring Systems and their Application

Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) are now being intro-duced worldwide as a means of increasing and improvingMCS of fishing vessels in order to combat illegal fishing. Inaddition to the monitoring value of a VMS, they can also beused for real-time fisheries management, and has direct appli-cation as a scientific tool. A VMS uses satellite communica-tions. In the case of a number of African countries, installa-tion of such a system is a prerequisite for the granting of anaccess right to the fisheries to allow it to develop. Monitoringfisheries is currently under severe stress. Understaffing and useof an increasing number of ports and harbours has resulted ina sharp decline in the reliability of data. Accurate catch data andcontrol of illegal fishing are essential components of resourceassessment as well as quota control. Several examples of thevalue of VMS to the fishery can be given as being:

i. Management and control in the Exclusive EconomicZone (EEZ) and in adjacent international waters, given thespatial extent of the fishery and the exclusion of fishing activ-ity in many areas, requires a tracking system that not onlyreports on the location and activity of the vessels, but also hasa facility to give daily reports on the catches and catch rates.The fishery is potentially large, with both local and foreign ves-sels operating.

ii. Large numbers of foreign vessels (distant water fleets ofJapan and Taiwan) operate into and out of these waters. Thereis currently no method of knowing the movements of thesevessels and reported illegal fishing will continue to be unsub-stantiated until such time as an effective monitoring system isintroduced; and

iii. Within each national EEZ there is a strong shift towardsalternative fishing techniques, with a view to capacity build-ing and greater utilisation of available resources.

To retain control of many of their valuable offshoreresources, a viable monitoring system is urgently needed. Also,it is a valuable regional tool for countries sharing stocks andmigratory species passing through the waters of both coun-tries. Given the present satellite and communication possibil-ities available, a VMS system can be cost-effective by applying

a user-pays principle. Ultimately, the advantage is a long-termgain to the country and its people through the improvedpreservation of living marine resources in the WIO fishery.

The major task is to contribute to the protection of theregion’s coastal and marine environments and rich biodiversi-ty from damage due to accidental spills and illegal dischargesfrom ships and from illegal exploitation of marine and coastalresources. Short-term objectives are (a) to increase the safetyof navigation by assessing the risks of catastrophic accidents andtaking action to pollution, (b) to strengthen capacity of coun-tries for surveillance and enforcement of regulations intendedto ensure that fisheries and other coastal and marine resourcesare managed sustainably; (c) to build capacity in countries toassess and control ship-bases; (d) to strengthen the capacity ofcountries to cooperate among themselves, with relevant inter-national and regional organisations, and with the shipping andfishing industry in managing their common marine and coastalresources, and (e) to develop financing and institutional mech-anisms to sustain capacity of countries to address issues of nav-igation safety, and to enforce in coordination with other coun-tries’ laws and regulations governing the shipping and fishingindustries needed to ratify conventions and to translate theirprovisions into national laws and regulations.[17]

Management of Fishery

Management of fisheries remains a key issue in the drive forthe sustainable use of the fishery. This involves the design andimplementation of measures to monitor and control theamount, type and seasonality of the fishing operations andtouches on a number of interrelated biological, technical, eco-nomic, social and frequently political issues. In all fisheries,governments are trying to improve fisheries management .Inthis effort they need and are receiving bilateral and multilat-eral assistance.[18]

Management of fisheries is a complex process that does notdepend only on the biological resources base. It also dependson the integration of the resource biology and ecology withthe socio-economic and institutional factors and considera-tions, such as the behaviour of the fishers, their consent, ade-quate enforcement, and the willingness of governments tomake decisions that may be politically difficult. Governmentsneed to establish the proper legal and administrative frameworks for decisions that limit fishing effort and access.[19]

Fishery policies and management have usually focused ona few highly prized fishery stocks. In response to worldwidepublic concerns about ecosystems, there is an increasingdemand for better understanding and monitoring of a widerange of ecosystems, fish species and, processes that affect orare affected by fisheries. Some of the most important man-agement concerns today are: (a) The effects of fisheries habi-tats, marine communities, and ecological interactions; (b) Theeffects of land-based activities and climatic changes on fish-eries, and (c) The lack of selectivity in many fisheries, result-ing in bycatch and discards. Variations in marine ecosystemsand fish populations can be due to coastal developments,industrial activities, and periodic climatic phenomena.[20]

31



The success of the management (or conservation) mea-sures taken depends on how effectively they can be applied orenforced. This also depends on whether the fishery is sharedwith one or more countries and by the extent of cooperationexisting between the governments involved.

The main objective of the management technique that ischosen is to enforce a new pattern in the exploitation of a fish-ery. This affects the amount of effort that is a function of thesize; power and type of vessel used the gear, the spatial distri-bution of fishing and the number of people involved. Usingdifferent combinations will minimise depending on the rela-tive prices of the various input cost of the boat. If, for exam-ple, the price of gasoline (petrol) is high, it is likely that thecost-effective input combination will involve fishing longerhours near the shore with a larger crew than fishing long dis-tances from the coast. These aspects of effort oriented pro-duction are important because regulation can effect the typeof input and the way they are used can obviously have aneffect on the efficiency of producing effort and ultimately onthe efficiency of the catch.

In most fisheries, the management programmes have con-sisted of regulations restricting the catch. This was done fortwo reasons: to save the fish stocks from destruction or to pro-tect the economic position of certain groups in the fishery. Ineach case, the complete economic ramifications were consid-ered. Prohibiting the use of efficient techniques can, at least,in the short run, prevent the destruction of the fishery sincethe catches are decreased. It can also reduce the earning powerof the fishermen.

Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries

In shared fisheries, the most common problem is how tosatisfy local artisanal and foreign consumption, industrial pro-cessing to create jobs and exports. In some parts of the world,sharing of a fishery has led to conflicts and even wars. The issueof shared fisheries can be very sensitive. However, where thereis a common understanding on the importance of fisheries toall states, a generally agreed working relationship can be estab-lished. Managing a shared fishery requires formulating a pol-icy with input from all parties. Some of the key elementsincluded in the policy would be:

i. Ownership of the resources; ii. Allocation of fishing rights and access to the resources; iii. Approaches to resource management; iv. Institutional structures for the management of fisheries

and resources; v. Funding and finance; vi. Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS); Research,

monitoring, surveillance, sensitisation and training; vii. Environmental protection;viii. Coastal Zone management; ix. Surveillance and compliance; x. Facilities in the fishery; and xi. Capacity building: Qualified and competent personnel.

The others are also fishers, distributors, Non-GovernmentalOrganisations, representatives of government and multilater-

al bodies; delicate negotiations between the parties concernedand formal agreements and conventions.[21]Creation of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission(SWIOFC)

As a response to unregulated fishing in the WIO fishery,there was discussion among the key players, on the establish-ment of a regional fisheries management arrangement calledthe South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission(SWIOFC). SWIOFC was established in November 2004 byResolution 1/127 of the FAO Council and under Article VI(1) of the FAO Constitution as a regional fisheries advisorybody for coastal States in the South West Indian Ocean region.The first session of the Commission took place in Mombassa,Kenya in April 2005. The Commission is open to Membersand Associate Members of FAO that are coastal States whoseterritories are situated wholly or partly within the Commissionarea. The Statutes of the Commission set out a long list offunctions and responsibilities, which include (a) to contributeto improved governance through institutional arrangementsthat encourage cooperation amongst members; (b) help fish-ery managers in the development and implementation of fish-ery management systems that take due account of environ-mental, social and economic concerns; (c) keep under reviewthe state of the fishery resources in the area and the industriesbased on them; (d) promote, encourage and coordinateresearch and the collection, exchange, dissemination and anal-ysis of statistical, biological, environmental and socio-eco-nomic data and other marine fishery information; (e) providea sound scientific basis to assist members in taking fisheriesmanagement decisions; (f) provide advice on managementmeasures to members. Its role was to contribute to protect theregion’s coastal and marine environments and rich biodiver-sity from damage due to accidental spills and illegal dischargesfrom ships and from illegal exploitation of marine and coastalresources. Short-term objectives are (a) to increase the safetyof navigation by assessing the risks of catastrophic accidentsand taking action to counter pollution, (b) to strengthen capac-ity of countries for surveillance and enforcement of regulationsintended to ensure that fisheries and other coastal and marineresources are managed sustainably, (c) to strengthen the capac-ity of countries to cooperate among themselves, with relevantinternational and regional organisations, and with the shippingand fishing industry in managing their common marine andcoastal resources, and (d) to develop financing and institutionalmechanisms to sustain capacity of countries to address issuesof navigation safety, and to enforce, in coordination with othercountries, laws and regulations governing the shipping andfishing industries, to ratify conventions and to translate theirprovisions into national laws and regulations, (e) to buildcapacity in countries to assess and control ship-based govern-ments and competent fisheries organisations; (f) to provideadvice and promote co-operation on monitoring, control andsurveillance, including joint activities, especially as regardsissues of a regional or sub-regional nature, (g) to encourage,recommend and coordinate training, (h) to promote andencourage the utilisation of the most appropriate fishing craft,


F I S H F O R A L L

gear, fishing, techniques and post harvesting technologies, and(i) promote liaison with all competent institutions within thearea served by the Commission and adjacent waters.

The aim of the draft agreement was to establish a legallybinding framework to manage the demersal species in the highseas areas of the south Indian Ocean. The objectives of the draftagreement are to ensure the long term conservation and sus-tainable use of the fishery resources in this area and to promotesustainable development of fisheries taking into account theneeds of developing states bordering the region and party to theagreement.

The draft agreement provides mechanisms for the Meetingof Parties to adopt legally binding conservation and manage-ment measures to achieve these objectives which contractingparties will be required to implement and enforce. In January2004, it was agreed that the interests of developing coastal Statesin cooperation and development in relation to fisheries with-in EEZ jurisdictions would be progressed separately from inter-ests in the high seas fisheries. A separate high seas agreementwould therefore be negotiated.

Its mandate covers all living marine resources, without prej-udice to the management responsibilities and authority ofother competent fisheries and other living marine resourcesmanagement organisations or arrangements in the area. Itsobjectives are to: provide scientific information for manage-ment; build national capacities in resource management; eval-uate current and future regional conservation needs; and fos-ter collaboration between national and regional marine con-servation programmes.[22]

In carrying out these functions, the Commission has to havedue regard for and promote the application of the provisionsof the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries,including the precautionary approach and the ecosystemapproach to fisheries management. It is also to work closelywith any agreement or arrangement for the management andconservation of the high seas fisheries resources of the SouthernIndian Ocean, including holding back-to-back meetings.[23]

Objectives and Functions of the Commission

Without prejudice to the sovereign rights of coastal States,the Commission shall promote the sustainable utilisation ofthe living marine resources of the area of the Commission, bythe proper management and development of the living marineresources, and address common problems of fisheries man-agement and development faced by the Members of theCommission.

To this end, the Commission shall have the following func-tions and responsibilities which include the contribution toimproved governance through institutional arrangements thatencourage cooperation amongst members; help fishery man-agers in the development and implementation of fishery man-agement systems that take due account of environmental, socialand economic concerns; keep under review the state of the fish-ery resources in the area and the industries based on them; pro-mote, encourage and coordinate research related to the livingmarine resources in the area and draw up programmes required

for this purpose, and to organise such research as may be nec-essary and the collection, exchange, dissemination and analy-sis or study of statistical, biological, environmental and socio-economic data and other marine fishery information; providea sound scientific basis to assist Members in taking fisheriesmanagement decisions; e.g. provide advice on managementmeasures to member governments and competent fisheriesorganisations and advice and promote co-operation on moni-toring, control and surveillance, including joint activities, espe-cially as regards issues of a regional or sub-regional nature;encourage, recommend and coordinate training in the areas ofinterest of the Commission; and promote and encourage theutilisation of the most appropriate fishing craft, gear, fishingtechniques and post harvesting technologies.[24]

International cooperation and Multilateral Arrangement

Political, Economic, Social and cultural relations betweenIndia, the Island States and the East Coast States of Africa havea long fruitful duration. India and these states are — throughbilateral relations — governed by the Joint PermanentCommissions. They also belong to the regional organisationssuch as the Non Aligned Movement, Group of 77,Organisation of the World Bank, International MonetaryFund, Organisation of Islamic States, the Indian Ocean RimAssociation for Regional cooperation (IOR-ARC), the AfricanCaribbean and Pacific, and the United Nations.

A good number also belong to the Commonwealth ofNations. In all these groups, there are areas of close and fruit-ful collaboration and cooperation.

Within these relationships, there is cooperation among thesestates in several areas including conventions such as the Lawof the Sea, United Nations Conference on Environment andDevelopment, International Marine Organisation and a num-ber of regional agreements in the management of fisheries inthe WIO fishery.

What is required is to strengthen this relationship to ensurethat the fish are conserved and sustained to avoid depletion.The countries in the region need to work together involvinggovernments, NGOs and the citizens in formulating strate-gies to conserve the fish resources, monitor the catches andwherever possible introduce measures that will protect thefisheries from being degraded.

The local populations need fish for food, income andemployment; the states need food security, taxes, exports andforeign exchange. These can be assured if good uniform poli-cies are affected across the board in order to conserve fishresources for the good of all countries. I hope that India willlead the way and work closely with the other states in theregion to ensure that the fish resources are protected andexploited in a sustainable manner.

Many problems remain in the WIO fishery. With the helpof India there is a possibility of improving the current situa-tion for the better.

The way, in which the states in this fishery region willapproach the problems, will provide a key to the managementof other fisheries in the world on sustainable levels. ■

33




1. See V.S. Sheth (ed.), Globalisation and Interdependence:Africa and India (Mumbai, Centre for African Studies,200ndr4); V.S. Sheth (ed.), Indian Ocean Region: Conflict andCooperation (Mumbai, Centre for African Studies,2004)2. There is a dense literature on the links between India andEast Africa. For a representative sample, see Patrick Manning,“The Problem of Interactions in World History,” AmericanHistorical Review (1996), 771-782; Edward Alpers, “IndianOcean Africa: The Island Factor,” Emergences, 10:2(2000), 37;Edward Alpers, “Recollecting Africa: Diasporic Memory in theIndian Ocean World,” African Studies Review, 43:1(2000), 83;Edwald Alpers, “Trade, Politics, and Identity in the ColonialIndian Ocean,” edited by Edward Alpers in ComparativeStudies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 19:2 (1999);Janet Ewald, “Crossers of the Sea,” American HistoricalReview, 105:1(2000), 69. 3. FAO, Report of the FAO/World fish Centre Workshop onInterdisciplinary Approaches to the Assessment of Small ScaleFisheries, Rome, 20-22 September 2005, (Rome, FAO, 2005),8; FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental Organisation on the Programmes Relatedto Subsidies in Fisheries, Rome, 23-25 July, 2003, FAOFisheries Report, Number 719, (Rome, FAO, 2003), 8; FAO,Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; FAO. The Stateof the World Fisheries and Aquaculture; D. Pauly, and V.Christensen, “Primary production required to sustain globalfisheries”, Nature, Vol. 374, 1995, pp. 255-257. 4. Johan Groenevel, “Spotlight on the Programme of SouthWest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC)”,United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO),February 2005. 5. S. Shahanmugandan, “Marine Ecosystem of the IndianLittoral with reference to the Fisheries in relation to ClimateChanges and Climate variability; Identification of majordimensions in relation to Population dynamics and PhysicalProcesses (Unpublished Paper).6. FAO, Report of the FAO/ World fish Centre, 8. 7. FAO, Report of the FAO/ World fish Centre, 8.8. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 10.9. Groenevel, “Spotlight on the Programme of South WestIndian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC); FAO, Reportof the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 10.10. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 12; 4. H. Scott Gordon, “EconomicTheory of a Common Property Resource: The Fishery”Journal of Political Economy, (JPE), 62, 1 (1954) 124-142;Anthony Scott, “The Fishery: The objectives of Sole

Ownership” JPE 63, 2 (1955) 116-124; W. Clarck, “Towardsa Predictable Model for the Economic Regulation ofCommercial Fisheries” Canadian Journal of Fisheries andAquatic Sciences 37, 1111-1129; Robert S. Pomeroy“Common Property Regimes” NAGA 17/2 (1994) 37-38; J.A.Gulland, “Fishery Management and the Needs of DevelopingCountries” in Brian J. Rothschild (ed) World Fisheries Policy:Multidisciplinary Views (Seattle, University of Washington1977); J.A Gulland, “Appraisal of a Fishery” in W.E. Ricker(ed.) Methods for Assessments of Fish Production inFreshwaters (Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publication 1971)259-276; FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture,1996 (Rome, FAO, 1997), 2. 11. 8. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 10.12. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 10.13. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 12.14. Francis Misser, “EEC Sets its sights on African FishingGrounds” African Business 142 (June 1990) 55. 15. Musambachime, African Fisheries. 16. FAO, Fishing Operations, Number 1: Vessel MonitoringSystems (Rome, FAO, 1998); Musambachime, AfricanFisheries.17. 19. George Rounsefell, Ecology Utilisation andManagement of Marine Fisheries (Saint Louis, 1975) 249;Anon, “European Fish Illegally” Southern African Economist8, 3 (1995) 32-33; Francis Misser, “EEC Sets its sights onAfrican Fishing Grounds” African Business No. 142 (June1990) 55; Clevide Franqueville, “Protection of FisheryResources: Experiences of Monitoring and Control of FisheryActivities in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) ECFisheries Cooperation Bulletin No. 6 No. 1 (March 1993).FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting ofIntergovernmental, 12. 18. Musambachime, African Fisheries.19. Pontecorvo, Fisheries conflict (in passim). J.V. Prescott;Anderson, The Economics, 192.20. Rounsefell, Ecology Utilisation and Management, 249. 21. Marie-Christine Comte “Teetering on the Brink” Ceres,142 (July-August 1993) 17-21.22. FAO, Press Release Number SAG/356, NewCommission to Focus on Coastal Fisheries: PromotingResponsible Fishing in the West Indian Ocean, dated May 4,2005.23. Ibid.24. I.V. Keri


R O A D M A P F O R G A B O N

The economic depression of 1930s andthe end of the two World Wars usheredin an era of multilateral organisationslike UN, IMF and GATT. The successof multilateral organisations gave a bigpush to the globalisation process.Perestroika (economic liberalisation)and Glasnost (political democratisation),

the new mantras of 1990s, became synonymous with the rad-ical and qualitative changes that further strengthened the glob-alisation process. These changes led to massive shift in the dis-tribution of power leading to the formation of a unipolar worldorder. The earlier great divide gave way to the integration ofworld economies and increasing economic interdependenceof the countries of the world. Globalisation and globalismchallenged the old patterns and the institutions and madethem inadequate and sometimes even redundant to the con-temporary needs. Ample economic opportunities, healthy eco-nomic growth, higher than expected incomes and markedimprovements in labour and environmental standards becamethe defining features of the new economic globalisation.

Africa could not remain immune to these radical develop-

ments. Whether willingly or by imposition, Africa was initi-ated into the modern global economy. This is not to imply thatglobalisation is new to Africa. African countries had alwayssought to globalise and regionalise but what is new to Africais the neo-liberal conception of globalisation (Nnadozie:2000). Neo-liberal economics that has taken the form of theStructural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) appear to constructAfrica’s perestroika (Kiiza: 2000). The SAPs are macro levelreform policies designed to reduce the role of the state vis-à-vis the private sector in the economy (ibid). All the Africancountries were indirectly forced to implement these policies,as it became a condition for accessing loans and grants fromthe IMF and the World Bank. Neo-liberalism definitely suc-ceeds in mobilising resources in the short run and deliveringeconomic recovery. But one must not ignore the nascent char-acter of the private sector in Africa, the existence of huge non-market sector and the other concrete socio-historical realitiesmay lower the efficacy of the SAPs and leave the countries ofAfrica in a sticky situation (ibid).

For Africa to come out of the quagmire of poor economicperformance, debilitated capacity, poor governance and inap-propriate infrastructure on the one hand, unrestrained global

If Gabon can diversify its oil-dependent economic base, it can grow rapidly says Rashmi Kapoor.

Can Africa’s rentierstate bail itself out?

MILES TO GO: Gabon’s real growth lags behind that of other developing countries and is still not good enough to achieve the MilleniumDevelopment Goals.

35



integration and global economic marginalisation on the other,it is essential for African continent to unite. Continental rebirthmust be such that the economies of the State are fully inte-grated and every state expends maximum effort towards a col-lectivism of integrated economies (Oguntade: 2003). It is toinvolve diversifying manufacturing activities and developwider regional and continental markets and resurgent Africaneconomy where financial decisions reside in the arena ofdemocratic politics and public policy (rather than) in the handsof unaccountable private tyrannies (Chomsky: 1997).

Economic Performance Of Africa

Years of painful reforms and fiscal adjustments have boost-ed African economy onto a new higher growth trend (Moin:2006). By 1996, economic growth of Africa was on an average2.2 per cent, well below its population growth (ibid P.1). Butbetween 1997 and 2006 it is likely to exceed four per cent.There are conclusive indications of gains in real per capita GDPafter several years of poor performance. New oil productionfacilities, intra-regional trade, a growing world economy, strongcommodity prices, along with recent international initiatives ondebt relief and official development aid has underpinned theregion’s prospects for growth. Regional economic activity hasalso been aided by generally growth oriented monetary and fis-cal policies in the majority of the African Union’s member-states, increased levels of foreign resources, soaring crude oilexports, strong tourism receipts as well as higher agriculturalproduction in some of the regions. Most African countries areexpanding briskly due to market-based reforms, including pri-vatisation, deregulation and trade liberalisation, there by rais-ing productivity growth, lesser dependency on imports andimproving external competitiveness (ibid P.1).

