“African Growth and Development Partnerships”-- Views from the EU and Japan -Held on 13 April, 2010, 14:00–16:00 at GRIPS, Room 4A
Speakers: Mr. Stefano Manservisi (EC)Mr. Go Shimada (JICA)
Prof. Izumi Ohno (GRIPS)
Moderator: Prof. Kenichi Ohno (GRIPS)

BackgroundAs one of the side events of the first EU-Japan policy dialogue on development1, this
discussion meeting was held to exchange views and ideas on African growth between
EU and Japanese researchers and aid practitioners.
1. Presentations(1) “The EU-Africa Partnership: 2½ years on – where are we now”—Mr. Stefano
Manservisi, Director-General for Development, the European Commission- First, Mr. Manservisi explained the longstanding relationship between EU and Africa
dating back to the 1950s, when the vast majority of African countries had beencolonies and associated as overseas territories to the (then) ECC. The two regions
had been tied under the common trade regime, which was later transformed into theYaoundé, Lomé and Cotonou Treaties after the independence of African states.
While these were not specific agreements with Africa, they allowed preferential
market access to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Now thenegotiation is underway to conclude a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
with the ACP countries to conform to the WTO rules.
- On the political front, recognizing Africa for the first time as a political interlocutor,
EU held the first summit with African countries at Cairo in 2000. At the secondsummit at Lisbon in 2007, the African Union (AU) Commission was set up after theEU model, and both sides agreed to move from “Donorship to Partnership” which
resulted in a joint strategy and actions plans between Europe and Africa. The
upcoming third summit on November 2010 will review progress so far, taking stockon the action plans adopted in 2007. The EU Commission and the AU Commission
would address policies to be tackled together, involving civil societies andparliaments from both regions.
- The EU-Africa Partnership is built on (1) peace and security, (2) regional integration
1

The EU-Japan first policy dialogue on development took place on April 12, 2010 in Tokyo. The
Delegations were led by Mr. Stefano Manservisi, DG for Development in the European
Commission, and by Mr. Shiro Sadoshima, DG of the Bureau for International Cooperation in theJapanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the development policy dialogue statement, see below_

http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/22/4/PDF/041401.pdf (English)
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/22/4/PDF/041402.pdf (Japanese)1

-and growth, and (3) investing in people, and (4) partnership to implement the above
3 tiers. It reflects new positive developments in the continent such as growth
opportunities, political relationship with China, Turkey etc, although there remain
issues to be tackled together, such as immigration, climate change and security.
Regarding (4), partnership has been established in the following eight areas: Peace and security: EU is investing 1 bil. Euros for capacity building andfinancing African Troop’s deployment in Somali, Central African Republic etc.,
where visible results are coming.
 Democratic governance and human rights: EU is assisting the electoral
process and incentive reforms. It should be stressed that negative
conditionalities are not attached in this process; and EU that consults regional
bodies (ECOWAS, etc) first, before raising issues to the government(s) inquestion.
 Trade and regional integration: “Aid for Trade” related assistance—an area ofEU’s strength--has been provided. Particular focus is given on infrastructure(i.e., Trans-African Network), by establishing the EU-Africa Trust Fund. Theenergy sector faces a delicate problem of competition, and EU is dialoguingwith China as well as African countries (Nigeria, etc) so as to channel theirinvestments into regional infrastructure, which African continent is lagging
behind.
 Climate change: EU and AU adopted common stance at Copenhagen.
 Migration, mobility and employment: This is a political manifest, and EU andAfrica have been dialoguing to create win-win situations (i.e., reducing costs forremittance transfer), although there is still long way to go.
 Science, IT and space: We aim to foster partnership to increase knowledge andparticipation in Africa (i.e., access to internet, aid security).

