Click here to read Part II of this paper.

This CAI paper is the first in a two-part series. It explores the possibilities of inter-regional cooperation between Africa and South America that has been put in motion through the Africa-South America Summits (ASA) since 2006.⁽²⁾ The paper asks how this institutional cooperation can lead to sustained mutual involvement to the benefit of both continents. Further, it identifies similar challenges and how policy dialogues can contribute to more effective solutions. Finally, it argues that inter-regional alliances in international institutions, such as the ones developing between Africa and South America in several instances, are a vital element in the construction of an equitable multi-polar order.

Within the current power shifts in favour of emerging players in the South, Africa’s position in global affairs is also changing. Long seen mainly as neo-colonial spheres of influence of France, Great Britain or the United States (US), this perception has changed considerably in the past decade. Two main facets of this change can be identified. First, the emergence of a range of new players on the African continent has complicated Africa’s international relations. While China is without doubt the major new player on the continent, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey are also increasingly active across the continent. In addition, some African countries themselves, in particular South Africa, have scaled up their profile as regional powers. Second, new conceptions and initiatives of regional integration have created a vehicle for African states to organise their interests and take ownership of solutions to the continent’s problems. The African Union (AU), established in 2002, is the main institutional expression of this change, but is complemented by other sub-regional arrangements.

Africa’s development is now often looked at through the prism of its ‘Asia Dimension’, a perspective justified by the global weight of China or India, and the heavy involvement of those powers in African affairs. However, this paper argues that a number of opportunities are overlooked when focusing solely on the Asian side of the story. Rather, both facets identified above can be understood more comprehensively when looking at experiences in South America and possible synergies between the two continents.

There have been numerous attempts in recent years to institutionalise the diverse range of emerging South-South cooperation patterns. Between the two regions examined here, the formalisation of cooperation has proceeded in the form of the Africa-South America Summit (ASA) since 2006. However, as the AU concedes, “[n]ot much has been achieved so far in this partnership as attempts are currently being made to put in place the necessary mechanisms that would ensure the effective implementation of the process.”⁽³⁾ However, if the organisational challenges are addressed effectively, much can be gained from this cooperation in at least three respects discussed, in turn, below.

Sustaining mutual involvement

In recent years, the inter-connections between African and South American actors have increased. This section argues that this is a positive development which can be supported, solidified and sustained by institutional cooperation; but first let us look at the situation on the ground.

The weight of Brazil as a global player no doubt accounts for a large part of the growing interactions between the two continents. The trade volume between Africa and Brazil “increased more than sixfold from 2000 to 2008, from US$ 4.2 billion to US$ 25.9 billion.”⁽⁴⁾ In the latter figure the share of African exports to Brazil is higher than that of Brazilian exports to Africa, which stems mainly from the fact that most of the trade is in primary commodities sourced in Africa, reproducing a familiar pattern of Africa’s commercial ties with other continents. The influential Chatham House think-tank (Royal Institute of International Affairs) concludes however that long-term focusthe potential of Africa’s consumer markets for Brazilian manufactured goods.⁽⁵⁾ In order to further expand this market, the diversification of African economies is a primary concern. Here, Brazil’s investment and development assistance in fields as diverse as agriculture, infrastructure, health or education can deliver an important contribution.⁽⁶⁾

But the current situation involves more than Brazil on the African continent. Businesses and governments from across South America have (re)discovered Africa as an important market and partner. This is reflected in the acknowledgement by the Second Africa-South America Summit Declaration that “fostering South-South trade and investment contributes to complement the developing economies and the identification of new economic and trade exchange opportunities.”⁽⁷⁾ For instance, a number of trade agreements between the regions have been signed. The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) has, to date, concluded free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Egypt, Morocco and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). In addition, many bilateral agreements between African and South American countries are already in place.⁽⁸⁾

It is worth noting however that the development of those ties ought to go beyond mere FTAs. The vision of cooperation between Africa and South America is underpinned by a notion of inter-continental solidarity. Deepening the mutual involvement through institutional ties between governments and regional organisations can build on this vision to bring a sense of stability and sustainability to the relationship.⁽⁹⁾ For instance, too strong a focus on resource exports may put the two countries into rivalry with each other on the world market. In the spirit of the existing commitments to cooperation and solidarity, such a rivalry should be avoided, as it could in turn lead to mutual support for the diversification of the two continents’ economies to counter the problems of dependency on agriculture and resources.