To continue to achieve robust and sustained economicgrowth and to be an effective member in global economicdevelopment, Africa has to expand its energy access and alsoits oil and gas wealth sustainability. The growing interdepen-dence of energy, economy and politics has posed a seriouschallenge for any economy but more so for oil and gas export-ing countries like Nigeria and Gabon (Said: 2007). The ener-gy security has moved to the top of the agenda of global ener-gy. Energy security has essentially been the oilsecurity since the oil shock of the mid-1970s.

Energy security indicates our dependence on fossil fuel, whichis environmentally unsustainable and technologically anachro-nistic. Many African countries have been fortunate to havelarge reserves of oil and many more fields are being discov-ered. The major oil producers in Africa are Angola, Cameroon,Chad, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon andNigeria. According to the IMF, the average current-accountsurplus of oil-producers increased by more than threefold to7.7 per cent of combined GDP of above countries(Moin:2006). At the same time, African oil and gas producingcountries have become extremely dependent on the revenuesgenerated by oil and gas.

The extraordinary surge in crude prices has brought in mas-sive rents to the oil producers. Oil windfall has whetted theirappetite for more rents and has created a dependence on avolatile source of income. These oil windfalls are not beingadequately used for sustainable, diversified economy but forthe pursuit of short term political objectives (Said: 2007).Hence most developing resource rich countries seem to havelagged behind other less endowed countries in a range ofdevelopmental and governance indicators. Many mineral oilindustries in its traditional forms lack integration with theother sectors of the national economy and made only a smallcontribution to the advance of the oil producing countries(Schliephake:1977).

Africa and Gabon

Gabon is one country of Africa which although rich in percapita terms due to large oil revenues, is highly indebted and hashad persistent difficulty in maintaining debt service. The peri-od from 2002-05 has been exceptionally difficult one due tocontraction in oil output resulting in lower oil revenues. Gabonhas initiated a comprehensive economic recovery strategy toimprove international competitiveness and revive growth. Itundertook fiscal consolidation, improvements in governanceand has implemented a comprehensive poverty reduction strat-egy. Still the reforms have not yet generated the desired results.Gabon is located on the West Coast of Central Africa. Its totalarea is about 2,68,000 sq km, and about 2,20,000 sq km or 80percent of the territory is covered by virgin forest (Sizer &

Figure 1: Average Annual % Growth in GDPin Gabon and SSA

! SSA" GABON

10

8

6

4

2

0

-21 2 3 4

% G

DP

Gro

wth

"

""

"

9

3.4

1.8 2

4.6

1.4

-0.10.5

!

!!

!

(Compiled from Data of Africa at a Glance 1995/96, 2005)

Average Annual Growth In GDP (%)Years Gabon Sub-Saharan

Africa

1970-1980 9.0 3.4

1980-1990 0.5 1.8

1991-2000 -0.10 2.0

2004 1.4 4.6

Table 1: Average Annual Growth Ratein GDP in Gabon and Sub-Saharan Africa

Plouvier: 2000). Gabon’s population of 1.2 mil-lion is mainly urban (73 percent) and almostone-third of the people live in the capital,Libreville (National Implementation of Agenda-21). Gabon gained its independence fromFrance in 1960. Two-thirds of the country’spopulation lives below the poverty line, in bothurban and rural areas. Since 75 percent of thepeople living in towns or cities, underdevelop-ment is most acute in the countryside. The ruralexodus has left the interior virtually abandoned.There is a lack of basic infrastructure such asaccess to drinking water, health services, roadand railway network, primary and secondaryeducation.

Gabon has considerable mineral reservesespecially manganese and gold. Gabon has suf-ficient rainfall and a fertile soil well suited toagriculture. It also has an abundant fish stocksand river resources. However, Gabon’s greatestasset is oil. The deposits are found in offshore fields, and atonshore production sites in coastal areas (Cornelis: 1997). It hasan impressive telecommunications system and banking sectorand enjoys considerable political stability.

Gabon experienced a deep economic recession in 1998-99as a result of falling petroleum prices and neg-ative impact of the Asian economic crisis ontimber exports. Further deterioration of theeconomy took place by the suspension of loansfrom the Agense Francaise de Developmentand since March 1999 Gabon had no IMF pro-gramme. With the decline in petroleum pricesin 2001, foreign debt arrears continued toaccrue. Gabon’s overall economic performancehas been lower than average growth of Africa.

Gabon had a per capita income four times thatof most nations of the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).The African state had registered a GDP growthrate of nine percent during the 1970-80 but theAsian economic crisis of 1980-2000 had a deepimpact on the Gabonese economy. Its growth

rate fell drastically. At the same time, Sub-Saharan Africa’s growthrate improved. In 2004, Gabon registered 1.4 percent growth butit was still way behind SSA. (Figure 1).

Real Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate Of Gabon



Years Real GDP Growth Rates

1998 3.5

1999 -8.9

2000 -1.9

2001 2.1

2002 -0.3

2003 2.5

2004 1.4

2005 3.0

2006 E 2.1

Table 2 : Real GDP Growth Ratesof Gabon

Years

Figure 2: Real GDP Growth Rate (%)

Real GDP growth rate ( percent)8

6

4

2

0

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10

-12

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

-1.9

5.7

3.5 2.1 2.5 1.4 3

0.21

-0.3

-9.6

Figure 3: GDP of Gabon by Sectors (Percent)

GD

P (

x)

1980 1985 1995 2004 2005Years

35

Source: World Development Report, 1980 and Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

!Agriculture !Industry !Manufacturing !Servicing

3431

0

6.8 7.2 85

8.14.8

7.74.5

34.831.3

57.660.7

39.6

52.4

66.5

26.7

Years 1960 1985 1995 2004 2005

Agriculture 35 6.8 8.0 8.1 7.7

Industry 34 66.5 52.4 60.7 57.6

Manufacturing NA 7.2 5.0 4.8 4.5

Service 31 26.7 39.6 31.3 34.8

Table 3: GDP of Gabon by sectors (percent)

37



The GDP growth rate of Gabon during 1997 was as highas 5.7 percent, which contracted to 3.5 percent in 1998. Seriouseconomic crisis after a bad trade year in 1998, the 1999 eco-nomic recession, and substantial budgetary indiscipline con-tracted GDP by -8.9 percent (Table 2).

The economy improved partially in 2000 due to increase intimber exports and higher oil prices butnot enough to turn positive (-1.9 per-cent). Renewed investment led to amarginal recovery in 2001and thenagain the economy contracted by 0.3percent in 2002 because of lowering ofboth oil prices and production levels(Figure 2). Higher than expected rise inoil GDP in 2003 made up for lowerthan anticipated growth of the non-oilGDP. So after years of decline GDPgrowth rate recovered and reached 2.5percent in 2003 and then fell marginal-ly to 1.4 percent in 2004. Due to robustoil prices and pickup in public invest-ment GDP growth rate increased toaround 3 percent in 2005. After severalyears of lower growth rate, the real percapita GDP saw an upswing. The over-all annual GDP growth rate is 1.6 per-cent, which is still less than the annualpopulation growth rate of 1.9 percentfor the period 2002-2005.

After the discovery of oil in the late1950s, agriculture was neglected. Theperformance of farming was quite wellin the 1960s. Agriculture was con-tributing about 35 percent of GDP in1960, which reduced drastically to 6.8percent by 1985. Since then its GDP growth rate has remainedfairly stagnant. Even after implementing the structural reformprogramme to promote agriculture, the agricultural GDP hasremained as low as 8.0 percent and 7.7 percent in 1995 and2005 respectively (Table 3). During the same time, industri-al sector GDP contribution to the economy increased sub-stantially from 34 percent in 1960 to as high as 66.5 percent in1985, then fell to 52.4 percent in 1995 and regained slightly to57.6 percent in 2005. Service sector GDP increased marginal-ly from 31 percent in 1960 to 34.8 percent in 2005 (Figure 3).The manufacturing sector never picked up in Gabon, it hasremained quite dormant for a long time.

Unfavourable business environment, weak and inefficientinfrastructure, huge and growing external debt, at more than100 percent GDP led to poor growth performance (EconomicReport on Africa: 2003). Soaring oil prices and higher thanexpected oil production improved and invigorated the debil-itating economy of Gabon. At the same time the key structuralreforms began to take effect and the fiscal situation improvedfollowing the government’s efforts to reduce the debt andarrears, both domestic and external. This boosted privateinvestment in services, agriculture and wood processing

(African Economic Outlook: 2005).

Oil Sector of The Economy

Gabon’s potential for economic growth is based on its con-siderable natural resources. Traditionally mining was the most

important sector of economy as it provided for the principalsource of incoming foreign currency to the state. With thebeginning of production of oil in 1960s and first oil boom in1970s, oil replaced forestry, manganese and uranium as a keyrevenue earner and became an engine of growth for the State.Now Gabon is the third largest producer and exporter of crudeoil in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Gabonese economy is largelydependent on revenues generated by the ‘black gold’. Since thelate 1960s, revenues from petroleum have brought the gov-ernment of Gabon unprecedented income (Cornelis: 1997).National budgets multiplied 15 times between the late 1960sand late ‘70s (Encyclopedia Britannica).

During the seventies oil’s exponential growth slowed down.After a decline in oil prices in 1986 and then in 1988, the oiltrade improved. By 1991, its demand and production saw anupward trend but in terms of net growth it was too little. Thevulnerability of the Gabonese economy to external factorssuch as the fluctuations in price of oil and changing globaldemands; dependence on foreign companies and the Asianeconomic crisis, plunged Gabon into the economic crisis in1998. The Asian economic crisis in 1997-98 led to large lay-offs in Gabon.

Sectors 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002*

Oil GDP 2.181 2,107 1,874 1,687 1,610 1,572

Non-Oil GDP 4,312 4,612 4,202 4,271 4,468 7,795

Table 4: GDP of Oil and Non-Oil Sector, 1997-2001 (1991 US $ million)

Figure 4: GDP by sectors, 1997-2002 (US$ million)

GDP by sectors 1997-2002 (US$ million)

90008000

7000

6000

5000

40003000

20001000

0

US$

Mil

lion

s

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Years

! !! ! !

!

" " " " " "2181

4312 4612 4202 4271 4468

7795

2107 1874 1687 16101572

! OIL GDP! NON-OIL GDP

*Estimated; Source: African Commission of Africa



Oil GDP has been contracting consistently as its produc-tion is estimated to be on a long-term decline. It has shrunkfrom $ 2,181 million in 1997 to $1,572 million in 2002 (Table4). At the same time non-oil GDP showed erratic perfor-mance. It increased to 4,612 $ millions in 1998 and then con-tracted slightly to $ 4.202 million in 1999. From then on it hascontinuously increased. (Figure 4).

Oil continues to be an engine of economic growth since thefirst big boom in the early 1970s. Due to ‘international char-acter of oil’ international enterprises exclusively managed theoil industry and hence its extreme dependence on external fac-tors (Mc Nee 1958: 325). The other unique feature of the oilindustry is that oil is more often found in places where it isnot needed, therefore the market for it is worldwide(Schliephake 1977:7). Its management has always been gov-erned by the international enterprises that have always been“technologically, pragmatically and internationally oriented”.These have brought about a massive transformation of tradi-tional economic and social structures of Gabon. Thus vul-nerability of oil industry to external factors such as fluctuationsin oil prices in the world market and changing world demandskept Gabonese government preoccupied with this concern in1990s. This changed in 1997 when production started todecline, from 18.5 million ton in 1997 to an estimated 13 mil-lion ton in 2001 (Economic Report on Africa:2003). The gov-ernment undertook a massive restructuring to diversify theeconomy by promoting the non-oil sector.

The decline in oil revenues is having ripple effects through-out the economy. Gabon is not ready for a diminishing oil sec-tor as the countries financing needs are set to be high in thefuture as well. Given the heavy dependence on oil tax revenue,the decline has caused major cuts in investment in physical andsocial infrastructure. Despite 30 years of big oil revenues, thesocial and physical infrastructure is still in need of significantimprovement (Afrol News: 2006). Thesituation has been aggravated by thehigh indebtedness and accumulatedarrear repayments. The drop in oil pro-duction has reduced rent inflows, andhence forced the government to resortto fiscal cutbacks.

The countries that are heavily depen-dent on the oil earnings experienceunequal distribution of oil wealth. Infact, the revenues from the sale of theoil are not net revenues. Some of itsvalue is lost as a result of the continu-ous dollar and pound devaluation(Schliephake 1977:11). Then a largechunk of the profits are generallyinvested outside and little is left forregional development programmes.Thus the integration of the petroleumsector with the other sectors of nation-al economy is not seen. There is no‘mechanical’ relationship between staterevenue and regional development and

so state revenues may not bring about an improvement in thestructure of the economy or its organic growth (Schliephake1977:10). Large oil revenues in Gabon have been unable to fos-ter sustained economic growth and development. In 2000/01,oil contributed 66 percent of government revenues, 78 per-cent of export earnings, and 41 percent of GDP. But in directemployment, it lags behind agriculture and forestry, whichprovide more than 70 percent of primary sector employment.Oil has remained largely an enclave, with little impact on thenon-oil sector except through oil taxes, equivalent to a foreigntransfer (IMF 2002) (Economic Report on Africa:2003). Thuslarge oil revenues and predominance of oil in the economy hasmade Gabonese economy vulnerable to external factors. It hasremained largely an enclave and has not yet been able to inte-grate petroleum sector to the other sectors of the economy. Asa consequence it has not been able to foster organic economicgrowth and development. On a positive note soaring oil priceshave delayed economic stagnation and prevented deep economiccrisis. Hence it has provided Gabonese government a safety valvefor its limited economic base.

AgriculturalSector Of TheEconomy

The agri-cultural sec-tor of Gaboncomprises ofsubsistencefarming andstate ownedenterprises. Aquarter of the

Figure 5: Labour Force Participation In Agriculture (Percent)

Labour Force Participation Agriculture and Agricultural GPD ASA% of total GDP

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

01961 1982 1986 1991 2001

Years

8574

38

6.8 5 8 8.1

70.7967.07

60

Agr

icul

tura

l GD

I

!Labour Force Participation !Agricultural GDP

Years 1985-95 1995-2005

Agriculture -1.1 3.3

Industry 3.3 2.1

Manufacturing -1.8 NA

Services 2.9 0.1

Imports of goods andservices -3.8 1.5

Table 5: Average Annual Growth Rateby Sectors (Percent)

Source: Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006

39



country’s population living in the rural areas engages in low-yield subsistence farming (Trade Policy Review Body: Gabon:2001). State-owned enterprises include value-added agribusi-ness like manufacturing of vegetable oils, soap, mineral water,livestock rearing, poultry, fruit and vegetables. Despite beingheavily protected on the domestic market, most of these enter-prises are not profitable (ibid).

Agriculture was confined primarily to subsistence farminguntil World War II (1939-45), with the cultivation of suchcrops as manioc, bananas, corn, rice, taro, and yams(Encyclopedia of Nations: Africa: Gabon). The government hasmade an intensive effort to diversify and increase agriculturalproduction since independence. Experimental stations anddemonstration farms have been set up, and cooperatives havebeen established by consolidating rural communities (ibid).Before the first oil boom, Gabon produced significantamounts of food and cash crops, such as cocoa and coffee.However, due to the promotion of the oil sector, agriculturereceived low priority until the 1976-81 development plansand the neglect stagnated it (ibid). Gabon became the ‘AfricanEmirate’ and the country depended on imported food fromEurope and from other African countries (Gever, et al: 1991).

In Gabon, agriculture has remained very much in the eco-nomic periphery for a long time. It has never quite succeed-ed in ensuring food self-sufficiency. Gabon, therefore, has toimport lot of food from neighboring countries, although itsown soil is perfectly suited for cultivation. Livestock rearinghas never been successful and the country is a major importerof meat from Europe and South Africa. Over the years, farm-ers’ incomes have been extremely depressed, a situation whichis partially due to inadequate infrastructures (Cornelis :1997).This hinders the transport of produce. Farmers probably alsolack the relevant know-how, especially in production and mar-keting methods. Production costs are considerably higher in

Gabon than in other countries of theregion (ibid). Better educational andemployment opportunities in the townsand cities has favored urbanisation.Despite government efforts during the1970s to promote development that woulddiscourage the rural exodus and raise food-stuffs for urban markets. By 1980 Gabonwas producing food to satisfy only 10 to 15percent of its needs (EncyclopediaBritannica). Although agriculture employsabout two-thirds of the population, still itmakes a small contribution to the econo-my of the country as a whole (ibid).

If average annual growth rate is observed,it can be seen that agricultural growth ratewhich was negative during the decade from1985-1995 got a big boost during the peri-od 1995-2005. It rose to 3.3 percent due togovernment’s drastic measures to diversifythe food production and to diversify agri-culture as well (Table5). During the sameperiod the industrial and service sectorgrowth rate slipped marginally.

Labour force participation in agriculture in all the develop-ing countries has always been disproportionately large. Gabonhas been no exception. At the time of gaining independence,Gabon had a large percent of labour force engaged in agricul-ture (85 percent). The contribution of agriculture to the GDPwas also as high as 35 percent of the total GDP (Table 6). In thefollowing decades, the decrease in the labour force participationin agriculture was very gradual. It decreased by 29.4 percent dur-ing the period of 1961-2001. In 1961, 85 percent of the labourforce was employed in the agriculture. The number dipped to60 percent in 2001. But the GDP contribution of agriculture forthe same period decreased drastically by a huge 77 percent,from 35 percent in 1961 to mere 8.1 percent in 2001 (Figure 5).

Since independence, the dominant position of thepetroleum sector has greatly reduced the role of agricultureand limited the amount of area brought under cultivation.Only 1.8 percent of the total land area is estimated to be undercultivation where as it is 7.1 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa anda high of 11.3 percent of the average world level. Due to less-er density of population, area of cropland per 1000 populationis 413 hectares for Gabon, 274 hectares for Sub-Saharan Africaand only 251 hectares for the rest of the world (Table 7).Despite large availability of arable land and adequate rainfall,Gabon has no agricultural tradition. It contributes only about8 percent of the GDP on the average. Gabon relies heavily onother African states and Europe for much of its food and otheragricultural needs. In 2001, agricultural imports by Gabonaccounted for nearly 18 percent of all imports. To reduce thisdependence, it is aiming to increase agricultural production by45 per cent by 2015. The area reserved for peri-urban agri-culture has been expanded and it now enjoys a range of sup-port measures. The dismal performance of agriculture after thediscovery of oil may be attributed to the Dutch disease that

Region Gabon Sub-Saharan World

Total cross land (000 ha)1999 495 173,572 1,501,452

Hectare of Crop land perthousand population (1999) 413 274 251

Area under Cultivation (%) 1.8 7.1 11.3

Table 7: Total Agricutural Land

Years 1961 1982 1986 1991 2001

Labour Force% 85.00 74.00 70.79 67.06 60.00

AgriculturalGDP as a % oftotal GDP 35.00 6.8 5.0 8.0 8.1

Table 6: Labour Force Participation in Agriculture (Percent)

FAO: Country Tables, Basic Data on Agriculture: 1987, African Statistical Year Book

Source: Earth Trends: 2003



came with oil. Three decades of oil pro-duction and large oil rents has made theGabonese economy dependent on thisnatural resource and neglect other sectorsof the economy. Oil tax revenues consti-tute nearly 60 percent of the Gabonesegovernment’s total fiscal revenue andmake up close to 80 percent of total exportsexports (CFIE: 1998). Revenues fromlarge oil exports led to distortions in theeconomy, resulting in contraction of thenon-oil tradable sector as relative prices shifted in favor of thenon-tradable sector. With the non-tradable sector expanding,traditional sectors, particularly agriculture, stagnated becausethey had become unattractive for investment (EconomicCommission for Africa: 2003). These sectors were widelyexposed to foreign competition and they lost, price competi-tiveness and market shares (Wunder: 2004). This led to a largeinflux of workers — especially youths — to urban areas,swelling the urban population and unemployment. The struc-tural weaknesses in the economy of Gabon have been causedby the long dependence on the oil revenues. This is evidentin the over-expanded government, the weak industrial tissueand the high degree of urbanisation (Afrol News: 2007).

It is imperative for food security in Gabon that agricultureshould be a key sector of the economy and a main componentof growth and development efforts. While agriculture-ledgrowth has played an important role in lowering poverty lev-els and transforming the economies of many Asian and LatinAmerican countries, the strategy has not yet worked in Africa.For agriculture provides a powerful leverage effects on the restof the economy when its contribution is large in the nationalincome, employment, and exports (Diao: 2007). But the coun-tries with large oil earnings have alternative sources of growth.At the same time agricultural growth is a precondition forindustrialisation because the sector provides surplus labour,savings for capital investment, and food to sustain a growingnonagricultural labour force (ibid). Also, agriculture decreas-es country’s dependence on costly imported food and soremains important for most low-income African countries. Ittends to benefit the poor more than growth in other sectors.

The government wants to diversify by exporting crops suchas coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil and sugar, as a way of prepar-ing for the effect of shrinking oil resources and to persuadepeople to stay in rural areas. But a short-term obstacle is thegeneral disorganisation of agro-industry after the state’s with-drawal from it, with palm oil and rubber production com-pletely halted. Agricultural growth is also badly impeded bythe poor communications network, low world prices and lackof support structures.