(2) “Private Sector Development in Africa”—Mr. Go Shimada, Director, Private
Sector Div., Industrial Development Dept., JICA
- Mr. Shimada presented the following issues (see PPT ①)
 Private sector development and JICA in the context of AfD (Aid forDevelopment) Key messages of the JICA Report on the Economic Development in Africa andthe Asian Growth Experience.
 Case study on JICA’s industrial policy support to Ethiopia.
(3) “East Asian Perspectives of Development Partnerships and GrowthSupport”—Prof. Izumi Ohno, GRIPS- Prof. Ohno discussed the following issues (see PPT ②);
 East Asian perspectives of development partnerships
 Missing elements of current aid effectiveness debates (esp. policy ownership) Diversity and complementary as the principle of development partnerships (e.g.,growth support)
 Ethiopia—a possibility of new partnership model in Africa?
22. Discussions with the participants
Q. What are EU perspectives on “East Asian experiences in the African context”?
A. (Mr. Manservisi) I would like to see the business-oriented approach (not aid-orientedone) adopted in East Asia working in Africa, although the reality is more complex
because of Africa’s high aid dependence. The East Asian countries had more favorable
international trade regime, while African countries suffered from radical liberalization
policies imposed by the Breton-Woods institutions in the 90s. Aid is an important tool toleverage private investment particularly in Asia, but Africa still misses regulatory
framework and proper institutions. To address this challenge, EU is supporting Africancountries through budget support and policy dialogues to establish credible institutions
and policies. To date, such efforts have produced some results. I do not entirely agree
that Africa should pursue the export-oriented approach like Asia did; rather I argue that
Africa should at first create and sustain regional markets.
(Prof. Izumi Ohno) It is true that today’s external environment under the WTO rules
differs from that in the 70s and 80s, when East Asian countries pursued export-oriented
approach. Nevertheless, today African countries have many opportunities (such as
growing trade and investments from China and India), and we should focus on how totap these potentials by creating visions and actions, tailored to each country’s context.
Q. It seems that negotiation of EPA is forcing African markets to open up to EU
market, thus undermining the young African enterprises. Past relationshipbetween Africa and Europe has been so asymmetric, in political and economicterms.
A. (Mr. Manservisi) EU has to negotiate this new agreement (EPA) since the previous
trade agreement (Cotonou Treaty) is not in line with the current WTO rules. The EPA
aims to strengthen regional bodies to enact the Free Trade Agreement, which ismeaningful for Africa and EU. It would help developing horizontal trade within Africanmarkets. Protection for infant industries is taken into account. It is based on our belief
that African leaders should shift from aid dependency and create the middle class intheir countries. They would have more opportunities by not only producing flowers but
more sophisticated goods.
Q. Ideally all partners should sit together (not like EU-Africa bilateral meetings),
and the government should lead the coordination; yet some do not have capacity
to choose projects so there is certain trade-off.
A. (Mr. Manservisi) Agree on the comments made by Prof. Helleiner and President
Chissano on ownership (refer to Prof. Ohno’s presentation, PPT slide No. 4); but donors
should also be accountable for tax payers. EU is trying to resolve this problem byreducing the fragmentation of aid (conditionalities) and by involving the local people.
Donors can be intrusive, but this is not one side. The example of Ethiopia, where
various donors support Ethiopian industries, shows perfectly the Division of Labour
among partners.
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(Prof. Izumi Ohno) In Ethiopia, the support by various donors is linked to country-owned
industrial policy/strategy, so the country vision is very important. While Ethiopia heavily
depends on aid, they know how to take advantage of its geopolitical situation andmanage aid, which is striking compared to the many other low-income countries.
Q. Does EU really have vision on how to promote African growth, compared towhat happened to East Asia (where Japan has been a part in their economicsuccess)?
A. (Mr. Manservisi) We have to keep investing in Africa to accelerate growth. Aid is valid
for controlling damages, such as diseases, and the role of development aid is important.
Nevertheless, I believe that development happens when countries themselves makeeffort, including top leadership.
Q. What are EU’s views on Africa’s trade and regional integration?
A. (Mr. Manservisi) Regional integration is important, not only for economic reason but
for peace and security. EU started as a mean to reconcile France and Germany, thenItaly joined as supplier of labour force. For instance, in West Africa, well-performing but
land-locked countries like Burkina Faso or Mali should be integrated into the regionalmarket. EC’s assistance for regional integration is well ahead of the World Bank. The
future challenge is how to leverage private investment, and in this sense, the Asianexperience is important.

*The responsibility for writing this note rests with the GRIPS Development Forum4