ACP-EU updates compiled by ECDPM

ECDPM Weekly Compass -- Issue 111 -- 25 May 2012

cotonou_online — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:31:53 +0000

* European Report on Development 2012 out: 'Business as usual no longer an option' * Changes in the EU’s 'Agenda for Change'? * Post-2015: Monitoring financing for development and 'development friendliness' * EU-Africa trade agreement live, threat to end market access still looms * Aid for Trade and innovative financing * African Union response to Arab Spring an exception?

Another paper tiger? New commitments to joint EU action in response to fragility. ECDPM Talking Points Blog. 25 May 2012

cotonou_online — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:30:47 +0000

++ SERIES: ECDPM ANALYSIS OF NEW EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY REFORM PROPOSALS ++ Fragility is notoriously and closely related to human suffering, volatile security situations and to ineffectiveness of traditional aid. The continuum of fragility – conceptualizations which characterise the relative strength or weakness of states on a continuum with state failure and collapse at one extreme and states characterized by serious vulnerabilities at the other – is high on the global political agenda. EU Foreign Ministers acknowledged that some countries are “facing increasing fragility” and committed to target their resources at countries in situations of fragility as one of their priorities in their latest Foreign Affairs Council’s Conclusions adopted on 14 May. The primary determinant of resource allocation will be the needs of those living in situations of fragility. Identifying the needs of people, however, might be difficult in fragile settings. Lack of legitimacy, capacity....

Macro-Financial Assistance to third countries. European Parliament Resolution. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:12:18 +0000

A new alliance for food security, or a two-track Africa? Institute of Development Studies. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:24:37 +0000

Leaders accross the globe are moving to speed up progress on combating hunger and malnutrition. In his latest blog, Ian Scoones asks: will these initiatives really deal with the underlying political economic conditions that keep people poor? Or will the alliance create a two-track Africa instead, dividing those able to benefit from private investment and neoliberal policy from those who lose out? Scoones argues that the alliance 'fails to address the wider political and institutional questions and the needs and priorities of many of the region's people'.

Hands on or hands off for budget support? Overseas Development Institute. 23 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:21:55 +0000

Enthusiasm for budget support has waned. Last year four major bilateral budget support donors (the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) signalled plans to slash their allocations for general budget support – a trend fuelled by dissatisfaction with its assessed impact. However, Friday’s Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) report on the ‘management of UK budget support operations’ paints a more optimistic picture.

China Africa Development Fund Not Attractive Enough in China. China in Africa, The Real Story. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:20:24 +0000

China Africa Development Fund, the equity investment arm established by China Development Bank and launched at the 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, has failed in its effort to raise $2 billion on the capital markets. Instead, says a story published by China's vigorous economics newspaper Caixin, the state will arrange a second injection of foreign exchange: "The fund’s parent, China Development Bank (CDB), arranged the US$ 2 billion worth of eight- to 10-year loans at bargain interest rates after CADF’s cash injection plan, some two years in the making, won State Council approval in March."

A waymark reached. Is the finish line in sight? European Development Cooperation Strengthening Programme. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:14:15 +0000

Simon Maxwell and Mikaela Gavas analyse the Conclusions regarding the new EU development policy, ‘Agenda for Change’, published by the EU Foreign Affairs Council in October 2011. They ask what has been gained and lost in the process, and whether it is now possible to see what kind of settlement will be reached when the Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014-20 is agreed.

G8 pushes for private sector route to food security in Africa. ICTSD. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:11:52 +0000

Trade Policy Options for Enhancing Food Aid Effectiveness. ICTSD. 24 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:10:19 +0000

This paper looks at how food aid could be made more effective, in the light of recent food price trends, and examines how different approaches could affect trade and development. The author argues in favour of establishing international rules that will provide a meaningful framework for ‘bona fide’ food aid.

First EU EPA with an African Region Takes Effect. ICTSD. 23 May 2012.

cotonou_online — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:08:37 +0000