To increase domestic food production and reverse depen-dence on imports, the government prepared a rural develop-ment programme to increase food production and reduceimports, improve the production of cash crops, renew therural population with young settlers, diversify agricultural pro-duction to increase sources of income, improve productionand marketing strategies, reorganise and strengthen agricul-

tural research and training and train farmers in cash crop pro-duction (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Thus in Gabon,oil prosperity pushed agriculture to the periphery. Its neglecthas led to stagnated production, urbanisation and extremedependency on food imports. Agriculture became less com-petitive and so less attractive to the investors. On the otherhand oil revenues have failed to generate significant incomegrowth or reduction in poverty. But the fact remains that therapidly growing population is not sustainable without large oilrevenues. At the same time agriculture should be promotedas the key sector of economy for its food security.

Forestry Sector of Economy

For many years Gabon’s forests covers about 80 percent ofits territory with virgin tropical forest. These were the coun-try’s principal natural resource. Newly discovered and exploit-ed mineral wealth had by the early 1970s forced raw wood andforest products into second place in the economy. By the early1980s, wood accounted for less than 10 percent of Gabon’sexports (Encyclopedia Britannica). The principal forest districtshave been at Kango, Booué, Fougamou, Ndjolé, Mitzic, andMouila. The forest resources near the coast and along therivers have been largely depleted. Exploitation of the forestsof the interior began in the late 1970s with the constructionof the first section of the Transgabon Railroad. The forestrysector is the second source of foreign exchange after oil. TheGabonese government and international donors regard theexploitation of timber as central to macro-economic develop-ment. This policy is causing a rapid increase in logging.

Forestry in Gabon has large potential, which has remaineduntapped. According to World Bank estimates, 1.7 jobs arerequired per year to exploit 1,000 cubic meters of timber andan additional two jobs per year for processing (Economic Reporton Africa: 2003). This potentially makes forestry a leading sourceof employment. To realise the potential, the government isenacting legislation to encourage local processing and is alsoemphasising sustainable exploitation.

After Cameroon, Gabon is Africa’s second largest timberproducer and the world’s largest supplier of Okoumé logs.There are sixty wood species exploited in Gabon, but Okouméand, to a lesser extent, Ozigo represent the bulk of production— together they account for up to 80 percent of total timberproduction in the country (WWF, Belgium: 1997; CFIE:1998). Estimates show that Gabon’s reserves of Okouméamount to 100 million cubic metres — about three-quarters

Sectors 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002*Agriculture 351 367 372 382 302 402

Timber Industry 129 118 139 150 143 143

Crude Oil 2000 1000 1721 1505 1424 1300

Mining 122 153 143 134 127 125

Table 8: Primary Sector GDP 1997-2002 (US$ million)

*Estimated; Source: African Commission of Africa

41



of world reserves (ibid). Okouméspecies of timber dominated with about70 percent of the total exports in 1997(Economic Report on Africa: 2003).Most timber is exported unprocessed.Logging is done by the private sectorand the government. Société Nationaldes Bois du Gabon (SNBG) hasmonopoly export rights for okouméwith 51 percent ownership. In 2001,the government allowed partial liberal-isation of okoumé and ozigo types ofwood. Private operators were permittedto export up to half of their production.

Large forest stock of Gabon is due toits low population density. In spite ofpopulation growth of around 3 percent,forest cover has probably risen, thoughslightly over the last three decades. Thetrend over time is closely linked to oildue to lesser dependency on forest pro-duce and more on oil revenues. Gabon’speriod of high oil revenues coincidedwidely with a significant national forest-area expansion on abandoned agricul-tural soils. Forestry has always remainedamong the top sectors in the economy,in recent years its contribution is about3.8 percent of non-oil GDP, 12 percentof exports, and 8 percent of employ-ment (Economic Report on Africa:2003). Between 1998 and 2000 the pri-mary timber industry grew 21 percentin real terms, and after declining by 4.6percent in 2001 to 143 US $ million, itremained stable during 2002 (Table 8).It is mainly due to strong world pricesof timber and economic reforms, whichencouraged incentives for private par-ticipation in timber industry.

Gabon’s high dependency in timberindustry on foreign companies and theexport of natural resources makes itvulnerable to both, global economicfluctuations and internal factors.Gabon’s main timber importers —Asian countries — are very price sensi-tive, and they can easily substitutecheaper, low quality products for highquality Gabonese wood. During theAsian economic crisis, Gabon saw adramatic 43 percent decline in exportsand hence layoffs in forestry (EconomicReport on Africa: 2003). Prior to thecrisis, the number of people employedby the forestry sector had been risingfrom 2,750 in 1992 to 6,000 in 1997

Figure 7: Export of Oil and Timber (1986-2006),

US $ million

Export of Oil & Timber (1986-2006) US$ million

706138

2610

383

5666

4719

6054

1986 1996 2005 2006Years

!OIL !TIMBER

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

US$

Mil

lion

s

409 510

4977

Figure 6: Total Trade of Gabon (1986-2006),US$ million

Total Exports and Importsof Gabon

1074 1045

3192

1175

5666

1650

6054

1878

1986 1996 2005 2006Years

!EXPORTS!IMPORTS

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

US$

Mil

lion

sTrade US$ Million 1986 1996 2005 2006

Total Exports 1,074 3,192 5,666 6,054

Oil 706 2,610 4,719 4,977

Timber 138 383 409 510

Total Imports 1,045 1,175 1,650 1,878

Table 10: Total Trade Of Gabon (1986-2006), US $ million

Years 1996 2001 2002 2003 2004

Exports ofGoods (fob) 56.0 55.5 52.6 53.5 57.2

Imports ofGoods (fob) -17.0 -18.0 -19.3 -17.9 -17.6

Trade Balance 39.0 37.5 33.2 35.6 39.6

Table 9: Trade Balance 1996-2004 (Percent of GDP)



(Daily Mail: 1999). According to SNBG, the reduced quotasled to a 65 percent reduction in work. Then there was a stiffcompetition from neighboring countries, particularlyEquatorial Guinea. The crisis and the reduction in the work-force led to the abandonment of the logging villages, pre-sumably increasing pressures in the cities. Although exportsrebounded strongly in 1999 and 2000, they declined by 15 per-cent in 2001, due mainly to lower world demand (EconomicReport on Africa: 2003).

A thorough reorganisation of the national timber companySNBG was undertaken. New forestry regulations wereannounced to make the industry more efficient and encour-age mechanisation. From August 2001, the sector was partlyprivatised and the producers no longer had to go through theSNBG to sell their timber abroad. They were allowed toexport a quota of unprocessed logs, though not more than thevolume of processed timber they sold (Economic Report onAfrica: 2003).

Forestry offers great opportunities for diversification asGabon grapples with the realities of dwindling oil reserves. Ifmanaged well, forestry can increase export earnings andemployment and thus benefit the majority of the population.Most timber is exported unprocessed, resulting in very lowvalued added. Processed wood may fetch higher revenues.

External Trade

Abundant natural resources and more purchasing powermake Gabon a major exporter and importer in Africa. Its exter-nal trade has always been in structural surplus and is domi-nated by oil. Its major exports are oil (80 per cent of exportsin 2003), timber (11 per cent) and manganese (5 per cent) andbigger chunk goes to the United States (African EconomicOutlook: 2004/5). Imports, on the other hand, show muchgreater product diversity. Gabon mostly imports food prod-ucts, chemicals, medicines and transport equipment owing toits relatively high per capita income. Most imports are fromFrance and other European countries.

Gabon’s trade surplus fell sharply in 1998 due to unfavor-able international conditions, increased public spending, asubstantial drop in exports and a sizeable increase in imports.In 2000, better oil prices produced a record trade surplus.Resumption of private investment, which had been stronglydiscouraged by budgetary problems and the Asian economiccrisis, and the revival of household spending increased importsfrom OECD countries. However, the sharp rise in the valueof oil exports made up for the deficit. The trend continuedfrom 2001-2004 (Table 9). The trade surplus has increased in2004 due to the increase in the value of exports, resulting froma 25 percent increase in oil sales and timber sales were also up10 percent over 2003 (African Economic Outlook: 2004-05).At the same time the general price increase of all importedproducts, pushed up the value of imports as well. Between2001 and 2005, the value of oil exports doubled as world pricessoared, while imports increased by only 55 per cent. As aresult, the trade balance has risen significantly since 2004.Both, exports and imports of all products consistently

increased during the period from 1986-2006. Exportsincreased from 1,074 US $ million in 1986 to a very high of6,054 US$ million in 2006(Figure 6). There was a robustincrease of 463 percent. In contrast, imports increased moreslowly than exports during the period 986-2006, from 1,045US$ million in 1986 to only 1,878 US$ million. Importsincreased by 79 percent only. Gabon, therefore, recorded acurrent account surplus for 1999 and 2000.

Renewed exports of forestry products have also been note-worthy in terms of volume and international market prices.Export of timber has been consistently rising since 1986. in1986, 138 US$ millions worth of timber was exported whereas in 2006 it rose to 510 US$ million (Table 10). In case of oilthe growth of export was exponential. It rose from 706 US $million in 1986 to a high of 4,977 US $ million (Figure 7).There was an increase of 604 percent of oil exports and 269percent of timber exports. Trading partners of Gabon are alsochanging with the changing times. In 1990s Asian countries,mainly China, Indonesia, South Korea, were primary importersof timber. But after the Asian economic crisis in 1998, exportwith Asian countries dropped. On the other hand, the tradewith the European countries strengthened. Before 1990sFrance was the single largest importer of wood from Gabon.In 1992, 62 percent of Gabonese logs exports went to Europeand only 12 percent went to Asia (WWF Belgium: 1997). Butin 1995, the trend reversed, more than 40 percent of totalexports went to Asia (Report of Forest Monitor).

Mining Sector of The Economy

Gabon is one of the world’s second largest producer ofmanganese after South Africa. A large-scale production ofmanganese is taking place at Moanda mine that is managed byCompagnie Miniere de l’Ogooue (Comilog), the French sub-sidiary of Eramet Group. Production at Moanda expanded inDecember 1986 as Franceville was linked by railroad. This raillink also facilitated improved ore handling facilities at thedeepwater port of Owendo in 1988. Many foreign companies(French, Brazilian and Chinese) are presently mining man-ganese in Gabon. The construction of the rail terminus atOwendo improved the exploitation and processing of urani-um produced near Moanda that began as early as 1961. Thisuranium was supplied predominantly to the French AtomicEnergy Commission and was mined by Comuf, throughComilog. Mining started to decline after 1999 and deposits gotexhausted. Finally the Mounana uranium mines were closed.

Gabon is also rich in iron, gold and diamonds. Inadequatetransport facilities were limiting the exploitation of iron orediscovered at Mekambo in 1950s. The potential for futuredevelopment is high with unexploited reserves of excellentquality iron ore. Chinese investors have shown interest inmining iron at Belinga, where ore is rich and deposits plenti-ful (Africa Economic Outlook 2004-05: 247). It is a high pri-ority sector for the government. The Moanda iron alloy plant,which was opened in January 2001, is among the many ini-tiatives the government has lined up for this top sector. Goldis another key development sector. Gold mining in Gabon

43



started in 1937. The discovery of large deposits in Ndangui wasa big boost for the government. Production, however, hasseen a rapid decline but the government has started encour-aging private participation in this sector to boost its mining.Gabon also produces diamonds, niobium, titanium and phos-phate. To encourage private participation, mining is been reg-ulated by a new mining code.

Mining output decreased by 17 percent between 1998-2002. In 1998, mining GDP was $153 million that reduced to$127 million in 2001 and remained flat in 2002 (Table 8).Though significant for export earnings, its contribution toGDP is still low at 2.7 percent of non-oil GDP in 2001. Themain obstacles to further exploitation of mineral wealth areinadequate infrastructure and unfavorable mining, labour, andinvestment codes. Legislation was passed recently to providetax and other incentives to foreign companies for mining.

Industrial Sector of The Economy

The industrial sector is not very large in Gabon. Processingof oil and timber is limited to a small refinery at Port Gentil(7,50, 000 tonnes annual capacity) and a few wood processingplants. Only 7 per cent of timber exported in 1999 was pro-cessed. Apart from oil refining, cement, log processing and agro-industrial factories (sugar, mineral water, edible oil, dairy,cigarettes, beverages); the processing element in the secondarysector has been neglected in favour of handling raw materials.Most agri-food enterprises have been privatised and their priv-ileges are protected by trade measures.

Most of these industries (woodworking, cigarette, dairyproduct and sugar industries) have limited competitivenessand low productivity capacity and so are able to serve only thelocal market. Construction, a major part of the sector, wasbadly hit in the 1999 crisis by big cuts in public investment andthe reluctance of the private sector due to the government’sfailure to pay its bills.

Industry grew by about 5 percent in real terms in 2002,from $442 million in 2001 to $464 million in 2002 (AfricanCommission of Africa). During the period from 1997-2002,the industrial sector showed an overall growth of 22.5 percentwhen its contribution increased from 378US $ million in1997 to 464 US$ million in 2002. Though small in terms ofvalue, its contribution grew by a very high of 145 percent. Atthe same time, the contribution of agro-food industry andother industries showed an increase of 18 percent and 13 per-

cent respectively. Industrial growth has been dampened by

lackadaisical approach of the state to marketvegetable oil, soap, coffee, and sugar. All theseproducts are enjoying monopolies for market-ing imported products. They have delayed theprocess of privatisation. These enterprises havebecome complacent and do not perceive theneed to improve the competitiveness of thegoods and services. Tariff and non-tariff pro-tection has been provided to agribusinesses but

it was not good enough to keep a tab on the ris-ing prices for consumer goods. In order to diver-

sify, the government implemented a comprehensive pro-gramme of privatisation and liberalisation. Also legislation forthe duty-free zone of Port-Gentil was enacted in October 2002.

Gabon's Economic Reforms

The oil sector could not reduce poverty, as it could notintegrate with the other sectors of economy. Neither could itpromote employment nor economic activity of the generalpopulation in Gabon. The non-oil sector clearly is Gabon’sfuture. The bulk of non-oil economy consists of forestry andservices; mainly commerce, transportation, tourism andtelecommunications. Services have driven growth besidesforestry and other industries in the recent years. The govern-ment has implemented massive structural reforms on a widescale to utilise Gabon’s growth potential in the non-oil sector.

Economic reform started in Gabon in 1986 under the firststructural adjustment programme. It gathered pace since the1994 devaluation of the CFA franc as a part of a renewed sub-regional integration process. Participation in the multilateralsystem was not then made an operative factor in the reform.Large measures were taken to liberalise foreign trade. VAT andexcise taxes were introduced and the turnover tax was updat-ed and new systems created for regulating and supervisingfinancial services. After that integration was to be pursuedwithin a new structure, the Central African Economic andMonetary Community (CAEMC), launched in 1998 (TradePolicy Reviews, Press Release of Gabon’s Secretariat’s Report:2001). Gabon’s external trade policy consists mainly of the pol-icy decided by the Central African Economic and MonetaryCommunity (CAEMC), which absorbed the Central AfricanCustoms and Economic Union (CACEU), created in 1964(Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001).

Trade reforms and the process of regional integration werere-launched through the fiscal and customs reform of 1993,which followed the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1992.Trade reforms have also played an important role in the newbusiness environment. These reforms gave rise to a CommonExternal Tariff (CET), a Generalised Preferential Tariff(GPT) and limits on levels of turnover tax and excise duties(Ibid). The reforms could not produce investment incentives.It could only be achieved by a sound business environment,which required a decrease in the role of the state in the econ-omy, an improvement in the business climate, and a strong

Industry 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 02*

Agro-Food 138 159 151 149 155 163

Timber 22 40 52 39 52 54

Others 218 234 216 231 235 247

Total 378 433 418 418 442 464

Table 11: GDP contributed by the Industrial Sector 1997-2002(US$ million)

*Esitmated; Source: African Commission of Africa



stance against corruption for a strong eco-nomic growth. Now Gabon is pushingahead with reforms on three main fronts:fiscal consolidation to ensure macroeco-nomic stability; privatisation to reduce thestructural constraints on the economy; andreform of the civil service in order tostreamline it and enhance the efficiency ofthe services provided to citizens (TradePolicy Reviews, Press Release of WTO:2001).

A privatisation programme was finallybegun in 1997 with the handover of 51 percent of the water and electricity companySEEG to the Vivendi group. This was anagreement by the new owners to reduce thecost of the services provided and invest 300billion CFA francs ($421.5 million), includ-ing extension of the network (EconomicReport on Africa: 2003). This was followed in 1998 by privati-sation of the sugar enterprise, extraction of timber, importationand distribution of food and sundry products and the Trans-Gabon railway and in 2000 by the state cement company.

Though the privatisation process has lost momentum since1999, still the telecommunications, air transport and agribusi-ness sectors are being privatised on a priority basis (TradePolicy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001).

Firms like the agro-industrial firms Agrogabon (palm oil)and Hevegab (rubber) could not decide on the new ownerseven after calls for tenders by the government. It was arguedthat some firms need to be thoroughly reformed before beingprivatised. Keeping this in mind, the post and telecommuni-

cations authority was split into Gabon Poste andGabon Telecom before latter being privatised andthe former restructured. The ports and harbors authority hasgreatly reduced its workforce and promised to rebuild thedockside at Libreville. The privatisation of Air Gabon has beena difficult one because it has a national symbol, bearing thenational flag so the government was reluctant to sell it off. AirGabon has been completely restructured before it was priva-

tised. It greatly reduced its fleet and was audited.Gabon has improved the environment for business activi-

ty by significant reforms of key aspects of regulation. A newinvestment code has been brought in, offering standard pro-tections, as well as modified sectoral codes for investment inforestry, mining and petroleum. Enterprise establishment hasbeen simplified by a one-stop procedure.

Also significant is the implementation of new commerciallaws, agreed at regional level under OHADA. Further reformsare planned, in particular by legislative approval of a draft anti-corruption law and a revised Labour Code (Trade PolicyReviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001).

Though there is some progress, the economic reforms have

not been implemented rigorously and consistently. This hasraised the doubts about the credibility of the commitment ofthe government to promote reforms.

The lack of the confidence in the government in the imple-mentation of much needed structural reforms by the interna-tional organisations like UN and IMF can be witnessed in thefailure to start already agreed upon programmes.

The programme agreed with the IMF in2000, lapsed in April 2002 because of delaysin structural reforms and fiscal slippages(Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Theweak commitment to structural reformshas discouraged private investment, par-ticularly the foreign direct investmentessential for Gabon to revive its economy.

Year 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003

FDI %of GDP -0.22 7.74 0.74 0.45 1.23 -6.34 -0.86 0.88

Table 12: Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP

Figure 8: Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP

Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP

10

8

6

4

2

0

-2

-4

-6

-8

7.74

-0.22

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003

0.74 0.451.23

-6.34Years

-0.86 0.88

Per

cen

t of

GD

I

!FDI

Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Govt. Primary Deficit/Surplus 11.3 8.6 8.3 -7.1 5.8 6.1 12.0 7.9 11.4

Govt. Deficit/Surplus Including Grants 3.2 2.7 2.5 -14.4 -1.4 0.6 3.2 3.5 7.4

Table 13: Government Primary Deficit/Surplus (-/+), Percent of GDP

Source: UN Conference on Trade and Development: Congo: 19th -21st June 2006

Source: African Development Indicators: 2002; African Economic Outlook: 2004/5

45



Gabon has never been able to attract large FDI ever despite itslarge oil and mineral resources managed by foreign firms. Itmay be attributed to Gabon’s ineffective economic reforms,which have not been able to generated sufficient FDI requiredto lubricate the economy.

The reforms undertook were meant to increase the efficien-

cy and financial performance of the state enterprises and also toreform the civil service. At the same time it was to liberalise thelegal and institutional framework by revising the labour code,enacting a competition law, updating business legislation, andadopting a new investment code. The government was alsocommitted to restructure key public enterprises and to priva-tise agricultural and commercial state enterprises. These mea-sures could have been effective only if a sound macroeconom-ic framework could be established, internal and external debtreduced and more resources injected to the private sector.

Engaging in a sustained dialogue with trading partners, andgreater enforcement of WTO rules and government’s disciplinewould constitute a more effective bulwark against protectionistpressures (Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001).

Once Gabon succeeds in the transition to the post-petroleum economy, based more on private enterprise thanstate-directed economic activity financed by oil revenues, thecountry will better realise the opportunities for trade offeredby the multilateral trading system.

The report also underlines the benefits of technical assis-tance in achieving greater participation.

Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment was quite high in 1975 (7.74 per-

cent). But since then there has been a huge dip in FDI despitegovernment measures to attract investments. (Table12).

In 1995, FDI to Gabon reduced drastically and the FDI ratebecame -6.34. After decades of downturn, it bounced back in2000 but it was not enough. Then in 2003, privatisation andliberalisation helped Gabon attract a decent chunk of foreign

investment. (Figure 8). Gabon’s FDI ismainly privatisation-led (UN Conferenceon Trade and Development: 2006). Theseinclude investment by Véolia in electrici-ty and water, Eramot’s acquisition of theTransgabonais railway and a 51 percentstake of Air Gabon sold to Royal Air Maroc(2006). FDI brought capital and technicalknow-how to Gabon. In the pre-liberali-sation era, there were very limited foreigncollaborations. Having large naturalresources and lack of technical skill andsufficient resources to invest, Gabonencouraged foreign collaborations forimporting technology to build an indus-trial base and bridge the technical gap.

