Transatlantic Policy Options, Regional Integration and Opportunities for Business Leadership


Having enjoyed a brief period in the limelight – specifically at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland – Africa looks like returning to the status of the forgotten continent. None of the Gleneagles pledges were kept, ODA has decreased, and Africa is still very far from being on track to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The impact of the crisis is being felt across several countries in the form of reduced demand for African commodity exports (reflected in the downward spiral of both prices and demand for commodity exports), plummeting migrant remittances, projected decline in private capital flows, foreign aid, tourism revenues, and rising protectionism in some developed countries. Current trends make Africa more, rather than less, insecure.

Africa is the great challenge and the great opportunity of the 21st century. This applies primarily, of course, to Africans themselves, but also to the world. If African youth can be properly harnessed – well educated, motivated and employed – the overall prospects of the global economy should be excellent. If Africa “fails” and the world fails Africa, the consequences for both Africa and the world could be disastrous.

In this regard, it is crucial for GMF and the Evian Group to put the spotlight on the factors which can promote substantial progress on these issues. This is essential to help US and EU business leaders, policy-makers and other stakeholders understand the respective challenges, opportunities and options for future action. Such knowledge and understanding are important pre-conditions for renewed transatlantic leadership toward trade driven African development and more effective North-South cooperation.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States – Evian Group Africa & Global Trade symposium is part of a series of initiatives aimed at seeking to ensure a greater, fairer and more beneficial integration of the African economy into the global economy and global economic governance. The symposium will assess the position of Africa in the current global trade environment. It will analyse future prospects, identify policy options and assess the role of business leadership in moving Africa to a more robust position in the international trade arena for the enhancement of African prosperity and peace.

Ressources

Summary Report of the "Africa in the Global Crisis and Trade Dis-Order" Roundtable, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, 6-8 July 2009

Africa in the Global Crisis

Shimelse Ali, Impact of the Financial Crisis on Africa, International Economic Bulletin, April 2009

Shimelse Ali, Uneven Crisis in Africa, International Economic Bulletin, June 2009

An Agenda for Progress at a Time of Global Crisis: a Call for African Leadership, Annual Report of the Africa Progress Panel, 2009

Uri Dadush, Lauren Falcao, Crisis and the Diaspora Nation, International Economic Bulletin, June 2009

Amr Hamzawy, Raising Social Distress: The Case of Morocco, Egypt and Jordan, International Economic Bulletin, June 2009

Faizel Ismail, The Global Economic Crisis, the G-20 Summit and Africa, Bridges, June 2009

Bright Simons, 2009 African Economic Outlook, Myjoyonline.com, December 2008

The Role of Agricultural Reform

Javier Blas, Africa almost giving Land away, says UN, Financial Times, May 2009

Lorenzo Cotula, Land grab or development opportunity? International farmland deals in Africa, Columbia FDI Perspectives, No.8, June 22, 2009.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Land Grab or Development Opportunity? Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa, 2009

Gilles Saint-Martin, How EU policies could address Africa’s food security, Spring 2009

US Fed News, Land Acquisitions in Africa pose Risks for Poor, May 2009

African Business Perspectives (Business Leadership, Aid, Education, Infrastructures, Gender Issue)

Thompson Ayodele, How to Make Depression Great, Koreatimes, May 2009

Marie-Louise F. Bidias Matchoudo, Femmes du Bénin au cœur de la dynamique du changement: Encore des luttes à mener, Agence Afrique Performance, 2009

Paul Collier, Growth Strategies for Africa, Commission on Growth and Development, 2008

Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Africa in the 21st Century's Global Economic Paradigm: The good governance challenge, Tomorrow's Challenges, July 2009

Opportunity Knocks, The Economist Print Edition, October 2008

Vijay Mahajan, Africa Rising, Pearson Education, 2009

Zemedeneh Negatu, Africa and China: Friends or Foes?, February 2009

Zemedeneh Negatu, We need our own Stimulus Package, AfricaInvestor, May-June 2009

OECD, Africa: a new Emerging Markets Frontier?, The 2008 International Forum on African Perspectives

William Wallis, New masters hold key to pace of Africa's recovery, Financial Times, 3 July 2009

Kevin Watkins, Why Dead Aid is Dead Wrong, Prospect Magazine, May 2009

EPAs

Agence Afrique Performance, EU and West Africa move forward on regional Economic Partnership Agreement, Brussels, 17 June 2009

The Evian Group EPAs Webpage

Regional Integration & Trade Facilitation

Jean-François Arvis, Gael Raballand, Jean-François Marteau, The Cost of Being Landlocked: Logistics Costs and Supply Chain Reliability, The World Bank, June 2007

Matthias Helble, Catherine Mann, John S. Wilson, Aid for Trade Facilitation, April 2009

Improving Trade and Transport for Landlocked Developing Countries, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2008

Supee Teravaninthorn, Gaël Raballand, Transport Prices and Costs in Africa: A Review of the International Corridors, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2009

Rosalind H. Thomas, Development Corridors and Spatial Development Initiatives in Africa, January 2009

World Economic Forum, The Global Enabling Trade Report, 2009 (to be launched on 7 July, 2009)

WTO, Increasing Trade and Competitiveness in Africa, North-South Corridor Conference, 2009