Seminar: African civil society perspectives on South-South cooperation with emerging powers

14 May 2013

What role can African civil society organisations play in shaping South-South Cooperation, and how to claim that role?

What lessons can North-South Cooperation take home from the South-South cooperation discourse?What role could Northern civil society organisations play in the relation between African civil society organisations and South-South Cooperation?

Seminar 30 May, De Markten, Brussels, Belgium 

Emerging powers such as China, India, Brazil and South-Africa are challenging the global economic and political power balances. They are also scaling up their South-South cooperation, including with Africa. Is this the beginning of a new wave of colonization? Or a golden opportunity for development in Africa? A lively debate on the implications of South-South cooperation is taking place, but African civil society voices are missing from it.

How do African civil society organizations, experience and react to South-South cooperation between their countries and emerging powers? And what implications for their current partners do they see? The 11.11.11 Research Chair on Development Cooperation devoted its second research project to these questions. On May 30 we launch the research results and discuss them with three prominent speakers.

Human rights in Brazil-Africa relations

27 April 2013

Challenging Our Own Perspectives Seminar on May 13

Knowing Emerging Powers and EPA-network are pleased to announce our latest Challenging Our Own Perspectives seminar. This time we have the great honor of welcoming Lucia Nader, the Executive Director of Conectas Human Rights. Lucia will highlight the role of civil society in holding Brazil and other new emerging powers, accountable for their foreign policies’ decisions that affect human rights. In this field Conectas is working together with NGO’s from other key emerging democratic powers like India and South Africa. Lucia will focus on strengthening human rights in Brazil-Africa relations.

Africa-Brazil co-operation in food security

26 April 2013

During a recent visit to Brazil I was impressed by the lively debates in Brazilian civil society on South-South Cooperation. An increasing number of Brazilian civil society organisations is active in relation to Brazil's foreign policy and South-South cooperation.   

The interesting working paper Africa-Brazil co-operation in social protection looks at the role of civil society in the transfer of Brazil's successful social protection policies to Africa.

Brazil and China in African Agriculture

22 March 2013

Future Agricultures recently published no less than seven new papers on how Brazil and China are changing agricultural development in Africa. Future Agricultures is an Africa-based alliance of research organisations seeking to provide timely, high-quality and independent information and advice to improve agricultural policy and practice in Africa.

Besides a working paper on South-South cooperation, there are two very interesting papers reviewing the narratives of Brazil-Africa and China-Africa Cooperation for Agricultural Development. 

South-South connection

11 February 2013

The national newspaper Trouw recently published four articles - the South-South connection- on the silent revolution in thinking on development cooperation citing Knowing Emerging Powers as a major source of information. Each article (in Dutch) is dedicated to an emerging 'donor' China, India, Brazil and Turkey.  

The first article highlights China's pragmatic approach to development cooperation: Pekings welcome pragmatism part 1 and Pekings welcome pragmatism part 2. The second article shows that India is not a new donor and that it has a long history of technical cooperation with other developing countries: India's human centred approach. Brazil's approach differs from its BRICS-companions because unlike China and India it is a net exporter of energy and agricultural products, Brazil doesn't need Africa. The last article focuses on Turkey's aid: Turkey aids its muslim brothers

Engaging the BRICS

23 January 2013

Oxfam India put out an interesting working paper Engaging BRICS. Challenges and opportuniies for civil society. Lysa John, the author of the working paper, argues that reactions to the rise of BRICS range from wary optimism to outright skepticism. There is hope and anticipation that the BRICS – building on their own lessons and initiatives – will play a progressive role on economic and social issues at regional and global levels. The critical view, on the other hand, is concerned that the economic agenda of BRICS could pose new challenges to human rights and development, particularly given the absence domestic frameworks for accountability on international engagements.

Launch EPA Network

18 December 2012

Knowing Emerging powers is a founding member of Emerging Powers and Africa Network which was launched during the Africa Works! conference held on 29-30 October in the Netherlands.

The aim of this network is twofold, namely: (1) to bring together experts from business, public institutes, NGO’s and academia in the field of Emerging Powers and Africa in order to pool our expertise, and (2) to expand our knowledge by inviting prominent individuals from Emerging Powers or Africa present their perspectives on issues relating to national and international affairs.

Brazil, just another BRIC in Africa?

19 November 2012

Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva with Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete in 2010.

Chatham House published an interesting briefing paper Brazil in Africa: Just Another BRICS Country Seeking Resources? During the last decade Brazil has actively forged closer relations with Africa and has become a major player on the continent, competing with China and India for influence and trade deals. Like its BRICS partners, its economic engagement has been predominantly concentrated in the resource and construction sector.

The dynamic growth of African economies despite the global economic and financial crisis has led Brazil to look to the continent as a promising market for its goods and services, especially manufactured or semimanufactured products, as it can offer ‘tropicalized technology’ to meet the demands of developing countries. 

Emerging Powers and Humanitarian Aid

7 November 2012

How will emerging powers like China, Brazil and Turkey change humanitarian aid? This will be discussed in the debate series 'Changing Humanitarian Aid' organised by six Dutch organisations in Humanity House on 8 November 2012.  

Prof. He Wenping on China Aid

6 November 2012

Dr. He Wenping, a leading expert on China-Africa relations gave the lecture New actors in international development: the case of China organised by the Society for International Development at the VU Auditorium, Amsterdam on November 5, 2012.