Primary Deficit/Surplus Of Gabon

In 1998, the fall in oil prices and timberexport due to the Asian economic crisisforced the government to stimulate theeconomy with higher public spending.The following election campaign led toserious budgetary indiscipline. The over-all deficit rose to about 14 per cent of GDP

and the primary deficit to 7.1 per cent in 1998 (Table 13). Thelarge deficit made the government to suspend payments andthe programmes already agreed upon with the IMF wereallowed to lapse. Since then, the government has made a greateffort to reduce spending to pre-1998 levels. After the 1999 cri-sis large cuts were made in public investment and wages andhiring of civil servants were withheld except in the social sec-tor.

In October 2000, the IMF gave the Gabonese economy an18-month stand-by credit of $119 million (Economies of theWorld). Oil revenues and non-oil tax revenues improved, espe-cially from the VAT. This recovery produced a primary surplusof 12.0 per cent of GDP in2001. Gabon took advantage of thiscapital inflow to increase public spending as well as to reducethe net present value of its debt (domestic and external).

The government cleared its domestic debts, including payrises and the wages. Then on, both the overall surplus and theprimary surplus have continued to remain stable with a slightdip in 2002.

External Debt

Gabon has accumulated a large external debt, much of itduring the period of major construction in the late 1980s,notably the building of the Trans-Gabon railway. Devaluation

Trade US$ Million 1986 1996 2000 2005

Ext. Debt 1,944 4310 3272 3902

Table 14 : Total External Debt, US$ million

Total External Debt, US$ million

Figure 9: Total External Debt, US$ million

5000

4500

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

1986 1996 2000 2005Years

4310

3272

3902

US$

mil

lion

!EXT.DEB

African Development Indicators: 2002; African Commission of Africa



automatically increased the CFA francs part of the debt. Thegovernment guaranteeing the liabilities of some semi state-owned firms, such as the water and electricity company SEEGand the post and telecommunications authority OPT,increased it further. The debt burden is especially heavybecause it is not made up of soft loans, so interest paymentsare high high almost more than half of all tax revenue between1995 and 2000 (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). From1998, because of the fall in oil prices, the government beganaccruing up arrears that led it to suspend debt payments. Sincethen, it has been trying to correct both the external and inter-nal debt situation. The external debt, which reached a high of$ 4,310 million in 1996 has seen a decline in 2000 and 2005with 3,272 and $3,902 million respectively (Table 14).

This has been made possible due to negotiation of Gabon in2000 and 2004 for the rescheduling of the debt with the ParisClub. But since the eligible debt (before cut-off date) is only atiny part of the total, the rescheduling has not been of muchhelp. It concerns arrears of 400 billion CFA francs ($562 mil-lion) that have been rolled over to after 2004. The reschedul-ing has reduced by 28.3 percent its initial level of debt services.

The Paris club has considered another rescheduling underthe agreement with the IMF. It is mainly to reduce the domes-tic debt so as to revive the private investment vital for thediversification of the economy.

Structural Issues

The reliance on oil has stunted the development of certainsectors of the economy, principally forestry and agriculture,and subjected the economy to the fluctuations of the interna-tional price of oil. The failure to diversify means that the non-oil sector will be unable to pick up the slack. Therefore, Gabonurgently needs to implement structural measures required fordiversification, promote private investment, and guard againstmacroeconomic instability associated with fiscal mismanage-ment (Afrol News: 2006).

Gabon is coming out of economic stagnation and is expand-ing briskly. Gabon’s prospects continue to depend on goodgovernance, including economic governance and implementa-tion of market-based reforms. These include promoting pri-vatisation and trade liberalisation. This has raised productivitygrowth and promoted competition within the country as wellas international competitiveness of the local goods and services.

Business environment has been made conducive providinginvestment incentives and withdrawal of preferential advan-tages and protection. Gabon is a small economy dependent onother countries for the bulk of its consumption. But it hasexpressed its ambition to operate in larger markets with a viewto economic diversification by participation in the WTO andthe regional organisations.

Gabon has been recording an improved growth trend forfew years now. This has been made possible by continuedmacro-economic stability based on prudent monetary and fis-cal policies, higher prices of primary commodities (oil andmetals) arising from robust global demand and limited sup-ply. Coupled with this is the higher agricultural performance,

diversification of non-oil sector, and strengthening the bud-getary management capacity. Macro-economic stability is vis-ible in improved public finances and the stability of inflationrate. The inflation rate has stayed stable in 2005 an 2006 at 1percent, which as it is very low.

Gabon’s average term of trade has been favorable as oil pricesstayed high and non-oil commodity prices showed gains.Timber and other ores like manganese accounted for non-oilexports. They together with oil revenues recorded a high fiscalsurplus. The current account balance of Gabon almost doubledas it increased from 5.2 percent in 2002 to 9.6 percent in 2003(African Economic Outlook: 2004/5). High export revenues ledto improved foreign exchange reserves and increased foreignassets. By and large, Gabon’s external debt has continued to falland pursuance of economic reforms has qualified it for debtrelief. Increased flows of FDI and ODA (overseas developmentassistance) have further strengthened the economic growth.

Despite these enormous achievements, Gabon still is fac-ing daunting challenges due to declining oil production andvery narrow economic base. Gabon’s real growth lags behindthat of other developing countries and is still not good enoughto achieve the Millennium Development Goals’s growth tar-get of 7-8 percent (Moin: 2006).

As has been noted in a UN report: “Given the severe financ-ing constraints of most sub-Saharan economies, investmentrates remain too low to achieve the required degree of diver-sification into higher value-added production and moredynamic products in international markets that would allowfor faster integration into the world economy and a reductionof the vulnerability of the region to external shocks.”

It is true for Gabon as the severe financial constraints ofGabon has led to lower investment rates. These are not suffi-cient to achieve the required degree of diversification intovalue added production and so the integration into the worldeconomy is slower. To create a platform for sustained growthin the future, it should deepen the reforms to further fosterprivatisation and continue improving governance further.Strong and effective domestic institutions should be developedwhich have the capacity to utilise aid flows and attract FDI.

Continued fiscal adjustments should be emphasised to freeresources for the private sector or the priority sectors, removeinfrastructure bottlenecks, boost capacity of production andraise overall saving rate.

Structural advancement should be such that it boosts non-oil sectors of economy like mining ores, forestry and pro-moting export diversification. This will reduce heavy reliancefor revenues on the primary products.

The service sector of Gabon has great potential. Theextraordinary wealth of fauna and flora to found in Gabon’sforests can help develop ecotourism. In 2002, the State estab-lished a network of national parks and protected areas cov-ering 11.5 per cent of national territory. Telecommunicationsservices have shown considerable progress, with a teleden-sity of over 50 per cent in 2006 (WTO Trade Policy Review:2007). Gabon’s transport infrastructure is weak and a majorroadblock for development. It was built during the oil boomyears and is mostly in the towns, where 75 per cent of peo-

47



ple live, but there are serious problems of maintenance. Theport is too small and in poor condition.

In view of the unavoidable depletion of Gabon’s oil reserves,diversification of the economic base remains the main concernof the Gabonese government. The non-oil related econom-ic sector remains uncertain as it is in the rudimentary stage ofdevelopment. But the exploitation of Gabon’s forest or min-ing resources has demonstrated a great proven potential andhas attracted a reasonable amount of FDI. Agriculture and

manufacturing are still nascent providing for mere 3.5 and 5.7per cent of GDP respectively in 2006 (WTO Trade PolicyReview: 2007). Oil and the service sector remain the two bigoptions for Gabon. Embryonic industry of Gabon also hasscope as a revenue earner.

Till the time Gabon’s economic base diversifies sufficient-ly and non-oil sector becomes robust enough for Gabon to beable to achieve its goals, Gabon may continue to experiencethe effects of “Dutch disease” in the future.


[i]“A Picture of Global and Regional FDI Flows”. 2006.UN Conference on Trade and Development. Congo.19TH-21ST June 2006.[ii] Africa at a Glance. 1995/95, 2004. 2005, 2006.[iii] African Commission of Africa.[iv] African Development Indicators. 2002.[v] African Economic Outlook 2004/2005. 2005.AFDB/OECD.[vi] African Statistical Year Book. 1990/91. Vol. 11.[vii] Afrol News 7th June 2006. “Gabonese Economy Setto Drop with Oil Production”, CFIE Report. 1998.[viii] Chomsky, N. 1997. “The Tyranny of Globalization”in Weekly Mail , June 13, 1997.[ix] Cornelis. K. 1997. “Challenges of the Post-PetroleumEra” in The Courier ACP-EU, No.165. P27-29. [x] Daily Mail, April 15 1999. Johannesburg, South Africa.[xi] Diao, X. & Hazell, P. 2007. “Role of Agriculture inDevelopment Implications for sub-Saharan Africa” inReport of International Food Policy Research Institute.USA, Washington.[xii] Earth Trends: 2003.[xiii] Economic Report on Africa: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006,2007. [xiv] Economies of the World. 2005. London: Routledge. [xv] Encyclopedia Britannica article “Agriculture, Forestryand Fishing”.[xvi] Encyclopedia of Nations: Africa: Gabon.[xvii] Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006.[xviii] Gever, J. et.al. 1991. Beyond Oil: the Threat to Foodand Fuel in the Coming Decades” Colorado: UniversityPress.[xix] Kiieza, J. 2001. “Neo-Liberal Globalization and eco-nomic Governance in Africa: Uncomfortable Bedfellows” inE. Maloka & E.L. Roux (eds) Africa in the New Millennium.South Africa: African Institute of South Africa.[xx] Mc Nee, R.B. 1985. “Functional geography of the firmwith an illustration from the petroleum industry” in EconomicGeography No. 34. P.325-57.[xxi] Moin, S. 2006. “ Resurgent Africa Follows A New Path”in Africa Review of Business and Technology. February 1,2006. [xxii] National Implementation of Agenda 21 — Profile duGabon. www.un.org/esa/easrthsummit/gabn-cp.htm. [xxiii] Nnadozie, E. 2000. “Africa at the crossroads of glob-alization” in J.M. Mbaku & S.C.Saxena (ed.) Africa at the

Crossroads: Between Regionalism and Globalization. USA:Praeger Publisher.[xxiv] Oguntade, O. 2003. “African Renaissance in the GoldenTrap” in Africa Insight. Vol.33(3).[xxv] Report of Forest Monitor. “Country Profile: Gabon”.[xxvi] Said, Y. 2007. “Energy: Security, Climate Change andthe Resource Curse” in London School Magazine Online.London: The Press and Information Office. P.7-9.[xxvii]Schliephake, K. 1977. Oil and Regional Development.USA: Praeger Publishers.[xxviii]Sizer, N. & Plouvier, D. 2000. “ Increased InvestmentAnd Trade By Transnational Logging Companies In Africa,The Caribbean And The Pacific: Implications For TheSustainable Management And Conservation Of TropicalForests”, World Resources Institute / WWF For Nature. [xxix] Söderling, L. 2006. “After the Oil: Challenges Aheadin Gabon” in Journal of African Economies Vol.15(1):117-148;[xxx] Sunderlin, W. & Wunder, S. 2000. “The Influence of theMineral Exports on the Variability of Tropical Deforestation”in Environment and Development Economics. Vol.5.[xxxi] Toungui, P. 2006. “Spend Now or Save?” in Financeand Development. Washington: International MonetaryFund. P. 40-41[xxxii] Trade Policy Reviews: Press Release ofWTO/TPRB/168. 2001.[xxxiii] The FAO: Country Tables, Basic Data on theAgriculture Sector: 1987.[xxxiv] The World Development Report.1980.[xxxv] UN Conference on Trade and Development: Congo:19th -21st June 2006.[xxxvi] WTO Trade Policy Review Body: Gabon. 2001.Report by the Secretariat- Summary Observations.[xxxvii] Wunder, S. 2003. Oil Wealth and the Fate of theForest: A comparative Study of Eight Troplical Countries.London: Routledge.[xxxviii] Wunder, S. 2003a. When the Dutch Disease Met theFrench Connection: Oil, Macroeconomics and Forest inGabon. Bogor: CIFOR& CARPE.[xxxix] Wunder, S. 2004. “Oil, Macreoeconomics and Forest”in Forest Livelihood Briefs. No.1. [xl] WWF Report. 1997. Belgium. [xli] Youngquist, W. 1999. “The Post-Petroleum Paradigmand Population”. In A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies.Vol.20(4) . Human Science Press.


H E A R T O F F L O R A

Forests play a very important role in thelives of people. Apart from their eco-nomic importance, they also have criticalenvironmental, social, cultural and spir-itual values. Forest-dwellers have har-moniously co-existed with their envi-ronment for centuries. But the society-forest interaction has been undergoing

rapid changes over the years. There are 3870 million hectares (m ha) of forest worldwide,

of which 95 percent are natural and five percent are planta-tions. Tropical forests are the world’s reservoirs of biodiver-sity. If the vegetation cover is removed, the area is exposed toerosion and washing out of minerals and nutrients, leaving apoor soil. This makes the ecosystem very fragile. Tropical andsubtropical forests comprise 56 percent of world’s forests. Anestimated 16.1 m ha of natural forests were lost annually dur-ing the 1990s (14.6 m ha through deforestation and 1.5 m hathrough conversion to forest plantations). Of the 15.2 m halost annually in the tropics, 14.2 m ha were converted to otherland uses and 1 m ha to forest plantations.

Africa and Asia are regions with substantial components ofthe tropical forest cover. The present study attempts to exam-

ine and compare the status of forest cover and initiatives takenfor their conservation in Africa and India, and to explore areaswhere experiences and views could be exchanged in preserv-ing and managing this highly vulnerable biotic resource.

The Role of Forests

The list of forest goods and services is long and varied. Theyrange from wood and non-wood forest products (NWFP) tosoil and water conservation, conservation of biological diver-sity, tourism and recreation, and cultural and spiritual values,among others. They are the source of much of the world’sdiversity and provide habitats for numerous species.Biodiversity has potential benefits such as potential medicinalvalue and germ plasm. Two of the most important environ-mental services are the mitigation of climatic change throughcarbon sequestration and the conservation of biodiversity.Forests serve as protection against natural hazards such assnow avalanches, rock falls, shallow landslides, debris flows,surface erosion and floods. Tropical forests are probably oneof the least known environments but they have to be under-stood to appreciate the problems of evolution and ecology.Their dynamic and complex systems provide clues for restora-

SUDHA SRIVASTAVA discusses various perspectives on the state offorests and their management in India and Africa.

Changing ratio of thegreen belt and society

49



tion projects. Central Africa is one of three areas worldwideknown for its exceptional bio-cultural diversity.

General Distribution of Forests in India and Africa

Africa has a wide diversity in its natural vegetation coverranging from humid forests to deserts, montane temperateforests to coastal mangrove swamps. Almost all African forestsare located in the tropical ecological domain. It has about one-quarter of all tropical rainforests. African forests are often moreimportant for their environmental services. Their role in pro-tecting watersheds and arresting land degradation is significantand critical especially in the uplands of East and SouthernAfrica and in arid areas in all sub-regions.

The total forest cover in Africa is estimated at around 650m ha, i.e. 21.8 percent of the land area and 16.8 percent of theglobal forest cover. Central Africa is the most forested subregion with 43.6 percent of its land under forest cover,accounting for 37 percent of Africa’s forests, while NorthAfrica is the least forested region with 7.2 percent land areaclassified as forests. Thus there exists a substantial amount ofvariation in spatial distribution of forests as well as in woodybiomass production.

Table-1 depicts the variation in distribution of the forestcover, which is a reflection of the prevailing environmentalconditions.

Plantation activity is negligible in countries where there arestill large tracts of natural forests. 75,885,000 ha of forests inAfrica are protected (12 percent of total forest area). It containsthe second largest contiguous area of tropical moist forest in

the world, encompassing the entire countries of Gabon andEquatorial Guinea, much of Congo,Cameroon and Democratic Republic ofCongo and southwestern corner ofCentral African Republic. There is anextreme variability in the conditions andconsequent differences in productivity.

In India too the wide diversity in thenatural vegetation cover is an expression ofthe diverse ecological conditions.Topography and climate have had a dom-inating influence on the natural and culti-vated vegetation. Forestry and agriculture

are two important land uses in India, the latter competingwith the former under relentless pressure of an ever-increas-ing population. Human population in India has grown from361 million in 1951 to over a billion at the beginning of thiscentury. To meet the requirements of food production,besides enhancing the productivity, the area under agriculture

was increased from 118 m. ha in 1951 to142 m. ha in 1990s.

The forest cover of India, as per the1999-2000 assessment, is 63.73 m ha con-stituting 19.39 percent of the geographicalarea of the country. Table 2 and 3 showsareas under various categories of forests,non-forested areas and scrubs. Most of theforests are dense as the prevailing envi-ronmental conditions have been con-ducive to the existence of luxurious forests.Over a period of time, large areas havebeen reduced to open forests, with areaunder scrubs showing an increasing trend.Mangroves are restricted to stretches ofcoastal belts.

Sub region Land area Forest Area Percentage(million ha) (million ha) (%)

North Africa 941.4 68.2 7.2East Africa 411.1 85.6 20.8Southern Africa 591.1 183.1 31.0Central Africa 551.5 240.7 43.6West Africa 505.3 72.2 14.3Total Africa 2978.4 649.9 21.8

Source : FAO, 2001

Table-1: Forest Cover in Various Subregions of Africa

Land use/Land cover Area in million ha Percentage(mha)Total geographic area 328.73Reporting area for land utilisation 304.88 100.00Forests 68.75 22.55Not available for cultivation 41.54 13.63Permanent pasture & grazing land 11.04 3.62Land under tree crops & groves 3.57 1.17Cultivatable waste land 13.94 4.57Fallow land (other than current fallows) 9.89 3.25Current fallows 13.32 4.37Net area sown 142.82 46.84Source: Land use Statistics - At a Glance, 1996-97, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, 2000.

Table-2: Land Use/Land Cover (India)



The net increase in the forest cover ofthe country since the last assessment in1997 is 3,896 sq km (State of ForestReport, 1999). The dense forest hasincreased by 10,098 sq km and mangroveby 44 sq km, whereas open forest hasdecreased by 6,246 sq km.

Tables 4, 5 and 6 depict certain demo-graphic indicators, forest cover data andconsumption of the most important forestproducts for Africa, India and the entireworld, that bring out the comparative pic-ture effectively. However, it must be notedthat the continent of Africa, comprising ofseveral countries, has a far larger geo-graphical extent than India.

India has a very high density of popula-tion as compared to the averages of Africaand the world, though the rate of changeannually is higher in Africa (Table 4). Also,a much larger percentage of the populationis rural in India. Most developing coun-tries are now experiencing rapid urbanisa-tion.

Table-5 shows that both India andAfrica have almost similar proportions oftheir land under forest cover. Total areaunder plantations is far greater in India. Itappears that the trend is towards anincrease in forest cover in India, while theaverage for the world and Africa shows adecreasing trend.

Table-6 depicts the two forest productsthat are most in demand i.e. wood for fueland round wood for industry. There islimited trade in fuel wood considering theaverage for the world, but in India andAfrica it is practically absent. Fuel wood isproduced for local use in both theseregions. The pressure exerted on thisresource is primarily due to a rapidly grow-ing population. Industrial round woodshows greater consumption than produc-tion in India and vice versa in Africa. WhileIndia imports large quantities, Africaexports large quantities of round wood.

Forests in the Past

As per the history of African rainforests,till the last ice age (until 10,000 years ago)climate in Africa was colder and drier.Most forests were of a tropical montanetype, of lesser biodiversity. At the height ofglaciation, forests were restricted to threemain refuge areas northeastern Congobasin, Gabon, southern Cameroon, Bioko,

Class Area in sq. km. % of Geographic Forested area area

Dense forest 377,358 11.48 59.21Open forest 255,064 7.76 40.02Mangrove 4,871 0.15 0.76Sub-total 637,293 19.39Scrub 51,896 1.58Non-Forest 2,598,074 79.03Total 3,287,263 100.00

Source : State of Forest Report, 1999, FSI, India.

Table-3: Forests, Scrubs and Non-Forest Areas (India)

Country/ Total land Total Density 2003, Annual PopulationArea Area 2003 (population/ rate of Rural, (‘000 ha) (‘000) km²) changes, 2003,

(2000- %2005)(%)

India 2,97,319 1,06,5462 358.4 1.5 71.7Africa 2,97,8394 8,50,558 28.6 2.2 61.3World 13,06,3900 6,30,1463 48.2 1.2 51.7

Source : State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO.

Table-4: Select Demographic Characteristics — India, Africaand World

Country/ Forest Area Forest Cover ChangeArea 2000 1990-2000

Total % of Area per Forest Annual AnnualForest land Capita Plant- change rate of

ations change(‘000 ha) area (ha) (‘000 ha) (‘000 ha) (%)

India 64,113 21.6 0.1 32,578 38 0.1Africa 6,49,866 21.8 0.8 8,036 -5262 -0.8World 38,69,455 29.6 0.6 1,86,833 -9391 -0.2

Source: State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO.

Table-5: Forest Cover and Change — India, Africa and World

Fuel wood (‘000 m² )Production Imports Exports Consumption

India 3,00,564 0 0 3,00,564Africa 5,45,915 1 1 5,45,915World 17,96,677 2,524 3,705 17,95,496

Industrial round-wood (‘000 m²)Production Imports Exports Consumption

India 1,19,308 1,998 8 21,298Africa 66,785 361 5,481 61,665World 15,87,715 1,22,996 1,15,523 1,59,5188

Source: State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO.

