Monthly Highlights from ECDPM's Talking Points Blog, GREAT insights, Volume 3, Issue 4 (April 2014)

Don’t ignore the elephants in the room – will the Africa-EU summit revitalise the partnership? Talking Points, Geert Laporte, 28 March 2014 
To make the summit a success strong leadership will be needed on both sides of the partnership to square up to the elephants in the room, sorting out the differences to get on with making the EU-Africa relationship a success. There needs to be a fundamental change in the mentalities and mind-set of both parties to shape the inter-continental relationship and its time for the influential African and European leaders to stand up and to make this work! Rebuilding Confidence and Commitment The heads of state of both continents will meet for their 4th summit  (…)

Beauty contests and economic transformation. Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 28 March 2014 
“As beauty is only skin-deep, so too is growth”. So Joe Amoako-Kuffour began the Brussels launch of the Africa Transformation Report by ACET (African Centre for Economic Transformation) last week. “Growth may be good, but it must be accompanied by economic transformation”. This is nicely put but relatively uncontroversial. But where ACET have done rather well, both in providing analysis and extending the metaphor, is in coming up with five measures of economic transformation that translate into DEPTH: Diversification; Export competitiveness; Productivity; Technology; and Human welfare. By providing measures of these five areas for those (…)

Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR): the challenge of rejuvenating an old-school principle ahead of the 2015 climate negotiations. Talking Points, Hanne Knaepen, 21 March 2014
Last week I attended a panel discussion on ‘Revisiting the Principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR): Opportunities for the 2015 Climate Agreement’. Hosted by the Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik/German Development Institute (DIE), the discussion centered around their recently published discussion paper. The paper says that countries’ contributions to global  greenhouse gas emissions and the climate change impacts they face are poles apart. These differences, as well as countries’ different capacities and development levels, have been internationally acknowledged, based on the notion of ‘Common But Differentiated Responsibilities’ (CBDR). Whilst the event was titled ‘opportunities for’, (…) 

Water for agriculture in SADC: realising the water, energy and food security nexus.Talking Points, Lesley-Anne van Wyk, 20 March 2014 Close to Kasane, in the very north of Botswana, and Impalila Island in the very east of Namibia, the Zambezi River forms the junction of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The river is the hydrological thread sewing together the various livelihoods of people living in the few hundred squared kilometres of this area. The majority of the growing population of the Zambezi’s vast basin is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. The river’s fertile flood plains provide good agricultural land to support crop production. The sun-bleached sands of the Zambezi riverbanks are permanently beaded with (…)