ENGLISH COFFETABLE BOOK-2

A model of South-South cooperAtionJean Ping

chairperson of commission of the African union

the African renaissance is not anew invention at all. it is drawnfrom the deep well of thestruggle that Africans have

engaged in to assert themselves andbreak loose from bondage. Africanleaders such as Kwame nkrumah, Juliusnyerere and Steve Biko preached thesame concept when they propagated self-reliance, economic recovery, political andeconomic independence, democraticgovernance and development.

over the years, many others have pursued the idea that Africa must rise to establish a pan-Africa identity and re-claim its position in the commonwealthof nations. Since the well-known 1995 meeting held in Sun city, it has been acknowledged that the 21st century must be Africa’s century,the century of African renaissance, andthe era of the re-birth and renewal of thecontinent of Africa.

today, this renaissance is no longer amirage or a trendy movement. the

groundwork for change has been partlylaid and conditions now exist for theprocess to be enhanced — through the translation of the idea from a dream to a practical roadmap for actionto accelerate Africa’s development and deepen its people’s stake in global affairs.

indeed, the continental process of totalliberation from colonialism was achievedwith the demise of apartheid; the world has been marked by very great changes, particularly globalisation andmultipolarity since.

Africa, which now boasts of newaspirations, new determination and anew breed of leadership, is pursuing anirreversible process of integration anddevelopment based on a common Africanidentity. the transformation of theorganisation of African unity (oAu) into the African union (Au) marked thebeginning of this change. ten years on,there have been many milestones on theroadmap of African governance: the Au

016 A model of South-South cooperAtion

today, the African renaissance is no longer amirage or a trendy movement. the groundworkfor change has been partly laid and conditionsnow exist for the process to be enhanced —through the translation of the idea from a dreamto a practical roadmap for action to accelerate Africa’s development and deepen its stake in global affairs

(Top) Dressing for school in Botswana. The country has made big strides in education sinceindependence in 1966.

(Right) The African Renaissance Monument. The 49-m tall bronze statue is located on top ofone of the twin hills known as Collines des Mamelles, outside Dakar, Senegal, overlookingthe Atlantic Ocean.

(Right) Miss New Sudan beauty pageantin Juba, South Sudan.

(Far right) A call centre in Algiers. Algeria is in the midst of an IT boom.

Africa, which now boasts of newaspirations, new determination and anew breed of leadership, is pursuingan irreversible process of integrationand development based on acommon African identity. thetransformation of the organisation of African unity into the Africanunion marked the beginning of this change

018 A model of South-South cooperAtion

020 A model of South-South cooperAtion

is endowed with organs like thecommission, the pan-African parliament,the African court of Justice and humanrights, the African commission onhuman and people’s rights, and theeconomic Social and cultural council.

Additionally, the African union commission is implementing a vital four-year plan in its pursuit of building anintegrated continent. this is the Strategic2009-12 plan, which is essentially thecommission’s framework articulatedaround four major pillars: peace andSecurity, integration, development andcooperation, Shared Values, andinstitutional and human capacityBuilding. Significant progress has beenmade in all these areas.

in the area of peace and security, forinstance, the Au now has a continentalarchitecture for peace and security, whosekeystone is the peace and Security council,which is like the united nations Securitycouncil, the key organ for global peace andsecurity. in addition, we have thecontinental early Warning System and theAfrican Standby force. this AfricanStandby force (AfS) is composed of fivemultidimensional regional brigades,including standby multidisciplinarycontingents with civilian and militarycomponents and ready for rapiddeployment at appropriate notice. thestructure of this architecture, its objectives,its principles, its composition, and itsmodes of operation confirm the resolve ofAfrican leaders to act on their own and totake their destiny into their hands,especially in the area of conflictmanagement. it has to be pointed out thatthe Au has been despatching peacekeepingforces regularly to conflict areas.

in the area of integration, developmentand cooperation, recent years have seen

tangible progress made by many Africancountries in reforming their economiesand in creating an enabling environmentto bring about equitable growth andpoverty alleviation.

this shows the will of African leaders to lift the continent out ofunderdevelopment. in fact, theseimprovements helped Africa to insulateitself from the recession during theglobal crisis of 2009. the evidenceprovides new grounds for hope andsuggests recovery fuelled by thecontinent’s high economic growth, aglobal search for commodities that Africahas in abundance, and by anunprecedented level of foreigninvestment. According to an article inthe times, ‘the African renaissance isunder way’, published on march 22,2011, “Africa is on the move and a billionpeople, hardworking and hustling, arechanging the face of a vast region, onethat could accommodate china andeurope, india and the united States, with room to spare for Argentina andnew Zealand!”

it is now established that Africa isgaining strategic importance and is thusattracting attention from a variety ofpartners, especially new and emergingplayers on the international scene likeindia, which are increasingly showingtheir interest in cooperating with thecontinent in mutually beneficialpartnerships.

Africa and india are bound together byhistory, geography, economy, andculture. they have enjoyed centuries ofgood relations and have a commonlegacy of struggle against colonialism,imperialism, and marginalisation inglobal political and economic systems.together, they account for about half the

Africa is gaining strategic importance andattracting attention from a variety of partners,especially new and emerging players like india

(Top) Two Beninese girls. India is one of Benin ‘s top trading partners.

(Top) Point Dolores, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

(Right) Construction workers on a highway bridge in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

(Far right) Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea and

Chairperson of the African Union.

