After the process initiated aimed at decolonizing the development sector, Belgium's partners in Central Africa are asking for more commitments in political-diplomatic areas, beyond traditional cooperation. Africa and Europe could innovate more reassuring and ethical initiatives based on the historic capital of Belgium.
The world situation depicts a set of multifaceted crises which overlap, follow one another or influence one another and impose new methods and innovative criteria for analysis. For example, while the impact of the Covid-19 crisis has not yet been erased, multiple perceptions abound on the management of the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, global inequalities, ecological stress, etc.
Planet Earth, now understood as a whole, a “common home[1]» calls more for an awareness of the shared responsibilities of humans. Work to reduce global inequality calls for a new partnership to achieve more philanthropic cooperation. This requires a change in the development aid paradigm.
Belgium, which wanted to begin a decolonial approach, in particular through the establishment of a parliamentary commission on the colonial past, will still have to adapt and reinvent its mutual aid operations by focusing on the needs of local communities. While feelings of vulnerability and ecological stress increase, the Belgian political class must demonstrate courageous solidarity initiatives. The empathetic reaction of the Belgians to the effects of the war portends the momentum of a great resilient potential that Europe should pursue.
How can we retrace the course of Belgian international cooperation? What lessons will the Belgian diplomatic world be able to draw from cultural and civilizational exchanges with the countries of Central Africa?
Trajectory of the Belgian partnership with Central Africa
60 years after gaining independence, international cooperation remains in constant flux. Its field has undergone transmutation over time. Following the Second World War, official development assistance (ODA) found itself at the heart of international relations. This has evolved according to the paradigms that have animated international life. In its beginnings it depended on the intensity of the links which existed between countries donors, countryNorth on one side and the other; beneficiary countries, mainly from the “south” or in development.
It can intervene directly (discretionary) from one State to another; through bilateral cooperation; multilateral or indirectly via NGOs, academic and scientific institutions, etc.
The influences of the old metropolises then continue to hover over their former colonies. Thus, British aid will be granted preferentially to Commonwealth countries (The Commonwealth of Nations is the name since 1947 of the association of former colonies (or protectorates) of the British Empire), that of France oriented mainly towards the countries of the CFA zone (Countries of the African Financial Community made up of Cameroon, the Central African Republic , Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Means at its creation on 26 December 1945 "franc of the French Colonies of Africa") and Belgian international cooperation mainly towards central Africa (former colonies).
In Belgium, the law of March 19, 2013 defines the Belgian Development Cooperation as the policy and actions carried out through governmental, multilateral and non-governmental channels and by means of other instruments which are or have been counted as Official Development Assistance by the Development Assistance Committee (CAD ) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Belgium is recognized within the Development Assistance Committee (CAD) as a staunch defender of the states less advanced and fragile. However, Belgian ODA has been declining for more than a decade and is today around 0.4 % of GNI (Gross National Income), well below the objective of 0.7 % that it set itself. freely fixed.
In DR Congo, for example, Belgium supports the technical education and vocational training sector, agriculture, rural development and the health sector. In Rwanda, it offers support for health, energy and decentralization. In Burundi, it intervenes in the areas of health, education and other cross-cutting sectors including good governance, the environment and the implementation of Human Rights.
ODA remains significant in these countries, on the other hand in Rwanda, 40 % of its national budget was covered by international solidarity[2]. In Burundi, ODA covers 45.4 % of the national budget. This shows us to what extent the impact of international solidarity can influence the lives of the populations of the Great Lakes region. The importance, as well as the impact of Belgian support in this region, is diluted over time, as it “competites” with other actors such as China, the United States, France or Russia.
CSOs, indicators of human rights and ethics
To better understand Belgian policy, we must go back to July 1999 when the government took office.Rainbow» of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD) and his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Michel (PRL). This government immediately demonstrated its intention to pursue a more dynamic African policy. aimed at putting Belgium back at the center of international debates on Central Africa[3] and thus play an effective role in the search for solutions to the conflict raging there. These resurgent antagonisms have mutated sufficiently to present in these days an imminent danger of implosion.