Table-6: Production, Trade and Consumption of Select ForestProducts — India, Africa and World (1998)

51



Liberia and Sierra Leone. As the climate improved, thesebecame core areas from where the forests spread. These coreareas are still biologically the richest areas of Africa (though thesavanna and grassland ecosystems have a much wider hetero-geneity). The rainforest flora is acting as a reservoir of genet-ic diversity and potential variability. For a large part of planetearth’s history, it has acted as a centre of evolutionary activityfrom which the rest of the world’s flora and fauna have beenrecruited.

In many traditional communities, the role of trees andforests in protecting the environment is well-understood.Religious and cultural beliefs ensure the protection of trees andwoodland for their environmental and social values, giving lessimportance to their economic benefits. The practice of main-taining sacred groves is widespread. However, interactionswith other societies have brought about changes in theirapproach and departure from the traditional values and beliefs.

In India, geological evidences of forestry 350 to 225 millionyears ago show super-abundant vegetation. Destruction start-ed in Chalcolithic period (4500-3500 BC), the period in theNear East and Europe after the Neolithic and before theBronze Age. This period has the earliest evidence for complexsocieties, the location of cemeteries outside of settlements,craft specialisation in copper tool production (casting and lostwax), ivory, and ceramics.

Forests disappeared with the invasion of people fromSumerian region who practised settled cultivation and pas-turage. When the Aryans settled, the region from Punjab inthe northwest to Ganga in the east was covered with thick jun-gle. With imperialism, came the development of forestry as astate dominated subject.

In the Mauryan system of administration, a deep process ofthinking that worked for conservation, utilisation and man-agement of forests was seen. For example, game laws forbadethe killing or trapping of animals in forest preserves with strictpunishment for violation.

Hiuen-Tsang’s chronicled history gives an insight of therich forests and forestry in India in 629-645 A.D. Even theMughals were aware of the commercial value of about 72types of timber. With an increase in population and settle-ments, and with an expansion of agriculture, forests werecleared, probably leading to a natural process of desiccation andsilting of riverbeds.

Drastic changes to the forests of Indiacame about with the advent of East IndiaCompany and later subjugation to thecrown. Forests became a resource base(especially for sleepers) for the colonialpower during the setting up of the railwaynetwork. With the introduction of theForest Act in 1865, government exercisedtotal control over forests, restricting freemovement of the forest-dwellers andintroducing legislation for classifying theforests. As villages got separated from theirmain means of sustenance, social bondsthat traditionally regulated community

forests were radically changed. The alienation of forest-dwellers from nature led to destruction of restricted forestland and conflicts between the authorities and the forest peo-ple. Mono-cultural practices to grow commercially importanttrees led to substantial changes in the characteristics of theindigenous forests. New laws restricted small-scale hunting bytribals, but facilitated more organised ‘shikaar’ expeditions forthe British. Shifting or ‘jhum’ cultivation was the characteris-tic form of agriculture over large parts of the hilly and forest-ed regions of northeastern India, where plough activities werenot always feasible. But the British foresters held ‘jhum’ to bethe most destructive of all practices. The customary use ofnature was governed by traditional systems of resource use andconservation that involved a mix of religion, folklore and tra-dition in regulating the species, quantum and form of exploita-tion. Different communities, acutely felt the suppression, andeven the obliteration of these indigenous systems of resourcemanagement under colonial rule, albeit in somewhat differ-ent ways. Colonial forestry marked an ecological, economicand political watershed in Indian forest history.

Deforestation in Recent Times

Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenousforests and woodlands. It is the process of changing land usefrom forestry to non-forestry use. The World ResourcesInstitute regards deforestation as one of the world’s most press-ing problems. It is a threat to the benefits that forests offer. Asland is turned over for other purposes, there is a reduction innumber of trees, leading to a decline in coverage and biomass,and depletion of ecosystem services.

More forest was lost between 1981 and 1990 than has beenrecorded in any decade in human history. In developed coun-tries, forest areas have stabilised, but in developing countriesdeforestation continues unabated.

The net annual change world over was 9.4 m ha between1990 and 2000. While 14.6 m. ha were deforested, only 5.2 mha were reforested/afforested. About one percent of forestswere lost every year during 1990s. The causes of deforestationare very complex. A competitive global economy drives theneed for money in economically challenged tropical countries.Governments sell logging concessions to raise money for pro-

Sub region/ FRA 2000 FiguresRegion Total Forest Total Forest Forest area Annual

1990 2000 change change(000 ha) (000 ha) 1990-2000 %

(000 ha)North Africa 5,930 6,262 34 0.5West Africa 98,586 85,079 -1,352 -1.6East Africa 1,48,995 1,35,423 -1,356 -1.0Central Africa 2,36,532 2,28,011 -852 -0.4Southern Africa 2,12,260 1,94,852 -1,740 -0.9Insular Africa 172 212 4 1.9Africa 7,02,475 6,49,866 -5,262 -0.8

Table-7: Forest Area Change — Africa



jects, to pay international debt, or to develop industry.In Africa, 1.1 m ha of forest land was cleared each year

between 1980 and 1995. Between 1990 and 2000 there was aloss of 52 m ha accounting for 56 percent of world’s forestcover decrease (Table 7); 44 percent of the decline was in thethree countries of Sudan, Zambia and Democratic Republicof Congo. There is considerable variation in forest cover losswith Southern Africa recording about 31 percent of forest lossin Africa, the highest, during this period. In 1990s SouthernAfrica witnessed the highest rate of deforestation esp. Zambiaand Zimbabwe. Over 90 percent of West Africa’s original for-est cover has been lost; only a small part qualifies today as ‘fron-tier forest’ (large intact natural forest ecosystem). For every 28trees cut down only one is replanted.

In India, forests are of varying densities and types. A changefrom dense to open, or open to scrub (a lower order of vege-

tation), denotes a degradation of the forest, while the oppositesuggests an improvement. An increase in dense forests andmangroves (Table 8) reflects attempts at improving the forestcover. Some open forests were probably converted to the dense variety, while some areas under scrubs and open forests could have been turned to non-forest activitiestoo. However the fact that some improvement has occurredis a positive sign.

Factors Causing Deforestation and Impact

Tropical deforestation and degradation of forests in manyparts of the world are negatively affecting the availability of for-est goods and services. The causes of forest degradation andloss are complex and vary widely from place to place. A dis-tinction is made between direct and underlying causes. Directcauses include insect pests and diseases, fire, over-harvestingof industrial wood, fuel wood and other forest products, mis-management of production forests, including poor harvestingpractices, overgrassing, air pollution, and extreme conditionssuch as storms. Population growth is creating immense pres-sure on forests and woodland. Fuel wood is the main cook-ing fuel of nearly half the world’s people, while wood is essen-tial for building, construction, etc. Timber exports are a sourcefor foreign exchange for many countries.

Africa’s forests are being threatened by a combination of sev-eral factors — agricultural expansion, commercial harvesting,increased firewood collection, inappropriate land and treetenure regimes, encroachment, heavy livestock grazing and

poaching, and accelerated urbanisation and industrialisation.Illegal logging, drought, civil wars and bush fires add to thewoes. Of late, severe wildfires, windstorms and commercialharvesting of bush meat have posed great threats to the forestsand wildlife in Africa. The following examples highlight thecauses and repercussions of various activities on the forestcover.! In the densely populated areas of West and Central Africa largeareas under forests have been converted to cash-crops and subsistence cul-tivation. In Central Africa, vast tracts have low population densities butextensive forests. Animal husbandry is an important practice inarid/semi-arid regions and nomadism is the adaptation to seasonal vari-ations in availability of fodder and water. Savannah woodlands havebeen converted for rain-fed agriculture. The pattern of land use has adirect bearing on forests and forestry, esp. deforestation and the nature offorests. The chitemene (a system of shifting agriculture in Central and

Southern Africa) and tavy slash-and-burn agri-culture in Madagascar are responsible for forestloss. To improve their own economic conditions,many peasants planted higher-yielding crops thatrequire the nutrients released by freshly slashed-and burned forests. ! 1997 and1998 were the worst years report-ed for wildfires and forest fires in recent times.Major fires occurred in 2000 in Ethiopia, east-ern Mediterranean and western USA. InEthiopia it was due to the delayed onset of therainy season and increasing land use pressure.Burning to clear agricultural land in the montane

forests in the southern part of the country has given rise to large-scale wild-fires and by the end of April 2000, more than 1, 00,000 ha of forestarea have been affected or destroyed. In 2000; 200 m ha were burnt inAfrica south of the equator. It must be borne in mind however that tra-ditionally, fire has been used as a land management tool. ! Throughout Africa there is a heavy demand for firewood, charcoaland roundwood. Oil exploration and mining in Central and WesternAfrica are the other causes for deforestation. Losses have been particu-larly high in countries like Uganda, where the forest and woodland covershrunk from an estimated 45 percent of total area in 1900 to only 7.7percent by 1995. ! On a commercial level, logging has increased greatly in CentralAfrica. West African firms have cut through their own forests. The sit-uation changed rapidly after the 1994 devaluation of the African francby 50 percent under the Structural Adjustment Program. Prior to deval-uation, the difficulties of access, transport, and dealing with unstable gov-ernments, as well as overvalued currency had made Central Africa a rel-atively expensive place to operate and slowed investments in timberindustries. After devaluation, production costs fell and logging in CentralAfrica became more competitive. As Asian and European timber firmsmoved into the region, logging operations increased manifold. Between1990 and 1997, the volume of timber exported annually from theCongo Basin increased ten-fold to 2 million cubic meters. ! Logging roads are opening vast areas of forest to colonists and poach-ers. Fragmentation leads to loss of contact with part of the ecosystem nec-essary to maintain regeneration and full biodiversity. Illegal and corruptactivities threaten the tropical forests. In some cases due to trade liberali-sation and globalisation, illegal logging and trade appear to be on the rise.

1997 1999 Net changeAssessment Assessment

Dense forest 3,67,260 3,77,358 +10,098Open forest 2,61,310 2,55,064 -6,246Mangrove 4,827 4,871 +44Total Forest 6,33,397 6,37,293 3896Scrub 57,211 51,896 -5,315Non-forest 2,596,655 2,598,074 +1419

Source: State of Forest Report, 1999

Table-8 : Forest Area Change — India

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Governments, NGOs and, private sectorinstitutions are trying to stem illegal activities. ! Habitat degradation caused by these fac-tors and the over-exploitation of wildlife aremajor factors contributing to local depletionof forest-based wildlife populations.Underlying causes include poverty, popula-tion growth, markets and trade in forestproducts, and macro-economic policies.

In India, under the British rule, thecharacter and extent of forests changedas demand increased for specific typesof wood. The trend of decreasing for-est cover continued and today, withthe population crossing the one bil-lion mark, further degradation of for-est areas is envisaged. The main rea-sons for forest loss in India are shiftingcultivation, expansion of agriculturallands, encroachment, fuel wood depletion and tree felling.There are a number of factors responsible for the decline inthe plant cover: ! Biotic pressure — grazing, lopping, reduction in forest area, shifting cultivation, hydro-electric projects, quarrying, road constructionand fire.! Process of natural selection and elimination.! Natural phenomena — landslides, long periods of rain or drought,shifting sand-dunes, avalanches.

Impacts of deforestation include habitat loss and fragmen-tation, loss in biodiversity, climate change, desertification, andadverse effects on human forest inhabitants. Fragmentationnot only reduces the area of organisms but exposes them tostressful environmental conditions. Endemic species, espe-cially, are at great risk, and prolonged exposures to adverseconditions may lead to their extinction. It is estimated that asa result of habitat destruction, about 10,000 species maybecome extinct each year, which is unprecedented in all of geo-logical history of species. Other impacts include :! Forest dwellers, often the poorest and the most vulnerable mem-bers of the society, are deprived of their homes and livelihood. ! Fuel wood is harder to obtain, land is eroded, lakes and dams are silted.! The risk of global warming increases as trees shrink in numbers. ! Biological diversity is reduced as plants and animals become extinct.! Over the coming years new and emerging threats including climatechange, unchecked spread of alien/introduced species, uncontrolledexpansion of cities. Pollution from cars and industry are likely to aggra-vate the levels of poverty, environmental decline and ill-health.

Responses to Threats

Today, deforestation programs focus on the major rain-forests of the tropics. There is an acute need for developmentwith minimum harm to the environment. Sustainable devel-opment is a process of change in which the exploitation ofresources, the direction of investments, the orientation of tech-

nological and institutional change are all in harmony andenhance both current and future potential to meet humanneeds and aspirations. The concept of sustainability has deephistoric roots in forestry. Today, it has evolved to encompasswider issues and values. It is now seen as a multi-purpose man-agement of the forest so that it’s overall capacity to providegoods and services is not diminished, and genetic resources,biodiversity and environment are protected and preserved.

According to the FAO definition — “Forest Managementdeals with the overall administrative, economic, legal, social,technical and scientific aspects related to natural and cultivat-ed forests. It implies various degrees of deliberate human inter-vention, ranging from action aimed at safeguarding and main-taining the forest ecosystem and its functions, to favouringgiven socially or economically valuable species or groups ofspecies for the improved production of goods and environ-mental services. Sustainable forest management will ensurethat the values derived from the forest meet present-day needswhile at the same time ensuring their continued availabilityand contribution to long-term development needs”.

Forest Management involves several initiatives like — ! Preparing national and regional conservation strategies;! Laying down a policy for environmental planning and rationalland use allocation;! Improving the capacity to manage and provide for legislation andorganisation;! Providing facilities for training and research’ ! Building support for conservation through the participation andeducation of public;! Conservation built on rural development.

Many high-level decision makers however still view forestsas obstacles to progress. Forest governance systems are evolv-ing rapidly, together with the respective roles and responsi-bilities of government, the private sector and civil society.Recent technical, policy and institutional measures to improveforest management and conservation reflect a move to balancesocial, economic and environmental objectives.

Efforts to reduce timber harvesting in natural forests and to



develop alternate sources of industrial wood, improved har-vesting practices, reduction of illegal forest activities andincreasing community-based forest management are thetrends in many of the developing countries. In addition, thereis rising private sector and foreign investment in plantation.While economic benefits are critical, other benefits are alsoimportant, esp. those related to the environment. A numberof organisations — both national and international, non-gov-ernmental included — are pursuing efforts to strengthen thecapacity to implement sustainable forest management. Butpolicy and legal changes have often not been sustained. Severalorganisations like the World Resources Institute (WRI), WWF,Conservation International, IUCN, WCMC and BirdlifeInternational have attempted to identify the most significanttropical forest sites in terms of biological diversity.

The past few years have seen a strengthening of inter-gov-ernment deliberations on forestat international level andincreasing regional co-opera-tion regarding trade and techni-cal issues. IntergovernmentalPanel on Forests (IPF),Intergovernmental Forum onForests (IFF) and the UnitedNations Forum on Forests(UNFF) had as their mandatethe promotion of sustainablemanagement, conservation anddevelopment of all types offorests to strengthen long-termpolitical commitment. Progressresulted in the implementationof important conventions likeConvention of BiologicalDiversity, FrameworkConvention on Climate Change and Convention to CombatDesertification, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora, African Convention on theConservation of Nature and Natural Resources 2003, WorldHeritage Convention, Forest Stewardship Council andInternational Tropical Timber Agreement. The GlobalEnvironment Facility (GEF) is an important internationalfunding mechanism for conservation in developing countries.

The changes that have occurred over the last decade havebeen described as a paradigm shift in the planning and man-agement of protected areas. Attributes of the old paradigmincluded monopolistic control by a central government, pro-tectionist policies, exclusion of local communities and fre-quently the prohibition of traditional uses of wildlife resources.The involvement of communities in forest management isnow a significant feature of national forest policy and practiceand internationally supported forestry programs throughoutthe world. National forestry agencies are commonly under-going decentralisation and restructuring. Faced with inade-quate financial and human resources, the government isincreasingly turning to local communities to assist them in

protecting and managing state-owned forests. Important lessons are emerging from experiences in com-

munity-based management in Asia and Africa that can assistcurrent and future initiatives.

In Africa, policy and legal changes and implementation onthe ground are gaining momentum. The approach is differ-ent from the user centred model of India. Secure tenurialarrangements and a clear understanding of roles and respon-sibilities are of primary importance. Incentives would be fargreater if more productive, rather than degraded forests aregiven to communities. The concept of community participa-tion in forest resource management has found wider accep-tance than was the case a decade ago.

The private sector in forestry is undergoing structuralchanges owing in part to the effects of globalisation. The pri-vate sector now owns or controls significant forest areas world-

wide. International support isplaying an important role insupporting efforts by countriesin conservation and sustainabledevelopment.

Conservation of biodiversityis being addressed with a risingsense of urgency and a widerange of initiatives have takenplace. Making progress in thisdirection will require research,experimentation, thought, dis-cussion and commitment frompolicy to the field level.Innovative approaches haveemerged. There are two majorcategories of strategies to con-serve biodiversity — in situ andex situ. Ex situ is feasible for

only a small number of species. In situ entails conservation bothinside and outside protected areas, protected areas being thecornerstone of conservation. Ten percent of the world’s forestsare located within protected areas. The designation of many wasbased on criteria other than biodiversity such as scenic, recre-ational, historical or cultural significance. Also, they may be vul-nerable to pollution, encroachment and illegal hunting. Manysuggest that species-rich ‘hotspots’ should be the priority ofconservation efforts. Sites with higher volume of species, highendemism, or areas with species of evolutionary significance,or areas of ecological representativeness are often selected forprotection. Protected areas too are subjected to threats likeencroachment, hunting/fishing, logging/fuel wood collection,livestock grazing, mining, fire, road building, etc.

Initiatives in Africa

Efforts to introduce systematic management of naturalforests in Africa have a long history. Most have focused on reg-ulating, harvesting and managing forests for sustained yield.Political, social and economic changes have overshadowedthese efforts and today very little natural forest area is proper-

Tropical deforestation and degradation of forests in many

parts of the world are negativelyaffecting the availability of forest

goods and services. Direct causesinclude insect pests and diseases,fire, over-harvesting of industrialwood, fuel wood and other forest

products, mismanagement of production forests, including poorharvesting practices, overgrasing,

air pollution, and extreme conditions such as storms.

55



ly managed in Africa for sustenance. Forests in protected areascover about five percent of Africa’s total forest cover. EastAfrica has the largest proportion of its land under protection(more than 12 percent).

The fight against crime and corruption include elementssuch as the creation of a stronger monitoring and enforcementsystem, more transparent decision-making processes, simplerlaws that reduce regulation and the discretionary power ofindividual government officers, severe punishments and aboveall, the effective involvement of civil society and of progres-sive private sector corporations. Private sector involvement inforestry in Africa varies considerably. In some sectors such aslogging, forest plantation management, wood processing andtrade, wildlife-based tourism, it is strong.

The emerging trend in Africa, esp. in Gambia and UnitedRepublic of Tanzania is to support the custodial interests ofthe forest-adjacent community as they would ensure that theforest/woodland does not become degraded. Linkages betweenconservation and tenure form the basis for more focused activ-ities. The local communities as stakeholders address a rangeof forest management goals, including forest protection, pro-duction and poverty alleviation, or economic benefits.

Knowledge and awareness in Eastern and Southern Africahas been enhanced through reviews on community involve-ment management. Community-based management systemsare very much in a stage of evolution and the transformationof forest management to community-based stakeholder is achallenge. There is little experience in collaborative manage-ment in which multi-interest stakeholders work togethereffectively in decision-making and planning at the local level.

Several binding international and regional instruments arein force. A few are listed below:! The Central African Forest Treaty ! USAID Central African Regional Program for the Environment(CARPE). ! NEPAD (New partnership for Africa’s Development). ! Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) — initiated by AfricanForestry and Wildlife Commission and the Near East ForestryCommission — coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organisationof the UN as a collaborative effort involving all African countries, the

African development Bank, European Commission and various region-al and sub regional organisations. FOSA complements other nationalforest programs. ! Southern African Development Community (SADC).! East Africa Forest Network (EAFORNET) with technical andfinancial support by IUCN.! Bush meat Crisis Task Force and Ape Alliance are NGOs try-ing to address the problem of bush meat crisis.

Today there is a move towards decentralisation and devolution. CAMPFIRE in Zimbabwe is an example of CBC (community-based conservation). The institutionalenvironment is dominated by (i) a public sector whose capacity is continually being eroded, (ii) a poorly developedmarket mechanism controlled by a small private sector with short term profit maximisation as the main objective and(iii) a growing informal sector whose limited access toresources and technology results in over-exploitation of resources. The majority of the people are un-empoweredand thus unable to play a positive role.

Initiatives in India

Forest plantations are important forest resources, within oroutside forest reserves. The earliest plantation in India wasdone in 1840 at Nilambur in Kerala where the native speciesteak was planted. Regular planting, mainly of teak, took offfrom 1865 in many teak growing central and southernprovinces. Eucalyptus was introduced in the Nilgiri Hills ofthe present Tamil Nadu state in 1858. Plantation of othernative species was accelerated after the Taungya system wasintroduced in 1911. Plantations, however, did not cover exten-sive areas until 1950.

The National Forest Policy of India was introduced in 1952, through which both the environmental benefits and commercial value of forests were stressed. Plannedafforestation for soil conservation and for production of industrial raw material as well as fuel wood and fodder started in the late 1950s. Industrial plantations were mainly raised within the recorded forest area after clear felling the economically less important forests. The practice



continued up to the fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79). In 1970, the National Commission of Agriculture pre-

scribed a generalised policy of employment generation to min-imise encroachment into forested areas. After the establish-ment of the Forest Development Corporations in the State andlaunching of Social Forestry Projects with the assistance ofexternal donors, massive afforestation started in 1979. Whilethe Forest Corporations continued planting industriallyimportant species after clear felling of the commercially lessvalued forests, most of the plantations under Social Forestrywere done outside the forest reserves, along rail, road andcanal sides, other Government wastelands, in private farmlands with short rotation species.

