Improving National Resilience and Forging Global Cooperation: Consultation on Economic Security in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

On October 3-5, 2011 the EastWest Institute (EWI) hosted its Eighth Annual Worldwide Security Conference (WSC8) on Managing Business Risk Through Policy Entrepreneurship in Brussels. The second day of the conference featured a special consultation titled “Towards a G20 Action Plan for National Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.”

Organized by EWI’s Economic Security Initiative team, this meeting is part of a Six-Week Policy Mobilization Process working towards concrete policy recommendations. The three main objectives for the process are as follows:

1. Improve the resilience of developing countries in the face of accumulating pressures on water and food security in selected critical localities, such as the drought affected regions of Somalia or the water stressed parts of Yemen.
2. Establish new standing processes in the corresponding regions to provide better use of existing regional and global assets, especially emphasizing effective early warning mechanisms and sustainable response, including the promotion of private sector investment.
3. Promote specific commitments from the private sector to devise new, effective international public-private partnerships to enhance responses to economic security threats in critical regions.

The consultation was chaired by Mr. Francis Finlay, Mr. John Edwin Mroz, and Dr. Greg Austin. Speaking under Chatham House Rules, the discussion began with an informative speech by an official from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development and Cooperation- EuropeAid. He elaborated on the European Commission’s climate change and adaptation programs, noting that “unlimited climate change beyond two degrees Celsius will lead to unprecedented scenarios” and warned that climate change will undoubtedly trigger conflicts where tensions already run high over scarce resources.

The session continued with a European representative for an international conservation organization. He presented the organization’s role in shaping community and eco-system based adaptation strategies by providing in-depth details of their work in the Northern Kenya Grasslands. The environmental degradation in this area is a contributing factor to its fragility: residents of this region do not have access to a sustainable income; there is a lack of resources; conflict is endemic among communities, and an increasing population puts even greater strain on scarce resources.

Efforts taken to mitigate these issues include:

• Establishment and strengthening of management plans to improve rangelands conditions;
• Creation of a livestock purchase programme that is directly linked to overgrazing;
• Streamlining of climatic adaptation strategies into a Holistic Grazing Management Programme; and
• Improvement of local governance and security.

Questions directed to both speakers focused on evaluation of potential projects and return on investment. In response, the speaker from the international conservation organization indicated that there are three filters that determine whether or not the organization will engage in a project: ecological relevance, pressure in the region, and enabling structures.
The representative went on to stress that there must already exist good governing structures on the ground in order to facilitate the success of a project. This denotes that enhancing good governance across all regions and creating stability is particularly essential in order for investors to find projects attractive. The evaluation on the return of investment comes from monitoring and comparing results to the project’s main objectives.

The second part of the session focused around building resilience through innovative regional partnerships and networks. The first panelist to address this topic was a director from the UNDP Geneva Liaison Office. He discussed the discrepancy in connecting all interested parties in climate change. Those in the developing world who understand their region-specific climate change issues do not have access to those practitioners, experts and investors who can help devise the solutions to the problems they face. The representative suggested that there must be an intermediary who connects the two sectors in order to tackle climate change and its effects and break down the barrier between interested stakeholders.

Success can only come about when the civil society, the private sector, industry, and government work together, suggested a UN official; only through collective action will private investments begin to flow upon being confident on their return. The UNDP representative also strongly believes that there is a strong positive correlation between the power of sub-national authorities and sustainable economic development. He argued that sub-national authorities must be key players in climate change as they possess regional expertise in all areas.

A representative from the Council of the European Union added to the discussion by focusing on the importance of trust-building. He suggested that monitoring and addressing the public is the most effective way in achieving increased trust and confidence in this sector which will then ultimately attract investment.

The need for regional cooperation through the practice of dam construction was put forward by a Former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He believes that in order to most efficiently utilize scarce trans-boundary resources, cooperation is key. Upstream and downstream countries must work together to maximize win-win scenarios and avoid escalating tensions between countries.

The session concluded with comments from a government official from an African country. She outlined four crucial recommendations:

• Look at Africa as part of the solution, not the problem. The focus needs to be on food preservation and food storage.
• Improved infrastructure will make a difference for many people in Africa who currently live without it. Many villages are poor because they do not have a road and are thereby disconnected from markets where they can sell their livestock, produce and share resources. Lack of access also restricts children from attending school.
• Regional integration is critical now, especially when looking at private investments. Instead of investing in one country, donors could invest in several countries through a regional financial framework.
• Privatization in some African countries has resulted in lost domestic jobs and tax revenue due to pressures to attract foreign investment. The tax exemptions afforded to foreign companies require a re-think.

The consultation highlighted that although climate change will have adverse effects on stability and security, much can be done to help to mitigate those ill-effects. There is a greater opportunity to strengthen national resilience and avert potentially disastrous scenarios if multiple sectors are engaged in the same discussion. The consultation also demonstrated the benefits of involving and viewing developing states as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.