Finally, it must not be overlooked that African countries themselves can in the future profit from more and better trade and investment opportunities in other regions, including South America. Therefore, inter-regional agreements may also facilitate African access to South American markets in a regulated, sustainable and mutually beneficial fashion. While ties with giants like China are, despite the notions of ‘partnership’ and ‘win-win situation’, rather asymmetric, South America can be a genuinely equal partner for Africa.

Learning from different responses to similar challenges

A second positive aspect of cooperation arrangements is that Africa and South America can learn from each other by sharing policy experiences, especially given the similar historical challenges they face. Both continents have long struggled with domination by outside powers, but also with the tendency of ‘extraversion’, that is, the active involvement of elites in the process of making their societies dependent on those outside powers.⁽¹⁰⁾ Historically, this is a far more accurate analogy than the one that seeks to compare contemporary African countries with the East Asian ‘developmental states’. Finding a common position on how to limit the involvement of external players is still a crucial task, in particular with regards to the emergence of a wide range of diverse new players.⁽¹¹⁾ The outcome of this development will ultimately depend on the agency of Africans themselves, as has been argued for instance with regards to the Indian involvement on the continent.⁽¹²⁾

Much can be learnt from the South American experience of extraversion, where the recent decade has seen the “rise of post-hegemonic regionalism.”⁽¹³⁾ This means that the logic of regional integration departs from the “erstwhile championed US market-driven open regionalism,”⁽¹⁴⁾ seeking to increase the autonomy of the region vis-à-vis external interests. One of the illustrations of this new regional arrangement is the attempt to end the dominance of the Western financial institutions and create own monetary agreements. While much remains to be done in this area, South America has been relatively less affected by the global financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn than other world regions.⁽¹⁵⁾ Sharing these experiences through institutionalised channels can inspire the African policy community in search for a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth trajectory. In addition, inter-regional arrangements that draw on South American models could be devised to underfeed the growing trade and investment patterns, as indicated above.

It is worth noting that South America can also learn from Africa. Many problems that publicly are most often discussed in relation to African cases exist also in other regions. Two examples of such problems in South America are child soldiers and an exploitative diamond trade. Regarding child soldiers, the Colombian rebel groups Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) and National Liberation Army continue to recruit and use children as combatants.⁽¹⁶⁾ The government and other organisations fighting against this phenomenon could receive helpful advice from various African initiatives that have sought to tackle problems of de-mobilisation and social re-integration of child soldiers. Concerning the diamond trade, media attention on African ‘blood diamonds’ has led to the establishment of the Kimberley Process to make the provenience of diamonds more transparent. It has been reported that the implementation of the process faces difficulties in South American countries such as Venezuela or Guyana.⁽¹⁷⁾ The expertise and the commitment of African governments, with South Africa having been the principal sponsor of the initiative, could benefit South America.

The global weight of two regions combined

A third benefit of inter-regional cooperation mechanisms would be the possibility of coordinating positions and campaigns at the global level to the benefit of both regions. One example could be mutual support for both an African and a South American permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). As has been noted by observers of Brazil’s foreign relations, one of the benefits of Africa as a strategic partner could be its support for a permanent seat for Brazil in the UNSC.⁽¹⁸⁾ The quest for permanent representation of South America in the UNSC is legitimate, and in turn begs the same question about African representation. Mutual support of both continents for a reform of the UNSC, and the backing of a candidate state from each continent for a permanent seat could be a viable strategy. In this case China is likely to obstruct any reform in concert with the other already established veto powers and hence much less likely to be a strategic partner than South American states.

One could argue that rivalries between various states within both continents will impede such a strategy. While this argument bears some truth, it also points to a more innovative vision for UNSC reform: permanent seats could be assigned to the continents and then filled by different countries on the basis of rotation. The holding state would then be obliged to coordinate its position with its regional group and thereby assure a more inclusive representation of interests. This arrangement would be in line with the broader vision of regional organisations as relevant actors alongside individual nation-states in international relations.⁽¹⁹⁾

Mutual support between Africa and South America is also a prospective way forward in other fora of global reach. It has been noted that “it was thanks to African votes that Brazil’s José Graziano da Silva was elected FAO’s Director-General in January 2012.”⁽²⁰⁾ Currently, Brazil has positioned a candidate in the bid for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and attempts to align the support of African states in the selection process. Given the often overlapping interests of both regions in trade relations, an alliance is a promising avenue for future rounds of WTO negotiations.

The case for global cooperation between the regions can also be made by pointing to an unsuccessful instance: the nomination of the new head of the World Bank in 2012 was for the first time contested, as states from the Global South asserted their new claims to a greater say in international affairs.⁽²¹⁾ One reason why the candidate backed by the US eventually won the post can be attributed to the failure to properly coordinate inter-regionally: with the Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Colombian José Antonio Ocampo, both Africa and South America fielded candidates which had to compete with each other. Inter-regional cooperation can in the future assure that the interests of both regions are heard and better represented on the global level.