Large-scale community-based initiatives began in SouthAsia in 1980s. Under JFM in India generally degraded forestsare placed under community management, while the moreproductive forests remain under thecontrol of the state. The communityprovides labour and protection toimprove the degraded areas and toallow the forest to regenerate. Thestate receives a revitalised forest and alarge share of the income from timberand other resources. The communitygains access to areas that were denied(officially) for the gathering ofNWFPs and a portion of the incomegenerated from the sale of timber. Thisis a user-centred cooperation.

The 1980 Forest (Conservation) Actintroduced laws for forest protectionand encouragement of afforestationactivities, but failed to focus on the rela-tionship between forests and the tribalpopulation dependent on them.Hence, in 1982, a Committee onforests and tribals in India was established. It emphasised theneed for people’s participation in forest conservation and man-agement, esp. by the forest-dwellers, as they possessedimmense traditional knowledge and wisdom. Plantationforestry received further impetus when a National WastelandDevelopment Board (NWDB) was created in 1985. NWDBhas thrust areas that include regeneration of degraded forests,greening of public lands and encouragement of farm forestry.The planted area is reported by the National Afforestation andEco-development Board (NAEB) under the Union Ministryof Environment and Forests.

A new thinking emerged in 1988 in the form of a NationalForest Policy replacing the old policy. This policy was enacted eight years following the establishment of theDepartment of Environment by the Indian government of India, and the subsequent shift of the Forest Departmentto the Ministry of Environment and Forests from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Conservation and environmental stability are the main areas of focus with varied suggestion for their implementation. The most significant recommendation has been preservation of 33 per-

cent of the geographical area under forest cover.India has taken concrete steps like creation of protected

areas, botanical gardens, seed orchards, seed strands and geneplasms for conserving and preserving both flora and fauna.Protected areas have been designated for management, pro-tection and conservation of biodiversity. There are 87 nation-al parks and 484 wildlife sanctuaries with total areas of 4.06 mha and 11.54 m ha respectively. These together constitute 4.74percent of the geographic area of the country and are referredto as Protected Areas (PA).

In addition, 11 biosphere reserves have also been createdwith a geographical area of 4.3 m ha for nature conservationwith scientific research, environmental monitoring, educa-tion, training and demonstration. It functions as an open sys-tem and people living within it are part of the reserve, with nochanges being made of land-holding or land use.

National parks and wildlife sanctuariesare set aside for conservation and protect-ing wildlife including both flora and faunaand soil and water therein. Strict vigilanceon the wild animals for their protectionand security is the main aim here.

Trees outside forests (TOF) have been making major contributions in meeting the needs of timber, small timberand fuel wood in our country. In the absence of assessment of this “invisi-ble” resource in the past, reliable informa-tion is not available.

The shift in philosophy from revenueforestry to people’s forestry has resulted inthe setting up forest protection commit-tees in various parts of the country tomaintain a vigil over forests. People’s par-ticipation in afforestation programs hasmade authorities change their approach

from energy forestry to need-based forestry.

Issues and Problems

Where population densities are low, there is a relatively low rate of deforestation. But a high density of population coupled with high dependence on land leads to land use conflicts in most countries. Resource use conflicts are severein savannah woodlands, because of low productivity andintense demands. Complexity increases because of varioussystems of resource use. Management plans are available fora negligible fraction of the area. Forests are important for localcommunities but their low commercial value makes themless attractive for investment.

The involvement of local communities and entrepreneursas owners of logging operations is very limited. A substantialproportion of the timber industry is dominated by outsideinterests. Foreign companies have initiated numerous infras-tructure projects to cater to their own interests. Peasants andcolonists do not necessarily benefit from the inflow of foreignfirms. Small economic circles of the economic elite share the

The involvement of localcommunities andentrepreneurs as owners of logging operations is very

limited. A substantialproportion of the timberindustry is dominated by outside interests.Foreign companies

have initiated numerousinfrastructure projects

to cater to their own interests.

57



vast majority of benefits from logging, oil extraction and min-ing and virtually no benefits are returned to the people whoare impacted the most by these development projects. Howmuch of the foreign aid actually reaches those for whom it ismeant is a matter of concern.

Most timber leaves the countries as raw logs since environmental regulations are poorly enforced. Logs continue to be the preferred currency of political patronage in many countries.

The current policy emphasises on the importance of in situconservation of biodiversity of plants and animals. As forestdwellers continue to live in 56 percent of parks and 72 percentof sanctuaries, legal and illegal grazing in forest-land notwith-standing the carrying capacity of conserved area, continues tocause havoc. Timber extraction too continues in many ofthem. These are basic problems of socio-economic condi-tions in developing countries vis-à-vis need for conservationfor sustainable development.

Growing populations, poverty, armed conflicts, high levelsof national debt, natural disasters and diseases, political insta-bility and corruption have all taken their toll not only on thepeople but also the rich natural environment.

The African forest scene has been facing several problemsthanks to a weak public sector, imperfectly developed marketforces, and an expanding informal sector. Low economicgrowth rates and continued dependence on land will causedeforestation to be high.

As forest-based informal sector is slated to grow, resourcedepletion will be a major problem. It is feared that other prob-lems would surface e.g. illegal logging and trade in wildlife.The growing involvement of organisations like Green Peace,Global Witness, Environmental Investigation Agency andGlobal Forest Watch Initiative, could help track internationalnetwork of illegal logging and facilitate preventive and cor-rective actions.

All indications are that deforestation in Africa will contin-ue as a result of agricultural expansion, forest conversion formining and other activities, and for wood production, includ-ing fuel wood, to meet the growing urban demand. Individualregions have their own sets of factors that will have somerepercussion on the forest cover :! Being economically poor, the East African region offers limited oppor-tunities for diversification. Thus rate of deforestation is unlikely to decline. ! Due to extension of agriculture, deforestation may increase in Angolaand Mozambique. ! In Central Africa most of the reduction in forest cover has taken place in Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. As logging expands and accessibility improves, there will be strong incen-tives for commercial and subsistence cultivation. Another factor is log-ging of easily accessible secondary forests as marketability of speciesimproves due to technological advances. Cash-crop farming may also bea cause for the same.

Differences in driving forces and complex cross-sectorallinkages make it difficult to give precise indication of the futurechanges in forest cover.

Though many countries have agreed to conventions of pro-tection of biodiversity, these are not enforced in practice. Most

governments lack funds and technical know-how to makethese projects a reality. Funding comes from foreign sectors,70-75 percent of forestry being funded by external resources.Population growth exceeds three percent annually and com-bined with poverty it makes it difficult for the government tocontrol local subsistence clearing and hunting.

Equally challenging is the debt obligation most countriesface. The easiest and most expedient way for such govern-ments to service these debt payments is to sell their forestproducts and resources.

In the next two decades it is feared, that if forests are lost atthe current rates, there will be negligible efforts to apply sus-tainable forest management. The increasing demand for fuelwood and the high urban consumption would deplete forestand woodland resources in the vicinity of urban centres. Therewould be a decline in the state of the environment, esp. exac-erbation of the water crisis because of deterioration of water-sheds, with other negative effects such as declining quality andquantity of water supplies and increased siltation of reservoirsand other irrigation facilities. There would also be increasedconflicts in wildlife management undermining the potentialfor expansion of wildlife-based tourism.

Management of forests of Central and West Africa willdepend on global demand for tropical hardwood, with shiftsin direction of trade with emerging markets, ability of gov-ernment to regulate activities of forest industry and enforcecompliance with the principles of sustainable management.Also it will depend on the capacity of local users to manage theresources in a sustainable manner, which will require strength-ening of the institutional technical capabilities. In spite of thepolicy and legal changes made in a number of countries, large-scale woodland management is still a long way off. In theAfrican context where the indigenous private sector is lessdeveloped, privatisation could expand the role of MNCs.

The situation of forests in India is still precarious. Anexploding population and the inability to provide alternativesource of fuel lead to problems and conflicts. As against theworld average of 0.64 hectare of forests per human, an Indianhas only 0.06 (the European has 1.3 and Chinese 0.1 ha)!

Conclusion

The goal of conservation should be to secure present andfuture options by maintaining biological diversity at genetic,species, population and ecosystem levels.

The bioregion approach helps maintain biological com-munities, habitats and ecosystems as well as ecological pro-cesses where the landscape has been fragmented by roads, set-tlements, dams and agricultural development. (A bioregion isa geographic area containing one or more nested ecosystemsand whose boundaries are defined by the limits of ecologicalsystems or human communities.)

The ecosystem approach and ecosystem managementinclude systems thinking, recognition of the complexity anddynamism of ecological and social systems, ecologicallyderived boundaries, consideration of different time scales,adaptive management to deal with changes and uncertainty,



and collaborative decision-making. An interdisciplinary approach is the need of the hour.

Ecologists have started to prioritise the forests richest in bio-logical diversity and most in need of protection. Economistshave a better knowledge of the long-term economic impor-tance of the services provided by intact forest ecosystem. Socialscientists have documented the forest management practicesof local communities and indigenous people, and analysedhow these can be harnessed for the future.

But efforts are needed from countries within and outsideto steer Africa on an environmentally sustainable course.Actions include deeper cuts in Africa’s debt burden, a boostin overseas aid, empowering of local communities, enforcingenvironmental agreements, introducing green and clean tech-nologies, and allowing African countries fair access to inter-national markets for their goods and services.

Africa is undergoing fundamental political and institution-al changes that could gain momentum during the next twodecades with a potential to affect forests and forestry positive-ly. Forest strategies in Africa need to facilitate the GreatTransition. The Great Transition involves the establishmentof democratic institutions that foster the widespread adoptionof participatory approaches to local resource management.Land reforms must adopt improved land practices. The localcapacity to manage resources should be enhanced withoutcompromising sustainability.

Nevertheless there is hope. The Asian economic slowdowndid provide precious time for African nations to re-examinetheir forestry policies. Numerous innovative schemes havebeen devised to incorporate local peoples into the sustainablemanagement of rainforests by the government agencies,NGOs, conservation organisations and private industries.Pressures have been put on the African governments to aban-don tax incentives for practices that encourage deforestation,but provide practically no return to most African people. Theregion with its rich biodiversity and varied landscape has excel-lent potential for ecotourism, though it is faced by a host ofproblems pertaining to infrastructure, political stability, healthand safety. There is ample potential for bio-prospecting forpotentially useful drugs, food products and other NWFPs. Itis expected that with recent economic changes (productionand export of petroleum, liberalisation of economy) and withcurrent efforts toward fuel switching (increased availability ofLPG), the pressure on forests in North Africa will decrease andthus slow down forest cover depletion.

There is awareness, a plan, and some definite progress torectify this situation. It is unlikely, that agricultural land willbe available for expansion of forest cover. The only availableland includes the “culturable wastelands”, covering an area of13.94 m ha, and part of the “fallow land and other than cur-rent fallows”, covering an area of 9.89 m ha, which seem to bepotential areas on which forest cover can be expanded throughafforestation. In addition, efforts will have to be made to raisetrees outside conventional forest areas through innovative agroforestry programmes.

Forestry research simultaneously needs to be given top pri-ority, esp. with respect to increased productivity through bet-

ter silvicultural practices. A substitute to replace wood andwood products and provision of non-conventional energy-based technology or fuel saving technology, must be a prior-ity area in research.

Detailed and accurate knowledge of this resource by area,grouped into species and age classes, their locations, purposeand ownership are essential for rational planning.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,established in 1985, seeks to address a number of problems ofthe people of the region and take steps to promote the welfareof the people and improve their quality of life.

The history of forestry in the two countries shows a great dealof similarity. Co-operations at the regional level among coun-tries that have similar environments and similar problemsshould be able to establish necessary institutional arrangementsand exchange programs. The indigenous people, who havelooked after the forests for centuries with traditional wisdom,can make substantial contributions. Empowering the local pop-ulation, schemes such as the JFMs in India, should yield fruit-ful results. Together with modern technology like remote sens-ing and GIS (Geographical Information System), detailedplans, charts and maps can be drawn. Annual reports on the sta-tus of forests with detailed notes and maps at micro-scales areessential. Working plans, which are the basis for silviculturalactivities in India, can be initiated in the countries of Africa.Maps in India are prepared by varying agencies like the ForestSurvey of India, National Atlas and Thematic MappingOrganisation and the French Institute of Pondicherry, givinga wide spectrum of information on forest related themes.

Clues and cues must be taken from nature to avoid prob-lems such as those associated with exotic species’ plantationsas in the past. Exchanging notes, ideas, technology and expe-riences between the governmental and non-governmentalorganisations of Africa and India may go a long way in arrest-ing deterioration of the forest environment leading to a grad-ual improvement towards stability and sustainability in themanagement and development of natural biotic resource. ■


1. African Development Bank (2003):Forestry Outlook Study for Africa, FAO, Rome.

2. FAO (2001): State of the World’s Forests,Rome.

3. FAO (1993): The Challenge ofSustainable Forest Management.

4. FAO (2003): Forestry Paper 141 —Forestry Outlook Study for Africa, African Forests — A Viewto 2020 and Regional Report, Rome.

5. Hennig, R. C. (2005): Forests andDeforestation in Africa, Afrol News (Internet).

6. Kidd, M.: Forest Issues in Africa(Internet).

7. Negi, S. S. (1994): India’s Forests, Forestryand Wildlife, Indus Publ. Co., New Delhi.

8. Rainforestweb.org9. Rawat, A.S. (1993): Indian Forestry:

A Perspective, Indus Publ. Co., New Delhi.

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A H E A L T H Y A F R I C A


Indian pharmaceutical industry has emergedas a key global player. From net importer atthe time of independence to a majorexporter, pharmaceutical industry has comea long way and has left footprints in all thecontinents. Africa has a special position inIndia’s pharmaceutical exports, because it isjust in continuation of domestic market due

to similar tropical diseases. Indian pharmaceutical industry forAfrica is also a source for affordable generic medicines. Africais high on exporter’s priority in India to which they consider apotential market. With the technical capability and price, Indianpharmaceutical companies are well-positioned to establishthemselves as major players in the continent.

Battling Diseases

The health profile of African countries is deteriorating.Africa has been facing many tropical diseases. The diseases likeMalaria and Tuberculosis are resurfacing with alarming pace.On top of it, Africa is severely affected by diseases like

HIV/AIDS and Ebola Haemorragic fever for which there is noproper treatment/cure or vaccine available. Ironically, on theone hand Africa is facing several difficulties to meet fallinghealth profile, on the other hand it has limited pharmaceuti-cal manufacturing capability. In Africa there is a pharmaceu-tical exigency and can only be met by outside supply.

In Africa, HIV/AIDS has become the greatest health threat.Sub-Saharan Africa has just over ten percent of the world’spopulation, but is home to more than 60 percent of all peopleliving with HIV/Aids. In West and Central Africa the prevail-ing rate of HIV/AIDS infected people is around five percentof the entire population. In North Africa epidemic is stillunder control as in the most countries prevalence rate ofHIV/AIDS is less than one percent. Similar acute problemoccurs in Southern Africa.[1]

As mentioned earlier, Tuberculosis is resurfacing fast inAfrica. Even countries like South Africa, where access tomedicine is comparatively better, it is the most frequentlynotified disease and has been gradually increasing since1993.[2] Malaria is a similar threat. Malaria accounts for 25to 30 percent of all outpatient visits, around 20 to 45 percent

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a long way to go in Africa which continues to suffer from falling

health profile, says Manendra Sahu.

In pursuit of a CURE



of hospital admission and 15 to 35 percent of all hospitaldeaths. Most cases of malaria occur along the river and local-ities closer to water reservoirs.[3] Another burden of diseasein sub-Saharan Africa comes from nutritional deficiency likeVitamin A, Iron and Zinc and underweight which accountsfor around 25 percent of disease, disability and deaths. Womenand young children are the most vulnerable to nutritionaldeficiency.[4]

In the face of surmounting diseases, the drug supply is acutein Africa. The most disturbing is the access to essential drugs.The World Heath Organization (WHO) cites essential drugsas ‘those that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of thepopulations and should therefore be made available at all timein adequate amounts an in appropriate dosage forms.[5] Thereare around 302 medicines and of which 90 percent are offpatent and thus could me made available in reasonable prices.These include medicines like Ibuprofen, Morphine,Mebendazole and Ampicillne. However, a large number ofpopulations do not have access to it. There are several causesto the problem, the important being unfair practices of transna-tional pharmaceutical and lack of physical infrastructure.

The relationship between transnational pharmaceutical andAfrica has remained controversial for many reasons. Themajor constraint for Africa remains the research priorities andmarketing policies of such large corporations. Their researchprograms develop products which are inappropriate for thedisease prevalent in Africa. Their policies of fixation of drugprices are too are manipulative. In these firms, the division oflabour within their parent and subsidiary organizations is lop-sided, important issues like Research and Development andfinancial planning are done at metropolitan centres while activ-ities in subsidiaries are typically limited to marketing.[6]

A large number of countries are less interventionist withrespect to transnational firms because they lack resources,their market size is small thus they provide little inducementfor big firms to bargain prices. These states often lack skilled

manpower like pharmacists, lawyers to effective formulateand implement pharmaceutical legislation. Their capacity tomonitor and enforce compliance too is limited. As theseauthorities not properly equipped, the transnational firmsdeliberately incorporate such lacuna in the marketing tactics,which ultimately affect public safety.[7]

The policy of pricing of transnational firms is based on whatthe market will bear and not in relations to the cost of pro-duction and distribution. Manufacturing cost of drugs are lowin relation to total costs, typically under 40 percent and fre-quently much lower. A study on the retail sales price of 47French medication carried out in Algeria, Congo (Brazzaville),Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia showed that priceswere higher in sub-Saharan Africa countries than in France.The French companies have long held a monopoly on drugssupplies to these countries. Because the governments ofAlgeria and Tunisia adopted protective national policies, priceswere much lower in these countries than in France. Thetransnational companies minimize the declared profit by trans-ferring price as the factor of production when their subsidiariesbuy from the parent company. Sometimes such inflation ofcost of product can reach almost absurd level.[8] These firmssome times enter into marketing of dangerous or obsoletedrugs without inadequate indication of use. The role of NGOsis important in terms of providing health services. However,in large cases the planning is done outside of Africa withouttaking full needs of to be beneficiary community. As a resultin the participation and even benefit to the community isbelow expectation.

Africa too suffers an acute problem of health professionalsand infrastructure. Cameroon lost 35 percent of medicines inits central medial stores due to poor storage condition and poorinventory control which could not maintain the date of expiryof medicine. Similarly, Guinea estimated a loss of 70 percentthe government drug supply between the central medical storesand health centre. Improvement in inventory management is

61



helpful as shown in Kenya which reduced losses from 25 per-cent to less than five percent due to improved technique.[9]

The Africa has too less number of health professionals.There are only 2 health workers per 1000 people in Africa. TheWHO estimates that more than 4 million health workers areneeded in Africa.[10] However the flow of health workersfrom Africa to developed world is alarming, almost a fifth ofdoctors trained in sub-Saharan Africa are working in suchcountries. This problem is compounded by several low inten-sity wars fought in Africa. These wars totally bring down thepublic health system, mainly primary health centres.Sometimes deliberate attack is made on health care centres andeven on health workers.[11]

The pharmaceutical production capability is limited on thecontinent. A pharmaceutical base in North Africa is buildingup with the French companies setting up production facilitieswhere traditionally French companies account major phar-maceutical trade. In the rest of Francophone Africa pharma-ceutical production is negligible. The size of African pharma-ceutical market is modest, estimated over $ 6 billion whichconstitutes between 1-1.5 percent of the global market. It isgrowing at a modest rate of 3.3 percent, which is less than theoverall growth rate of the world pharmaceutical industry.[12]

Indian Pharmaceutical Sector

The Indian pharmaceutical sector, as mentioned earlier, wasat a nascent stage at the time of independence. The industrywas rudimentary with small and medium plants which wereproducing elementary products like quinine, aspirin and anti-dysentery drugs. Over the years, it has grown in all directions,now, it has vibrant bulk drug industry, sophisticated pharma-ceutical machinery industry and above all competitive phar-maceutical manufacturing industry. Today India has becomefourth largest pharmaceutical producer in the world andaccounts for Eight percent of the total production in the world.

Indian pharmaceutical industry is over a century old. Thedesire to indigenise the pharmaceutical products was the gen-esis of Indian Pharmaceutical industry. The pioneering com-pany was Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical works inCalcutta and Alembic Chemical work established atBaroda.[13] There were other plants too set up by westernPharmaceutical companies which manufactured formulationsbased on imported bulk drugs.

After the independence, planners were clear about the hugerequirement of medicines by country of big size. The plan-ners were clear that it would require a large resources, machineto build up a strong production base. The pharmaceuticalindustry was seen with the entire industrial section policy withan enthusiasm for rapid expansion. It was clear, the technol-ogy and know how and resources in pharmaceutical compa-nies would come from abroad, thus planners were open to for-eign participation.