Belgian cooperation with its former colonies has therefore evolved according to the successive developments of strategic plans and now depends largely on the change in the particular situation of each partner[4].
Over the years, relations between Belgium and its former colonies have evolved at a turbulent pace between tension and controversy. NGOs have regularly attracted''pay attention to the ambiguity which displayed an obvious disparity between the lifestyle of those in power on the one hand and the glaring inequalities displaying endemic poverty on the other. The hypothesis of the curse of riches coupled with impunity reducing the people to silence has also been criticized.
These situations can undermine partnership sustainability, which must necessarily be part of a long-term perspective. to be efficient[5]. In any case, criticism of development aid has revolved around a few themes such as “dictatorship of experts” or “collusion with those in power”, but also the “low impact of public aid on development»[6]. Economist Dambisa Moyo noted that “countries that have experienced a phase of development in recent decades owe their good economic performance not to external aid, but to their capacity to create wealth.” Often misused aid can strengthen some dictators[7] hence it is increasingly desired to involve civil society in governance.
These criticisms may be legitimate in certain circumstances where, instead of promoting the expected development, aid could favor the perpetuation of dictators in power. They unfortunately become fatal when the beneficiaries suffer from them. This was, for example, the case of countries where civil society organizations (CSOs) were not involved in decision-making spheres. They thus miss the opportunity to play their role as a bulwark in favor of good governance and democracy.
Note, however, that these criticisms of ODA in general in no way ignore the improvements generated in the daily lives of local populations, particularly in terms of access to public utility infrastructure. Today, human rights have gradually become an essential benchmark for Belgian cooperation. The increasingly significant involvement of civil society improves the quality of the partnership.
We can nevertheless point out that Belgium has sometimes reserved the right to suspend ties of solidarity, in the event of a regression in the rule of law. This has involved, on certain occasions, situations of blocking or even complete cessation of collaboration. We can cite in particular the period of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda (with the assassination on April 7 of 10 Belgian para-commandos) and the breakdown of Belgian military cooperation which had been suspended when it had been accused by the DR Congo for his possible participation in supporting the rebellion in Kivu.
In 2015, bilateral relations with Burundi were also severed, following the exceeding of the maximum number of mandates to the presidency of the Republic by Pierre Nkurunziza.
This was also the basis Diplomatic chill with the DR Congo in 2016 on grounds of serious human rights violations. Most often, it is the NGOs who have had to take over to ensure the continuity of certain urgent projects.
Faced with this reality, how can we therefore guarantee the necessary continuity of concerted solidarity actions? Should we not directly focus efforts, in Central Africa, on CSOs (Civil Society Organizations)?
Evolution towards the coherence of Belgian international solidarity policy
Overall, it can be estimated that ODA is effective, to a certain extent, in contributing to socio-economic development in poor countries. The United Nations University published a study which corroborates these statements. According to this, over the period 1970-2007, an average annual flow of $25 in aid per capita in the beneficiary countries would have allowed a reduction in poverty of 6.5 %, an increase in investments of 1.5 %, in the GDP growth rate of 0.5 % and life expectancy of 1.3 years and the average schooling rate of 0.4 years in beneficiary developing countries [8].
In 2019, The Belgian government agreed on the principle of reaching the threshold of 0.7 % of GNI in ODA in 2030. But in response to the emergency caused by the Russo-Ukrainian war, Belgian Cooperation was able to mobilize additional funding to support Ukraine, rather than redirecting budgets towards its ODA as other European countries have done.
Belgium extended the nominal value between 2020 and 2021, going from 2,033 to 2,186 million EUR, but it fell in relative terms, from 0.47 to 0.46 % of gross national income (GNI) : it has therefore not achieved the set objective of 0.7 % in 2021. But Belgium is not yet respecting its commitment to allocate 15 % of ODA to food sovereignty. Note also that in 2021, the share of ODA managed by the General Directorate of Development Cooperation (DGD) decreased, going from 60 % in 2020 to 56 % in 2021.