Concluding remarks

This discussion paper investigated three positive aspects of the ‘South America dimension’ of Africa’s rise in global affairs. Starting from the existing situation on the ground, the first aspect concerns the solidification of inter-connections of African and South American actors through institutionalised inter-regional cooperation. Second, policy-dialogue can help both continents to learn from each other in identifying and addressing similar challenges. Finally, coordination between the two regions in global and international institutions has already proven to be a viable strategy to make the interests heard. This pathway is likely to be continued to the benefit of both continents. The points raised here are indicators that the creation of a multi-polar global order is possible. Advanced inter-regional cooperation will further contribute to the construction of such an order in which Africa can truly thrive.

Click here to read Part II of this paper.

Written by Mario Gavenda ⁽¹⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Mario Gavenda through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Optimistic Africa Unit ( optimistic.africa@consultancyafrica.com). This CAI discussion paper was developed with the assistance of Charlotte Sutherland and was edited by Kate Morgan.
(2) The term ‘South America’ rather than ‘Latin America’ is used throughout this paper. First, this reflects the official language of the Africa-South America Summit. Second, it indicates the exclusion of Mexico, which is more oriented towards her northern neighbours through the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA). For a discussion of the politics of defining regional boundaries in Latin America, see: Malamud, A., 2012, “Moving regions: Brazil’s global emergence and the redefinition of Latin American borders”, in Riggirozzi, P. and Tussie, D. (eds.). The rise of post-hegemonic regionalism. The case of Latin America. Springer: Heidelberg.
(3) ‘Africa’s strategic partnerships’, African Union, http://au.int.
(4) ‘Brazil’s economic engagement with Africa’, Africa Economic Brief, 11 May 2011, http://www.afdb.org.
(5) Stolte, C., ‘Brazil in Africa: Just another BRICS country seeking resources?’, Chatham House Briefing Paper, November 2012, http://www.chathamhouse.org.
(6) ‘Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa: South-South partnering for growth’, World Bank, 2011, http://www.worldbank.org.
(7) ‘Declaration of Nueva Esparta’, 26-27 September 2009, II. Africa-South America Summit: Nueva Esparta.
(8) For an exhaustive list of agreements see: ‘Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean with Africa: Current status and areas of opportunity’, Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), June 2011, http://www.sela.org.
(9) The next section introduces regional arrangements in South America that seek to develop more equitable trade and monetary governance. This foreshadows the potential such arrangements may hold for the inter-regional level as well.
(10) Jean-François Bayart has coined the term ‘extraversion’ with regards to this phenomenon in Africa, see Bayart, J.F., 2000. Africa in the world: A history of extraversion. African Affairs, 99, pp. 217-267. I argue that it can also serve to explain many alliances of South American elites with external actors.
(11) Kornegay, F.A. and Landsberg, C., 2009. Engaging emerging powers: Africa's search for a 'common position'. Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies, 36(1), pp. 171-191.
(12) Taylor, I., 2012. India’s rise in Africa. International Affairs, 88(4), pp. 779-798.
(13) Riggirozzi, P. and Tussie, D. (eds.), 2012. The rise of post-hegemonic regionalism. The case of Latin America. Springer: Heidelberg.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Montoro, C. and Rojas-Suarez, L., ‘Credit at times of stress: Latin American lessons from the global financial crisis’, Center for Global Development Working Paper, 24 February 2012, http://www.cgdev.org.
(16) Lieberman, A., ‘UN Security Council to study child soldier use in Colombia’, Pass Blue, 28 June 2012, http://passblue.com.
(17) Gupta, G. and Elana, S., ‘Not just out of Africa: South America’s “blood diamonds” network’, Time World, 20 August 2012, http://world.time.com.
(18) Stolte, C., ‘Brazil in Africa: Just another BRICS country seeking resources?’, Chatham House Briefing Paper, November 2012, http://www.chathamhouse.org.
(19) Van Langenhove, L. and Costea, A.C., ‘Inter-regionalism and the future of multilateralism’, United Nations University-Comparative Regional Integration Studies Occasional Papers, http://www.cris.unu.edu.
(20) Stuenkel, O., ‘Brazil in Africa. Bridging the Atlantic?’, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung International Reports, February 2013, http://www.kas.de.
(21) Akinloye, L., ‘World Bank presidential race heats up’, Think Africa Press, 15 June 2012, http://thinkafricapress.com.