The government of India permitted the entry of pharma-ceutical multinational companies to set up units in India. Thegovernment equally emphasized an integrated developmentof pharmaceutical industry starting with the production of

bulk drugs and not merely the production on the basis onimported ingredients. It paved the way for a rapid and diver-sified growth in pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical multinational companies, with theencouragement from the government, set up manufacturingbase in India. They were drawn form the United States,Britain, Germany, Switzerland other European countries. Asignificant change in the structure in industry came aboutwhen the public sector pharmaceutical undertakings expand-ed rapidly. The frontrunner was the Hindustan AntibioticsLimited (HAL) which was established with the technical assis-tance provided by the United Nations agencies. Similarly, theIndian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL) was set upwith the help from the former Soviet Union. The govern-mental share in the pharmaceutical production through pub-lic sector rose to 30 percent by 1972.[14]

Public sector firms gradually became self sufficient in tech-nology. It played an important role in training technocrats, sci-entist and engineers in the field of bulk drugs, which savedsubstantial foreign exchange. They emerged as an alternativeto multinational corporations on which the government wasdependent. They also played a leading role in incubating a largenumber of domestic companies. It shared technology withsmall and large players and helped building a large ancillaryindustries, especially in machine and engineering tools. It isbecause of such initiatives many domestic companies grew andbecame large companies. It is because of such initiatives, todayHyderabad has become the biggest bulk drug producing cen-tre not only in our country by also in Asia.[15]

The pharmaceutical companies in private sector in Indiagrew along with the public sector. They too had modest startbut now they are fast spreading into various continents acrossthe world. The leading companies like Ranbaxy and Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories are emerging as global player.



Ranbaxy has already established its presence with its prod-uct selling in over 70 countries. It has joint ventures andalliance in over 25 countries and manufacturing base in sevencountries. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, the second largest IndianPharmaceutical Company is emerging as a player with provenresearch capability. It exports pharmaceutical products to over60 countries. The other companies like Cipla, SunPharmaceuticals, Lupin and Wokhardt are expanding theiroverseas presence.

India’s Export to Africa

India’s Pharmaceutical exports started, though modest in1960, over the years it became a significant global player. Thepharmaceutical export in 1965- 66 was Rs. 8 Million whichincreased to Rs. 74445 million in in 2003-04. The rate ofgrowth of export in the recent years, have overtaken the rateof growth of domestic pharmaceutical industry. The export ofpharmaceutical to Africa is growing with the time, in factAfrica as a market for pharmaceutical product is growing fasterthan overseas market.

The reason for India’s surging export in pharmaceuticals isattributed to following reasons. The cost of manufacturingdrugs in India is still comparatively cheaper as a result it cancompete in the global market. It is for cheaper rate of pro-duction, Indian companies get better profit margin in theinternational market, including Africa. The export increasesthe market base of the Indian companies, which further addsto profit margin and plant efficiency. There are cheaper bankfinance available for export from several Indian bank, whichremoves problem of finance significantly. Two additionaldomestic problems, drug price control and excise and sales taxdoes not apply on exports. It is a great advantage for the Indianfirm as they further add to profit. Finally, over the years theIndian generic medicine could create international marketreputation for itself, as a result extra effort to push productsare not required. Indian pharmaceutical products are easilyaccepted in Africa.

The export of pharmaceuticals to Africa is growing with thetime. It has grown significantly in Mauritania, Algeria, Togo,and Gabon where it has grown over seven times in the last fiveyears. In the rest of Francophone countries it has grown at leastby three times. Only few countries are exception like Beninwhere it has not grown significantly. In two island states, e.g.,Reunion and Comoros, it has actually declined. In general, itis almost in line with the overall export of pharmaceuticals toAfrica. The unfamiliar French language and culture does notpose major problem to Indian exporters.

India’s export to Africa, generally go through few gatewaysfrom where it is distributed to neighbouring countries. Nigeriain West Africa is a prominent gateway and it distributes toneighbouring Francophone countries along with Anglophonecountries, it is for this reason Nigeria is the largest importerfor Indian pharmaceutical in Africa. Djibouti works as anoth-er gateway to Africa where again pharmaceuticals are dis-tributed to neighbouring countries.

In the export of Pharmaceutical, a fluctuating trend is

observed. It is because trade depends upon tenders which arefloated by the respective government. These tenders general-ly are called on the basis of funds supplied by various UnitedNations agencies or the donor agencies. The funds may notcome every year. Tender, again, is subjected to internationalcompetition and may not come to Indian pharmaceuticalcompanies all the years.

It is clearly observed that economically better placed coun-try like Gabon have modest pharmaceutical imports fromIndia. Gabon has high per capita income and ability to pro-vide better health services to population in comparison to sev-eral other African countries. It can afford drugs supplied bymultinational firms as against cheaper drugs supplied byIndian pharmaceutical companies.

Indian Pharma Exporters : A survey

The survey was conducted to examine the opinion of phar-maceutical export professionals about Africa. It was based ona questionnaire and followed by interview. There was nearunanimity about the prospects for Indian pharmaceuticalproducts are high. The reasons as mentioned earlier, similarpatterns of tropical disease and low production base.

To access market and to establish clients, the export pro-fessionals employ a mixed strategy. The country visit is com-pulsory as indicated by professionals. All of them visit Africa,on a regular basis to study the prospects of their products andto locate actual buyer. They prefer establishing products in acountry before shifting to other countries. The products theysell in Africa are generally their established products in thedomestic Indian market. In order to access market, a lot of helpis sought through Indian professional contacts. Exchange ofinformation and views among fellow professionals is com-monly observed. These information are based on first handexperience and thus are authentic. The information about thenature of a particular African country, prospects for productsand the information about the local buyer are sought from fel-low professional before entering into final negotiation.

The help of export promotion council, chamber of com-merce are of not significant help to access market. ThePharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL)is a dedicated export promotion council of the government ofIndia, however professional do not find it very effective interms of market access. Similarly, other chambers of com-merce are also not commonly of support to access AfricanMarket. Professionals prefer exhibition and buyer seller meetas a tool to access market, however they are not frequentlyorganized. Professionals emphasize the need to have moresuch events. Finally, Internet is the least preferred way toaccess market.

Indian pharmaceutical exporters prefer two methods ofdoing business in Africa, though its own established offices andthrough a local partner/ buyer. However, the later option gen-erally preferred as it offers advantages. The cost of establish-ing office is higher and unless substantial volume of businessis regularly done, establishing office becomes unviable. Thelocal partner takes care of liasoning with local authorities like

63



customs and drug controlling authorities efficiently.The customs and drug controlling authorities, both in India

as well in the African countries are important factor in export.The professionals indicated that they faced no major problemwith either of customs or drug controlling authorities.However, the concerns about the increasingly stringent reg-ulations adopted by the African drug authorities were raised.The registration of drug is also getting costlier over the peri-od of time. In the financial transactions, letter of credit is pre-ferred mode of transaction. Cash in advance is too sought inAfrica however credit and loans are negligible in Africa.Professionals repel popular notion that doing business inAfrica is risky, however they suggest necessary precaution.The most important precaution professionals observe is thatthe letter of credit are issued from the banks from UnitedStates or from countries of European origin. They generallydo not prefer letter of credit from African or Indian bank. Inthe case when letter of credit is extended through Africanbanks, they prefer to endorse it by Banks from United Statesor Europe.

The interaction with the Indian governmental is mixed.The interaction with PHARMEXCIL is rated low to medi-um. It is not so supportive in market related information,access or as a group of collective bargain. The Export ImportBank of India (EXIM Bank) is second vital organization, how-ever professional have low interaction with the bank. Similarly,the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC)to have low interaction among pharmaceutical exporters. The

ECGC policies are seen as extra cost to the export whichdirectly affect the profit margin. However, need base policyare sought from the ECGC to mitigate risk. The interactionwith Indian Embassies/High commissions too is rated low.There appears to be a division among approaches to the gov-ernmental agencies. The bigger export establishment interactswith higher frequency whereas small and medium enterpris-es are not so forthcoming. There is no unanimity among pro-fessionals about the competitors for Indian pharmaceuticalcountries. The views differed from person to person based onthe product they export. The competitors are seen fromChina, South East Asian countries and multinational compa-nies. However, there is unanimity that, Indian companies arethe biggest competitors for other Indian companies in Africa.

Conclusion

The Indian pharmaceutical sector is well placed to com-pete in the global market. It has achieved technical capabili-ty and has a large pool of technically qualified manpower tocompete globally. Above all, the cost of production is muchcheaper in India in comparison to its competitors. It is forabove mentioned factors that African nations are attractedtowards Indian companies. However, it is far short of desiredlevel as Africa continues to suffer from falling health profileand would require more and more affordable medicines.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a long way to goin Africa.

1. The gravity is further compounded because women aremore affected by HIV/AIDS. For every 10 infected men, onaverage 13 women are infected and the gap widens. Further,women are being infected at earlier ages than men. There are,on average, 36 young women living with HIV/AIDS for every10 young men in sub-Saharan Africa. This has dire conse-quences, as subsequent generations will be affected by it.(Regional AIDS/HIV data taken from www.unaids.org.)2. V. Pllay, G. Swinglu, P. Matchaba, J. Volmink, Evidence foraction? Patterns of Clinical and Public Health Research onTuberculosis in South Africa,1994-1998, International Journalof Tuberculosis Lung Disease, Vol.5, No. 10, 2001 pp. 946-951.3. Africa Research Bulletin, vol. 43, no. 2, April 1st-30th 2006.4. Rachel D. Hampshire (et. al), Delivery of Nutrition Servicein Health System in Sub Saharan Africa: Opportunity inBurkina Faso, Mozambique and Niger, Public HeathNutrition, Vol. 7, No. 4, May 2004, pp. 1047-1053.5. Machel R. Reich, the Global Drug Gap, Science, NewSeries, Vol. 287, No. 5460, ( March 17 2000), pp. 1979-1981.6. Malcom J. Grieve, Pharmaceutical Polic Process in Sierra Leone, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol.19, No.3,1985, pp. 589-613.

7. ibid. pp. 589-613.8. Meredeth Turshen, “Reprivatizing Pharmaceutical Suppliesin Africa”, Journal of Public Health Policy, Vol. 22, No.2,2001, pp. 198-225.9. ibid. pp. 198-225.10. op. cit. F.N. 3.11. Philippa Easterbrook, the Health Impact of “Low IntensityConflict”, Journal of Public Health Policy, Vol.11, No.3,Autumn, 1990, pp.277-280.12. Pharmaceutical consumption in Africa is skewed. Themost affluent population group incurs 70 percent of drugexpenditure in value term and 30 percent in volume term.Thus affluent section gets specialized health care whereasmojority of population depends on general medicines whichare too difficult to get. Africa Pharmaceutical sector develop-ment, World Pharmaceutical Market (Princeton), July 2003.13. The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical work was estab-lished by Acharya P.C. Ray in 1991. The Alembic was estab-lished by T. K. Gujjar and B.D. Amin in 1907 in Baroda.Narayana P. L., The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry:Problems and Prospects, New Delhi, NACER, 1984, p. 34.14. Ibid. p. 43.15. Kohlli J.P.S., Sen A.G., Pharmaceutical Exports, NewDelhi, Business Horizon, 1997, pp. 204-209.



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5. BombayTigerAuthor: Kamala MarkandayaPublisher: Penguin VikingPrice: Rs.495.00

6. The Bad GirlAuthor: MorioVargas LlosaPublisher: Faberand FaberPrice: Rs.495.00

7. Protect &Defend

Author: Vince FlynnPublisher: Simon & Schuster Price:Rs.525.00

8. 7th HeavenAuthor: James Patterson with MaxinePaetroPublisher: CenturyPrice: Rs.495.00

9. AMMI Letter to a DemocraticMotherAuthor: Saeed MirzaPublisher: TranquebarPrice:Rs.Rs.395.00

10. WorldWithout EndAuthor: KenFollettPublisher:MacmilanPrice:Rs.995.00

(Source: Bahri Sons, New Delhi, www.booksatbahri.com. All the books listed above are available online)

The fascination with Rhonda Byrne’s phenomenally successful inspirational book, ‘The Secret’, topping the non-fiction category, continues, while Manil Suri’s ‘The Age of Shiva’, tops the fiction category.

Bestsellers in India

COLLECTOR’S ITEM



A School Like Mine: A Unique Celebration ofSchools Around the WorldBy Unicef; Dorling Kindersley, U.K.; 80 pp;Hardback; £14.99 WHAT’S IT like learning maths in China? Arethe games children in Mexico play different to theones you like best? Children from Africa to theAmericas explain in their own words what schoollife is like for them. Find out how some things arejust the same as at your school, and how others are very different. Did you knowthat in Japan, children have lunch in their classrooms? or that in Peru childrensay prayers in the classroom every day? Meet kids from all over the world, visittheir families, friends and teachers, see what school life is like throughout theday in each country and find out what lessons they like (and which ones theydon’t).

Le Chateau: The Lives of Prisoners inRwanda By Carina Tertsakian, ArvesBooks, U.K.; 501pp; Paperback;£20.00

TELLS THEstory of life inRwanda’s pris-ons in the tenyears whichfollowed the1994 genocide.In 2004,around 85,500 people were detainedin Rwanda. Many have spent morethan ten years in prison withoutbeing tried. Every aspect of prisonlife is defined by overcrowding andhardship: the standard width of aprisoners living space is 40 centime-tres; many sleep outside, exposed tothe sun and the rain; family visits lastjust three minutes. Yet prisonershave succeeded in imposing order onchaos, and the prisons are effective-ly run by the prisoners themselves,through a highly efficient hierarchi-cal system which mirrors the societyoutside. This book presents a vividportrait of humanity pushed to theextreme: an intense and disturbingpicture of suffering, ruthlessness,creativity, humour and resilience.

The Hyena and Other MenBy Pieter Hugo, AdetokunboAbiola, Prestel, Germany; 80pp;Hardback; £25.00

MANY MYTHS surround theHyena Men who haunt the periph-eries of Nigeria’s cities. Accompa-nied by hyenas and rock pythons,they earn a living by performingbefore crowds and selling tradition-al medicines. Pieter Hugo’s extraor-dinary portraits of their liminal exis-tence reveal an uncanny world ofcomplex, co-dependent relation-ships, where familiar distinctionsbetween dominance and submission,tradition and modernity are con-stantly subverted. WhileAdetokunbo Abiola explains the tra-ditions and mystique behind theHyena Men practice.

■■ Bringing Potential to Light

Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition in War By Stephen C. Lubkemann; Chicago U P, USA;401 pp; Paperback; £13.99

FOUGHT AFTER a decade of armed struggleagainst colonialism, the Mozambican civil war last-ed from 1977 to 1992, claiming hundreds of thou-sands of lives while displacing millions more. Asconflicts across the globe span decades and gener-ations, Lubkemann suggests that we need a freshperspective on war when it becomes the context fornormal life rather than an exceptional event thatdisrupts it. This book calls for a new point of depar-ture in the ethnography of war that investigates howthe inhabitants of war zones live under trying new

conditions and how culture and social relations are transformed as a result.Focusing on how Ndau social networks were fragmented by wartime displace-ment and the profound effect this had on gender relations, and demonstratinghow wartime migration and post-conflict return were shaped by social strugglesand interests that had little to do with the larger political reasons for the war,Lubkemann contests the general assumption that wartime migration is alwaysinvoluntary.

Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from AfricaBy Stuart Franklin; Thames & Hudson,U.K.; 168pp; Paperback; £19.95

OVER THE course of numerous voyagesto the Omo Valley, Hans Silvester becamefascinated by the beauty of the Surma,Mursi, Hamer and Kurma peoples, whoshare a taste for body painting and extrava-gant decorations borrowed from nature. Forthese people, flesh becomes a raw materialon which wonderfully inventive decorativefantasies can be played out. Hans Silvester’s photographs capture these accou-trements to form a parade of African fashion that is as rich as it is ephemeral.

69



Beyond Equalities 2005: Women in South AfricaBy Southern African Research & DocumentationCentre; Zimbabwe; 116 pp; Paperback; £22.95

THIS NATIONAL gender profile describes SouthAfrica’s progress and challenges in achieving women’sempowerment and gender equality goals. It measuresthe South African governments achievements againstits stated commitments both within its supreme legis-lation — the Constitution, its policies, the legislativeframework it has put in place, as well as the interna-tional agreements it is party to. It also assesses theimpact of the institutional mechanisms for women’s

advancement that South Africa has put in place since 1994.

In Black and White: The Jake WhiteStoryBy Jake White & Craig Ray;Zebra Press, U.K.; 342 pp;Paperback; £12.99

TRACES THE life story ofSpringbokrugby coachJake White,right up toand includingthe 2007Rugby WorldCup. Thefirst man tocoach theSpringboksfor four suc-cessive sea-sons, White’srise to the topjob in SA Rugby is a journey ofintense determination to succeedagainst all odds: a troubled child-hood, coming to terms with the factthat he would never wear a provin-cial or Springbok blazer, starting outas a school coach, to his eventual ele-vation to arguably the toughest job inworld sport.

Tale of an African WomanBy Thomas Jing; Langaa Rpcig,Cameroon; 332 pp; Paperback; £14.95

THE VILLAGE of Yakiri has been cursedby ancestral wrath because of the treatment ofYaa, the first girl who wrestled her malegoatherd peers to earn the right to be initiat-ed into the society of manhood. Her struggleis taken up generations later by Yaya, thegranddaughter of Tafan and Wirba. Orphanedlike her forebear, Yaya becomes a star studentin the villages primary school and promises togo far. But, ask the villagers, is it right to investin an education for an African girl who maybecome the property of another village?

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

■■ India-Africa RelationsEmerging Policy and Development PerspectiveBy Dr. V. S. Sheth (Ed); Academic Excellence; Indian; 220pp; Hardback; £40.00

INDIA AND Africa share a rela-tionship that can be traced backto ancient times. Contacts andtrade between the people of theeastern seaboard of Africa and thewestern seaboard of India haveflourished for centuries. In morerecent times, the relationship hasswung from a period of greatemotional and political solidarity

in the 1950s and 1960s to selective engagement in the 1970sand 1980s. With the advent of globalisation and intense inter-dependence, India’s relations with African countries havechanged and acquired a new significance. India-AfricaRelations is an academic assessment by experts of this emerg-ing relationship. U.N. Ambassador Mwelwa C.

Musambachime explores strategic investments needed tosafeguard the future contribution of Africa’s fish sector topoverty alleviation. African economies, according to GirijeshChandra Pant, rest on a rather fragile foundation. Pantstresses on the need to make African nations less reliant onkey industries and look to diversify output and productionto insulate themselves against a downturn in the market.According to Sudha Srivastava, Africa is undergoing funda-mental political and institutional changes that could gainmomentum during the next two decades with a potential toaffect its forests positively. While Africa might not be toolucrative for Indian pharma companies, Manendra Sahubelieves that this market cannot be ignored by Indian phar-ma, which is set to dominate the world pharma space.

(The publishers of Africa Quarterly are thankful to AcademicExcellence and Editor Dr. V.S. Sheth for permission to reprint arti-cles by Mwelwa C. Musambachine, Sudha Srivastava andManendra Sahu from the present volume.)


D O C U M E N T S

Speech by H.E. Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External

Affairs of India, to the Executive Council of the African Union:

25/01/2008

IIthank you for this honour of consulting you and

sharing our conception of the India-AfricaPartnership Forum. India and Africa have a historicrelationship and this has grown into a sustainable

partnership. From our struggle against colonialism andapartheid, we have emerged to jointly accept the chal-lenges of a globalising world. Whether we have to dealwith threats to international peace and security, the threatfrom international terrorism or the scourge of poverty, webelieve that India and Africa traverse the same path, sharethe same values and cherish the same dreams.

We have a vision for a partnership with Africa for the21st century. This vision will take us beyond our strongbilateral relationships. We will forge close ties withregional economic communitiesand develop a new paradigm ofcooperation which will take intoaccount Africa’s own aspirationsfor pan-African institutions anddevelopment programmes.

The theme for this Summit,“Industrial Development ofAfrica”, is perhaps truly significantfor the next stage of the India-Africa partnership. We believe thatlike India, Africa too is movingforward on eradicating povertyand creating employment and abetter life for the people, and tobecome an important part of theemerging world trade order. Indiahas a strong commitment to thedevelopment and industriali-sation of Africa. In this weengage through revolvinglines of credit, capacity build-ing programmes, small devel-opment projects under ouraid assistance programmes,and support to objectives ofAfrican countries and region-al organisations to fulfill theMillennium DevelopmentGoals. Our support toAfrica’s industrialisation hasbeen consistent and valuable.Private sector investmentfrom India is growing inAfrica and these investorscontribute to the building of local capacities, the creationof employment, utilisation of local resources and to intra-African trade as well as exports. We wish to strengthen

this partnership by supporting the ability of African enti-ties to utilise their resources better, to add value and toobtain a larger share from the emerging world trade order.In this objective, India would stand as a true partner withAfrica.

Given our wide-ranging cooperation and developingpartnerships ranging from human resource development,health, capacity building, ICT utilisation — all of whichare perhaps symbolised in the Pan-African e-NetworkProject — we hope to take this experience to a new level.

In this spirit, India has, for some time, been workingon developing an Africa-wide dialogue. We have sincealso begun to develop programmes of action with theregional economic communities such as SADC, COME-SA, EAC and ECOWAS. The idea of an India-AfricaForum came up during the visit to India in December2006 by H.E. Prof. Konare. A Joint Working Group wasestablished between India and African Union, which hasmet twice already including the Permanent

Representatives of the memberstates, to work out the details ofthe Forum/Summit.

Excellencies, Ladies &Gentlemen, it gives me immensepleasure to convey that myGovernment has decided to hostthe India-Africa Forum Summitin New Delhi. This will be heldbetween April 4-9, 2008 with theSenior Officials Meeting onApril 4, the Foreign Ministers’Meeting on April 7, and theSummit on April 8.

The participation and the for-mat of the Summit have beendecided in consultation with theAfrican Union Commission and

the permanent representa-tives of the member states.This is the beginning of aprocess. How we take thisforward will depend on theoutcome of the Summit.