- The kern agreement of June 2022 has committed to reaching 0.7 % of GNI in development aid in 2030. All the French-speaking parties making up the government majority have committed to this in their respective electoral programs.
- Wallonia played a pioneering role with Scotland at COP 26, announcing EUR 1 million in funding to compensate for losses and damages in the Global South.
However, it is relevant to question the perpetuation of these cooperations. By browsing the Enabel website (the Belgian development agency), we can see a certain paradox: on the one hand, it is highlighted that Belgium has been cooperating with Burundi for more than 50 years and on the other hand that the latter is one of the poorest states in the world. Burundi's human development index, established by the UN, is among the lowest in the world.
Belgium appears to be a good student in terms of the room for maneuver it leaves to its beneficiaries, because the majority of Belgian aid is therefore called "untied" (that is to say it is not matched of no conditionality for the purchase of Belgian materials and supplies). This means that it is allocated without obligation for the partner country to use this aid for the purchase of Belgian goods or supplies.
Unlike American aid, for example, which remains partially linked to American commercial interests. This is the price to pay to have the agreement of the United States Congress said Hillary Clinton at the investors' summit in Busan. A third of American aid therefore still remains tied. In this case, the recipient country may be obliged, for example, to exclusively use a company from the donor country for the supply of goods and services.
In 2011, during the 4e forum on the effectiveness of development aid in Busan, 160 countries and 46 international organizations agreed to create a multi-stakeholder forum, the objective of which would be to ensure maximum effectiveness of international cooperation. This is how the “Global partnership for effective development cooperation”, with the mission of monitoring the implementation of the four principles of development effectiveness approved in Busan: (1) ownership of development priorities by developing countries; (2) results orientation; (3) inclusive partnerships; (4) mutual transparency and accountability[9].
Today, the Global Partnership brings together developing countries, donor countries and other organizations from around the world, including UNDP, the OECD, as well as civil society organizations. According to the latest report of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the alignment of the objectives of development projects with the priorities of beneficiary countries has deteriorated[10].
However, international solidarity is expected to respect several criteria, including alignment, ownership and use of partner countries' national systems. In other words, cooperation must be coherent and aligned with the needs, objectives and interests of the partners, and even more so those of local populations. It must also take care to make maximum use of the tools (such as management and monitoring systems) of partner countries, with the aim of strengthening capacities and ensuring the sustainability of the actions put in place.
Innovate a partnershipt balanced “Eurafrican[11]»
The particularity of Africa, according to Kako Babukpo, is based on the capacity resilient adaptation of his precarious youth to face the harshness of life[12]. Well, this continent is incubating most of the violent and deadly conflicts while suffering from endemic corruption instead of being the protagonist of its destiny. Won't it be able to surprise the world with its adaptive capacity to understand new technologies?
It resisted the slave trade which needed human resources in its time, today it faces the rush to exploit natural resources.
Africa will soon be the first continent in history to be able to integrate, in less than fifty years, 2 billion humans. That in a context of low productivity and virtual absence of industries or accelerated urbanization[13]. Half of its population being under 15 presupposes, in the near future, a potentially innovative economic shift.
One in 4 humans will be African by 2050. At least a third end of the century. Africa's vigorous demographics remain an asset to be rediscovered. Its mineral and energy wealth, coveted by old and new predators, coupled with its human capital, requires better governance.
60 years after the departure of the colonizing countries, the current influence of the West – driven by climatic and economic issues – is still felt. This influence, although attenuated by the spectacular entry into play of new players such as China (in search of raw materials) and Russia (in search of allies and markets). Added to this are inequalities in the redistribution of wealth between governments and multinational companies which exploit natural resources on the one hand and local populations who suffer from them on the other.
One would be tempted to wonder if Belgium will still be able to actively participate in bringing states together for an adequate climate of peace in Central Africa?
“The Congolese need the Belgians and the Belgians need the Congolese”, can we read in the article entitled “Zaire at the time of the Noko» (Colette Braeckman).