(Right) Asian and African leaders at the golden jubilee of the 1955 Asian-African conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in 2005. The conference

rejuvenated the spirit of Afro-Asian solidarity.

(Far right) Former South African President Nelson Mandela receives the International Gandhi Peace Prize from then Indian President K.R. Narayanan at

Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on March 16, 2001 as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee looks on.

(Far left) Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, withGamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt, and Josip Broz Tito,President of former Yugoslavia, at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Belgrade, 1961.

(Left) African and Asian leaders at the NAM summit in 1956 at Brioni island in former Yugoslavia.

024 A model of South-South cooperAtion

(Top) A mechanic working at an automobile factory in Harare, Zimbabwe.

(Right) Melrose Square, Johannesburg, by night.

Africa and india need to seize emergingopportunities to build a partnership that can serve as a model of South-South cooperation

world’s total population. india is rapidlybecoming a major global economicpower that derives strength from its hugedomestic market, human capitaldevelopment, and advancement inscience and technology. Africa, which isindia’s next door neighbour, is widelyregarded as the next and perhaps the lastglobal frontier whose developmentpotentials remain to be tapped. it is thecontinent that is most richly endowedwith natural resources, which are much sought after by many globaleconomic powers to sustain their growth and prosperity.

through political and economic reforms,a conducive environment is being createdfor trade and investment while theprocess of the creation of a pan-Africanintegrated market of about 1 billionpeople is being accelerated. Africa andindia need to take advantage of theirproximity and seize the emergingopportunities on both sides to build apartnership that can serve as a model ofSouth-South cooperation and “delivervalues” to their respective peoples.

to meet the challenges of developmentin the 21st century, Africa seeks toimprove its participation in the globaleconomic and trading system througheconomic diversification and reduction ofheavy dependence on the economies ofthe traditional partners of the north. it is in this regard that the Au hasaccorded high priority to thedevelopment of Africa’s strategicpartnerships with the emerging powersof the South, including india.

in this connection, in January 2007 theAu executive council adopted aframework for the establishment andoperationalisation of Africa’spartnerships with the emerging powers

of the South. According to theframework, the partnerships must bethose of co-development and mutualbenefit and be qualitatively differentfrom Africa’s existing relationships withthe traditional partners of the north. themajor priorities of Africa in thepartnerships include the acceleration ofindustrialisation, infrastructuraladvancement, agricultural development,human capital development, technologyand knowledge acquisition anddevelopment, the development of amodern services sector, and theenhancement of market access. i amhappy to note that these priorities havebeen reflected in the framework ofcooperation of the 2008 Africa-indiaforum Summit held in new delhi.

Within this framework, a programme forhuman development in Africa is beingjointly implemented. initiatives withinthe programme include theestablishment of technical andVocational education training (tVet)centres in 10 African countries: thecreation of four Africa-india centres ofexcellence (institutes for diamond,foreign trade, information andtechnology, and education planning andAdministration); the reinforcement ofthree African Scientific researchinstitutions; and support for theestablishment of pan-African Stockexchanges. in addition, india has agreedto contribute to Africa’s human capacitybuilding by providing specialisedtrainings in critical sectors such asagriculture and small and medium-scaleenterprises. particularly worthy of noteis the commitment of india to themainstreaming of regional componentsinto the framework of Africa-indiacooperation. i wish to commend indiafor these achievements of cooperation. ihave no doubt that if the agreed

(Left) Cargo handling at Abidjan port, Cote d’Ivoire.

Africa did not have to wait for a fullrecovery in the traditional markets.the continent’s growing trade andeconomic relations with india andother emerging powers of the South enabled it to return quickly tothe path of sustained growth

activities and initiatives are effectivelyimplemented, they will createpossibilities and deliver values to thepeoples of Africa and india. Africa’s experience in the recent globaleconomic and financial crisis has providedsome justification for the high prioritythat the continent is placing on thedevelopment of partnerships with theemerging powers of the South. Althoughthe global crisis was not of Africa’smaking, the continent’s impressive growthof about 6 percent per annum since theearly 2000s had been reduced to lessthan 2 percent by 2009. the good news isthat unlike in previous crises, Africa didnot have to wait for a full recovery in thetraditional markets. the continent’sgrowing trade and economic relationswith india and other emerging powers ofthe South, which have continued toachieve rapid economic growth in themidst of the crisis, enabled it to returnquickly to the path of sustained economicgrowth. Given the proximity of india andAfrica and the growing complementarityof their economies, a great deal of trade

and investment potential remains to beharnessed. this is a challenge, which the india-Africa partnership should help to meet.

Africa attaches great importance toincreasing its share in global trade andimproving its structure as well as ameans of reducing its dependence on aidfor the attainment of rapid economicgrowth and development. it is in thisregard that i wish to express thegratitude of the Au commission to theGovernment of india for the grant ofduty-free tariff preference to 33 Africancountries. to date, 19 African countrieshave become part of the initiative.

i wish to appeal to the remaining 14 countries to take full advantage of the initiative. i wish to end on a noteof optimism about the future of Africa-india partnership. i have no doubt thatAfrica and india can build a partnershipthat can serve as a model of South-South cooperation. it is more than doable.

029 A model of South-South cooperAtion

Given the proximity of india and Africa and thegrowing complementarity of their economies, a great deal of trade and investment potentialremains to be harnessed. this is a challenge which the india-Africa partnership should help to meet

(Top) Rush hour near the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos, Nigeria.

(Left) Downtown Maputo, Mozambique.