Thus we have invited theChairs of the regional eco-nomic communities andtheir Secretaries-Generaland the founding membersof the NEPAD initiativebesides the current and pre-ceding Chairs of the AfricanUnion. We believe that thisrepresentative group, whichwould have appropriate

regional balance, will provide the impetus for a fulsomediscussion on how India could enhance its engagementwith Africa in the future keeping in view Indian capaci-

“We have a vision for a partnershipwith Africa for the 21st century.This vision will take us beyond

our strong bilateral relationships.We will forge close ties with

regional economic communitiesand develop a new paradigm ofcooperation which will take intoaccount Africa’s own aspirationsfor pan-African institutions and

development programmes.”

71



ties and African aspirations. It is also agreed that the for-mal outcome documents of the Summit would be aDeclaration and an Action Plan. The draft Action Plan isunder preparation and a draft has been circulated by theAU Commission to the member states. We await theresponse of the member states. The second document,which will be a Declaration, will address broader areas ofcooperation and our common views on regional andinternational issues including the fight against terrorism,climate change and WTO negotiations. After the AnnualSummit meeting of the African Union, the officials onboth sides will meet for further discussions on the draftDeclaration and the draft Plan of Action. The areas onwhich we have agreed to focus in the Action Plan willinclude human resources and institutional capacity build-ing and education, science and technology, agriculturalproductivity and food security, industrial growth includ-ing small and medium enterprises and minerals, devel-opment in the health sector, development of infrastruc-ture, ICT and establishment of judicial system with policeand defence establishments under civilian control.

The letters of invitation havebeen issued to governments andthe Secretaries-General of theRECs. Details of the programme,logistics and other related issueson the India Africa ForumSummit have been provided byus through your PermanentRepresentative in Addis Ababaand your ambassadors in NewDelhi. I would like to take thisoccasion to inform you all of thisimportant initiative and expressthe hope that the invitees wouldhonour us with their presence inNew Delhi during this period.

Address by His Worship, the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini

Municipality, Councillor Logie Naidoo on the occasion of

being invited as a guest of honour at the Pravasi Bharatiya

Divas 2008 in New Delhi, India

8/01/2008

TThere are historic ties that bind South Africaand India. From colonial indenture to theMahatma to our mutual freedom struggles,the facts recording this profound history are

well known. This afternoon I want to turn my attention tohow this relationship is a powerful platform on which tostrengthen a sustainable and mutually beneficial future.

I will concentrate on three main themes:! Contemporary political dynamics! Cultural leverage!Economic and investment opportunities

The conference theme dwells on charting a way forwardfor engaging the Indian Diaspora. Speaking in my homecity of Durban, the Prime Minister of India, HisExcellency, Dr. Manmohan Singh, paid tribute to theDiaspora, “I have often said that the sun has set on all great empires of the world, but the sun will never set on the homes of the people of Indian origin, who now live on all continents as proud and productive citizens of free nations making contribution to the lands they areliving in today.”

That is certainly true of the one million people of Indianorigin who have made South Africa their home since themid-nineteenth century. The citizenship that we enjoy isas secure as that of any other of our fellow countrymen andwomen. It is an affinity, an allegiance and a patriotismforged in the trenches of the epic anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles.

As the leading force of the South Africa freedom move-ment, the African National Congress was very concernedabout welding together a diverse nation. In the 1955Freedom Charter, the ANC declared, “All national groups

shall have equal rights”. Thatsentiment was enshrined inthe constitution of a freeSouth Africa. While people ofIndian origin in South Africaare genetically, culturally andhistorically linked to theIndian subcontinent, the over-whelming identity is that ofbeing South Africans and thecontinental affiliation asAfricans. In the context ofglobal political dynamicswhere race, ethnicity andidentity is the basis for conflictand tension, the ANC had

considerable wisdom in furnishing the country’s diversepeoples with these constitutional guarantees.

That identity is strengthened by the fact that SouthAfricans of Indian origin were committed and enthusias-tic activists in the freedom struggle. Bharatiya Sammanrecipient, Billy Nair, as well as former cabinet minister,Mac Maharaj, and former presidential advisor, AhmedKathrada, were all long-term cellmates of former presidentNelson Mandela on Robben Island. Thousands of othermen and women served in the ANC underground andwithin the mass democratic movement.

Today, South Africans of Indian origin are prominent inevery facet of South African life, from the cabinet andParliament through to the provincial and local govern-ments, as heads of leading government departments likethe South African Revenue Service and the Human Rightscommission through to business, the professions and in thenon-governmental sector.

In the NGO sector, the spiritual head of the Divine LifeSociety of South Africa, Swami Sahajananda, recently

“Our support to Africa’s industrialisation has been consistent and valuable.

Private sector investment fromIndia is growing in Africa and

these investors contribute to thebuilding of local capacities, the

creation of employment, utilisation of local resourcesand to intra-African trade as

well as exports.”


D O C U M E N T S

passed away earning tributes from across the political spec-trum including that of His Excellency, President ThaboMbeki, acknowledging him as a great South African for hisdecades-long philanthropic work among the poorest SouthAfrican communities.

While freedom and democracy has opened new avenuesfor South Africans of Indian origin to advance their pro-fessional and business interests, a sector of the communi-ty remains challenged by poverty and restricted opportu-nities. The overwhelmingmajority of the country’spoor are however indige-nous Africans.

A particular bone of con-tention has been the gov-ernment’s policy of affir-mative action, which hasendeavoured, in the main,to integrate historicallymarginalised indigenousAfricans into the main-stream of South Africanlife. The perception andsometimes reality ofIndians missing out onopportunities because ofaffirmative action is one ofthe challenges that govern-ment at all levels is sensi-tive about managing. Onthe grander scheme ofthings though, 14 years ofdemocracy has heraldedopportunities in everysphere that would have beenunthinkable underapartheid.

Still on the subject of con-temporary political dynam-ics, there was a great deal ofinterest from around theworld on the change ofguard within the ANC. Theparty held its five-yearlyconference in Polokwane,Limpopo Province, lastmonth. The delegates votedoverwhelmingly for Jacob Zuma to lead the party afterThabo Mbeki served two terms as party president.

Having worked closely with Comrade Zuma both inthe ANC underground and latterly in the ANC structuresand government, I have been impressed by his astute graspof the economic and political challenges facing the coun-try, the African continent and the world. He enjoysremarkable popular support across the country’s nineprovinces and diverse races, ethnicities and linguisticgroupings. He has pledged that there will be no funda-

mental changes in economic and financial policy and thatthere will be continuity in the growth path laid out by gov-ernment.

It is expected that he will assume the presidency of the country after the 2009 general election. He has enjoyeda close relationship with key political and business figures in India and visited here in December as a guest ofShrimati Sonia Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.I have every confidence that during his tenure, South

Africa will continue to enjoy macro-economic and political stability and remain a highly attractive trade andinvestment destination.

As India engages with the Diaspora, it finds in SouthAfrica, a cultural leverage that would be difficult to obtain in any other part of Africa or indeed the world. People of Indian origin in South Africa carry their cultural heritage with great pride. In spite of the cul-tural and trade boycott that India was very nobly commit-ted to between 1946 and 1990, the cultural umbilical cordcontinued to be nourished. With the unbanning of the

“While people of Indian origin in South Africa are genetically, culturally and historically linked to the Indian subcontinent, the overwhelming identity is that of being South Africans and the continental

affiliation as Africans. In the context of global politicaldynamics where race, ethnicity and identity is the

basis for conflict and tension, the ANC had considerable wisdom in furnishing the country’s

diverse peoples with these constitutional guarantees.”

73



ANC in 1990, India rekindled its relationship with SouthAfrica with gusto. The flood of Bollywood popular culture,visiting artists and performers and growing opportunitiesfor tourism and trade has ensured a growing bond betweenour two countries.

A particularly heartwarming spin-off has been the cultural cross-over of, for example, Bharatnatyam and Zulu dance forms. Groups that have embraced this genre have performed to wide acclaim both in South Africaand in India. A few days ago, one of the South Africa’s lead-ing DJs, DJ Rakesh, was invited to perform at a New Year’sEve Party in Goa. His claim to fame is mixing Bollywoodmusic with a unique South Africa style called kwaito.

In order for culture to remain a unique leverage in therelationship between our two countries, it is vital that ourgovernments and private sectors offer financial support forsustaining cultural activities.

South African religious groups in particular find it verydifficult to obtain funds forthe construction of religioussites and to promote theirrespective philosophies. Sincetime immemorial, India hashad a heritage of the aristoc-racy and leading citizens beinggenerous benefactors to thearts, culture and religion.Continuing in the traditionwill no doubt impact on thepolitical and economicprospects going forward.

The trade and investmentrelationship between Indiaand South Africa has grownin leaps and bounds sincediplomatic relations were re-established in 1993. SouthAfrica is India’s leading trad-ing partner in Africa. Fromvirtually nothing in 1993,bilateral trade crossed $2 bil-lion (excluding India’s imports of gold) in 2005 and in2005-06 according to estimates of the Indian CommerceMinistry; the value of trade (including gold) has crossed$3.9 billion.

South Africa’s main exports to India are gold and silver,chemicals, coal, iron and steel, fertilisers, transport equip-ment and paper. India’s main exports to South Africainclude motor vehicles, rice, metals, cotton, fabrics, leather,pharmaceuticals and machinery.

Iconic Indian brands like Tata, Sahara, Ramco, Mittaland Ranbaxy have invested in the South African market,growing in both quantity and diversity. South African busi-ness has reciprocated through investing in India in main-ly financial services and supermarket chains.

My region of KwaZulu-Natal has received particularattention from India investors. Tata has invested in a

major ferrochrome plant, Apollo Tyres bought out theDunlop brand and the Taj Group is expected to develop aflagship hotel in tandem with a film studio in Durban.With the major interest from Indian pharmaceutical com-panies, it is hoped that the added competition in this sec-tor will drive down the cost of medicines especiallyHIV/AIDS, TB and malaria drugs.

In terms of economic growth, Durban outstrips thenational average growing currently at seven percent. Thecountry as a whole is experiencing a major boom fuelledby a concerted government effort to grow the economy and create jobs.

This initiative is also helped along by South Africa having won the right to host the 2010 FIFASoccer World Cup.

The construction, hotel, hospitality and tourism sectorshave all received a major shot in the arm and growth thereis giving impetus to other sectors of the economy. A major

new airport, King ShakaInternational, will soon bebuilt in Durban, which weanticipate will pave the wayfor the resumption of directflights between Durban andIndia. This is an extremelybusy route and one that is alsohugely profitable.

South Africa prizes veryhighly its longstanding rela-tionship with India andbeyond our bilateral affinity;both countries are activewithin the tri-lateral India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA)initiative and its strong devel-opment orientation. There issimilarly a meeting of mindson the establishment of a just,rule — based multi-polarworld order. My city ofDurban is currently at an

advanced stage of negotiating a twinning arrangement withChennai which when signed will give both symbolic andconcrete sustenance to our growth relationship.

The historic relationship we share both politically andthrough the Indian Diaspora in South Africa ought to be asound platform from which to enhance our cultural, tradeand investment relationship. India is the waking giant inglobal geo-political and economic terms.

As a politically stable and astutely managed emergenteconomy with good economic and investment fundamen-tals in place, South Africa represents more than just a gate-way to the African continent.

Assisted by the ties that bind, it is my firm conviction thatthe Indian Diaspora in South Africa represents an unbreak-able thread, entwining our countries in mutually success-ful and prosperous futures.

“A particularly heartwarming spin-off has been the

cultural cross over of, for example,Bharatnatyam and Zulu dance

forms. Groups that haveembraced this genre have per-formed to wide acclaim both inSouth Africa and in India. A few

days ago, one of the SouthAfrica’s leading DJs, DJ Rakesh,was invited to perform at a New

Year’s Eve Party in Goa. His claimto fame is mixing Bollywood

music with a unique South Africastyle called kwaito.”


I N C R E D I B L E I N D I A

PIN PARVATIVALLEYThe Lord of the Winds

You can’t help but feel like Frodo Baggins on his longjourney up the side of Mt. Doom to throw the ringinto the molten lava to defeat the evil wizard Sauron.The trek through the 5,000 metre-high link betweenHimachal’s Kulu and Spiti via the Parvati and Pinrivers seems like an anecdote from J. R. R. Tolkien’sepic fantasy the Lord of the Rings. It isn’t a trek that’sdone very often and is definitely a no for honey-mooners. The Pin Parvati stretch works only for

the temerarious. Go for a guide/porter if you’re a tenderfoot.The first stop on this fascinating trek is Pulga, which has a 79-year-old guest-

house. It has its shortcomings but it is an eyeful. An entry by an Englishman A.M.David who, with his wife and two children, spent six weeks there in Novemberand December 1928, says: “The bungalow is not habitable till the rats are erad-icated. They had during my stay here 2 napkins, 1 table cloth, 2 cakes of soap,my office pin cushion (and) one chair net which my wife sat through (weight 8stone 10 lbs).”

Pulga is a valley of legends. The Rudranag waterfall is a must-see. About 12

75



The Pin Parvati Pass was firstdiscovered and crossed from the Spiti side by Sir Louis Dane,the Lieutenant-Governor ofPunjab, in 1884. The first crossing from the Kullu side was made by English trekker H. Lee Shuttleworth in 1921.


I N C R E D I B L E I N D I A

km from Manikaran, the waterfall gets its name from itsshape that resembles a water snake. An uphill climb fromRudranag takes you to the river Kheerganga. A bridge onthis river is believed to have been built by Bheema.

Habitation stops beyond Pulga. The next stop isKheerganga. Legend has it that Parvati ran out of milkone day and Lord Shiva shot an arrow into the air. It splitthe earth where it struck, and milk came pouring out.The chalky white steaming 40 degree Celsius springwater at Kheerganga has to be seen to be believed. Aday’s walk beyond Kheerganga takes you to ThakurKuan where the Parvati valley meets the Dibibokri Nalglacier. Beyond Thakur Kuan, the Parvati Valley ascendsgradually to Pandupul where two natural, rock bridgescross the Parvati River. According to a legend, thePandavas created these bridges during their exile. Asteep climb takes you to Pin Pass (5,300 metres). ThePin Pass gives you a splendid view of the snowy moun-tains of Hampta region on one side and the Pin valleyof Spiti on the other.

The Pin Pass climb works if you acclimatise well. Orto put it simply, let your self adjust to the lower levelsof oxygen as you climb higher. It’s strange that you arejust a silent spectator here. The body does all the workthat’s needed. The heart starts beating faster, youbreathe in more air and faster. Even the smallest task oftying shoelaces can make you gasp. But once you reachthe top, you realise nature.

The hard part, of course, is the return to civilisation.Blaring horns, perennially ringing cellphones makesyou want to close all windows and retreat to the sun-soaked mountains of Pin Parvati. It’s a feeling youwould like to carry with you forever.

HOW TO GET THERE

BY AIR: The nearest airport is Bhuntar, 10 km fromKullu. Direct flights are available from New Delhi andChandigarh.

BY ROAD: Himachal Pradesh road TransportCorporation, Haryana Roadways and Punjab Roadwayshave regular bus services to Kullu and Manikaran from allmajor towns.

BEST TIME TO VISIT: The best season to visitManikaran is from mid-March to mid-November.

WHAT TO WEAR: It is advisable to wear light woollenclothes during summer and heavy woollen clothes during winter.

FOR MORE DETAILS: Himachal Pradesh TouristInformation Centre. The Mall, Manali.Toll Free Telephone Number: 1800-180-8077Telephones: +91-0177 - 2625864 / 2625924 / 2623959/ 2625511Fax: +91-0177 - 2625864 / 2623959.

TT OO UU RR II SS TT II NN FF OO RR MM AA TT II OO NN

77



Hot springs can befound all over thevalley tillKheerganga, in thepine forests acrossthe river fromKasol, and beyondtill Vashishth nearManali, but it is inManikaran wherethe hottest water,96 degree Celsius,gushes out frombelow the rocks. Aregular dip in theseis apparently a curefor several diseasesincluding paralysisand rheumatism.



■■ MWELWA C. MUSAMBACHIME is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Zambia to the UnitedNations. Prior to his current appointment, he served as head of the History Department at the University of Namibia from1998. For over two decades, from 1974 to 1997, Musambachime served in several capacities at the University of Zambia.He was associate professor and director, research and graduate studies, from 1996 to 1997, and associate professor in his-tory from 1993 to 1997. He has also served as director, Institute of Human Relations (1991-1994) and dean, Faculty ofEducation (1985-1988). From 1974 to 1985, he held several positions within the History Department. Musambachimeholds a Ph.D. in history and agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of four books, 22chapters in edited books, 70 articles published in journals in the United States, Britain, Africa and Europe, 20 book reviews,and author of more than 90 unpublished papers.

■■ GIRIJESH CHANDRA PANT is Professor and Chairperson, Centre of West Asian and African Studies at JawaharlalNehru University, in New Delhi, India. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Allahabad University, India, anda doctorate in economics from the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is working onIndia’s energy security, globalisation and the West Asian economies. He has authored and edited eight books and pub-lished more than fifty research articles in journals including International Studies, Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, and WorldAffairs — The Journal of International Issues. Dr. Pant was Vice-Chancellor, GGD University, Bilaspur, India, and vice-president, Indian Academy of Social Science. He was Senior Fulbright Fellow at the Universty of Illinois, US, and direc-tor, Gulf Studies Programme, SIS, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

■■ SUDHA SRIVASTAVA is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Mumbai, India.

■■ MANENDRA SAHU is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai, India. His area ofspecialisation lies in security, international relation and India-Africa Trade.

■■ A. B. MAHAPATRA is Director, Centre for Asian Strategic Studies — India (CASS-India), which works on strategicissues of the Afro-Asian region. The centre recently conducted a research project on Africa and India-China energy com-petition.

■■ DR. RASHMI KAPOOR is a Lecturer in Swahili in the Department of African Studies, University of Delhi. Her fieldof specialisation is African sociology in general and Swahili language in particular. She has recently visited Mauritius forher field work. She has extensively written on the Indian diaspora in Africa. She is a member of Sudan Study Unit in theAfrica Studies Department of Delhi University.

■■ Contributors

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Africa Quarterly, published since 1961, is devoted to the study and objective analyses of African affairs andissues related to India-Africa relations. Contributions are invited from outstanding writers, experts and spe-cialists in India, Africa and other countries on various political, economic, social-cultural, literary, philo-sophical and other themes pertaining to African affairs and India-Africa relations. Preference will be givento those articles which deal succinctly with issues that are both important and clearly defined. Articles whichare purely narrative and descriptive and lacking in analytical content are not likely to be accepted.Contributions should be in a clear, concise, readable style and written in English.

Articles submitted to Africa Quarterly should be original contributions and should not be under consid-eration by any other publication at the same time. The Editor is responsible for the selection and acceptanceof articles, but responsibility for errors of facts and opinions expressed in them rests with authors. Manuscriptssubmitted should be accompanied with a statement that the same has not been submitted/accepted for pub-lication elsewhere. Copyright of articles published in the Africa Quarterly will be retained by the IndianCouncil for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Manuscripts submitted to Africa Quarterly should be typed double space on one side of the paper and twocopies should be sent. A diskette (3 ½” ) MS-Dos compatible, and e-mail as an attachment should be sentalong with the two hard copies. Authors should clearly indicate their full name, address, e-mail, academicstatus and current institutional affiliation. A brief biographical note (one paragraph) about the writer mayalso be sent.

The length of the article should not normally exceed 7,000 to 8,000 words, or 20 to 25 ( A-4 size) typedpages in manuscript. Titles should be kept as brief as possible.

Footnote numbering should be clearly marked and consecutively numbered in the text and notes placedat the end of the article and not at the bottom of the relevant page. Tables (including graphs, maps, figures)must be submitted in a form suitable for reproduction on a separate sheet of paper and not within the text.Each table should have a clear descriptive title and mention where it is to be placed in the article. Place allfootnotes in a table at the end of the article. Reference numbers within the text should be placed after thepunctuation mark.

Footnote style: In the case of books, the author, title of the book, place of publication, publisher, dateof publication and page numbers should be given in that order, e.g. Basil Davidson, ‘The Blackman’sBurden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation State’, London, James Curry, 1992, pp. 15-22.

In the case of articles, the author, title of article, name of the journal, volume and issue number in brack-ets, the year and the page numbers should be given in that order.

In addition to major articles and research papers, Africa Quarterly also publishes short articles in the sec-tion titled News & Events. They may not exceed 2,000 words in length. Contributions of short stories andpoems are also welcome.

Contributors to Africa Quarterly are entitled to two copies of the issue in which their article appears inaddition to a modest honorarium. Contributors of major articles accepted for publication will receive up toa maximum of Rs. 4,000.

Contributions may be sent by post to:The Editor

Africa QuarterlyIndian Council for Cultural Relations

Azad BhavanIndraprastha EstateNew Delhi-110 002

Contributions may be e-mailed to:

[email protected]

Note to Contributors



E-mail: [email protected] with the Registrar of Newspapers of India

Regd No. 14380/61

africaVolume 47, No. 4

Nov 2007-Jan 2008

I N D I A N C O U N C I L F O R C U L T U R A L R E L A T I O N S

Q U A R T E R L Y

! Finding the right formula for growth! A new destination for resources! A roadmap for Gabon# ALSO in the issue:! Profile: Navinchandra Ramgoolam! Revisiting Pin Parvati Valley

Africa Rising:A New Destiny

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