Faced with the increasingly indexed responsibilities of leaders and multinationals in Central Africa, voices have also been raised in Belgium. The journalist François Ryckmans in his book “black memories, the Congolese tell the Belgian Congo»[14] traces the courage of a people as well as their incredible capacity for resilience by calling on political leaders to take greater responsibility. The journalist Erick Bruyland in his recent work: “[15] », addresses the “poor-rich” paradox and proposes alternatives for strong political actions. He insists on the establishment of more humane laws as well as optimal tax justice for the return of the rule of law. Director Thierry Michel as for him, he also protests against the law of silence over a quarter of a century in his latest film: “The empire of silence". The latter calls on the international community to act.
Diplomatic and socio-economic ties remain close between these countries. These political reports were marked by Belgian influence through pressure and criticism, most often, against proven governance flaws. They have also often been punctuated by friction and difficulties when the question of non-respect of human rights has arisen.
For future generations, the need to trade calls for an awareness of responsibility for the management of natural resources, which are also limited in quantity. THE necessary metals on which the transition is based ecological are, for the most part, available in Central Africa. Could this, therefore, ethically, bring new life to citizens?
Conclusions
Western influence on Africa, 60 years after decolonization, still remains a reality. Belgium has also retained an influence that can serve as a catalyst for privileged relationships with its former colonies.
Strengthening the partnership with a view to supporting growth economic of Africa remains a unique opportunity for Europe and the future of the world.
We believe that it is possible that these plural, innovative and solid “Eurafrican” links could ultimately lead to the perfect integration of the great universal values into the daily lives of the Congolese, Rwandans and Burundians.
The major current global issues of climate, food, migration and economics could find part of their solution in the addition of African values. Will Europe be able to draw from African austerity the best methods of apprehending the decrease and sobriety?
Strengthening the future partnership also means sharing the best health technologies, demystifying the perception of population mobility and banishing neocolonial approaches in the partnership relationships to be built.
The new partnership must restore the rightful place for women and strengthen the integration of democracy on a daily basis. The international partnership link should be understood and apprehended in its dimension of symmetrical solidarity of Africa with Belgian citizens.
Although the world is opening more and more to multilaterality and international actors are increasing ties, the partnership and bilateral relationships that exist between Belgium and its former colonies deserve to be strengthened. These relations must lead not only to a Central Africa definitively freed from the pillory of perpetual “helped” but also must free it from the spiral of violence.
Patrick Balemba Batumike.
[1] Pope Francis, Laudato Si, encyclical letter, May 24, 2015
[2] Jeremy Révillon, Rwanda an economic model? Great Lakes Observatory in Africa, Note No. 3, 2013
[3] De Coninck F., Conflicts and diplomacy in Central Africa: Testimony of an ambassador 1994-2000, the Harmatan, AfricaMuseum; Paris, 2022, P.245
[4] Pierre Boisselet, International aid: can Rwanda cut the cord? Young Africa Economy Magazine, June 26, 2012
[5]Gérard Perroulaz, The role of NGOs in development policy: strengths and limits, legitimacy and control, swiss development policy directory, 2004
[6] Gaël Raballand, can public development assistance be made more effective? French Review of Public Administration, 2015/3 (No. 55) PP 779-791
[7] Dambisa Moyo, Dead aid: Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa, Farar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2009
[8]United Nations University, Impact study on development cooperation, 1970-2007
[9] Busan Aid Effectiveness Forum (Korea), November 20-1er December 2011
[10] Van Haute A., Less effective development cooperation, CNCD analysis, 2019
[11] Concept imagining a new partnership space uniting Africa and Europe in a common regional integration project. Idea launched around 1947 focused by the “colonial origins» of European construction by the writers Hendrik Brugmans, Peo Hassen and Stefán Johnson.
[12] Nabukpo, K., A solution for Africa: from neoprotectionism to common goods, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2022
[13] Same
[14] Ryckmans, F., Black memories, the Congolese tell the story of the Belgian Congo 1940-1960, Racine/RTBF, Brussels, 2010
[15] Erick Bruyland, The undermining of a giant. RD. Congo 1960-2020, Racine, Brussels, 2021
