Monthly Highlights from ECDPM's Talking Points Blog, GREAT Insights, Volume 2, Issue 6 (September 2013)

[Podcast] Frustrations with EU-Africa relations, Talking Points ECDPM, 16 August 2013 Transcript In the wider context of the discussion of EU-Africa relations and ahead of both the European Think Tanks Group conference and the EU-Africa summit it 2014 we asked some people at ECDPM what they thought were challenges for EU-Africa relations. Dr James Mackie, senior advisor on EU development policy: I think EU-Africa relations can be frustrating in that they… take time. That’s not just because the political processes are slow and there are a lot of actors involved etc. But the protagonists on both sides are quite demanding of each other. The Europeans tend ... West Africa on the move to accelerate the implementation of its regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP), Talking Points, Jeske van Seters, 25 July 2013 The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is undertaking efforts to accelerate the implementation of their regional agricultural policy, the ECOWAP/Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP), and its related regional and national investment plans. In that context, ministers of the 15 ECOWAS member states are scheduled to get together from 16 to 20 September for the Agriculture/ Environment/Water Resources Specialised Ministerial Committee. They’ll meet in Lomé, Togo, for the long awaited launch of the Regional Food and Agriculture Agency housed there, which is being created to facilitate the implementation of regional ECOWAP/CAADP initiatives. The ministerial meeting (...) Direct cash transfers to avoid the resources curse: pouring money over poor people will not fix politics, Talking Points, Isabelle Ramdoo, 19 July 2013 The current second-round resource boom in Africa should not be a missed opportunity. This time it must trickle down to lift people out of poverty. So far, all agree and the rhetoric about how to make it work is now well echoed in all spheres of policy, including outside Africa. But tangible results are yet to be seen and some are getting itchy. Rightly so! Prescriptions and recommendations are fusing from all sides. Some of them are very pragmatic and rational, other are more, say, creative... Many though seem to overlook the fact that extractive (...) What and who drives regional integration in Southern Africa?, Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 18 July 2013 What are the drivers and politics behind regional integration efforts in Southern Africa? What are the implications for governments, regional actors and development partners? What does it mean for South Africa and the EU in particular? These were the points under discussion at a joint ECDPM and SAIIA workshop, held in Pretoria on the 2 and 3rd July as part of the Political Economy of Regional Integration in Southern Africa (PERISA) project, financed the EU-SA Dialogue Facility. The workshop and the accompanying research aimed to go beyond the rhetoric of regional policy statements and technocratic (...) The Aid for Trade 4th Global Review – Aid for Productive Employment, Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 12 July 2013 The opening remarks made at the World Trade Organisation 4th Global Aid for Trade (AfT) Review this week all suggested a degree of consensus. According to nearly all, AfT has largely been a success, notwithstanding the recognised difficulties in carrying out evaluations. Speeches from Pascal Lamy (WTO), Angel Gurria (OECD) and representatives from a range of multilateral organisations (UNDP, AfDB, WB, IMF, ADB, IDB) all agreed on the need for AfT to address trade facilitation, trade finance, infrastructures, standards, value chains, upgrading, involving the private sector, inclusiveness, among others, with mentions of the need for (...)   This article was published in Great Insights Volume 2, Issue 6 (September 2013)