26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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Putting Africa back on the Arab agenda
Revamping Arab-African cooperation may become a reality rather than just a dream following the meeting of Arab and African foreign ministers in Algiers, writes Gamal Nkrumah
The 12th ministerial session of the Arab-African Cooperation Commission convened in Algiers for a two-day meeting on 18-19 April to facilitate Arab-African collaboration in the commercial, economic and political spheres. It was treated by the international media as an inconsequential aside. Even in the region it hardly made the headlines. The commission had not met since 1991 and the idea of reviving Arab-African ties only resurfaced during the Arab summit held in Amman in March.
The concept of Arab-African cooperation was originally mooted in the mid-1970s. The first Arab-African summit was held in Cairo in 1977. While it started out as essentially political, the notion of Arab-African cooperation has become primarily economic. The African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) were also represented at the Algiers meeting.
The Algiers forum comprised 24 foreign ministers from the Arab League and Organisation of African Unity (OAU) member states, 12 representing Africa and 12 representing Arab countries. The commission was co-chaired by Kuwait and Burkina Faso.
The secretary-generals of the Arab League and the OAU also attended the meeting. Outgoing Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Maguid said, "Our top priority is to step up Arab-African political and economic cooperation. We need to reactivate the mechanisms of cooperation and institutionalise the process of Arab-African cooperation. We need to thoroughly evaluate the experience of the past," Abdel-Maguid told Al-Ahram Weekly.
"Several factors inhibited Arab-African cooperation in the past. Some of these factors were determined by the conceptual deficiencies and faulty theoretical framework upon which the notion of Arab-African cooperation was based. Then again, certain unforeseen events overtook us, both in Africa and in the Arab world. These developments had a detrimental impact on Arab-African cooperation," the Arab League secretary-general explained.
"The Algiers meeting provided us with a golden opportunity to properly reassess Arab-African cooperation, and to revise some of the old and outdated methods and mechanisms of cooperation adhered to in the past. We need to find new forms of Arab-African cooperation. We need fresh ideas and we need to come up with a new mechanism that serves the interests of both Africans and Arabs. Our peoples expect closer cooperation and coordination."
OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim concurred, stressing that in an age of giant continental groupings, Arabs and Africans should pool resources and present a united front in the international political arena. One of the main objectives of the Algiers meeting was to provide a unified approach on development concerns, especially when dealing with major international players such as the United States, the European Union, China and Japan.
In the past, endeavours at cementing Arab-African solidarity failed. Ultimately two factors predominated. One was the fragmented nature of African and Arab political terrains, the internecine fighting and rivalries in both camps exaggerated by their feeble and fledgling democratic institutions. But another, still deeper, reason was decisive: the crippling economic and social backwardness of the two regions in relative comparison with other regions.
While official government-to-government relations between Arab and African countries are cordial enough, popular attitudes remain at best murky. Moreover, the Arab media has done precious little to dispel the notion that there is little profitable trade with an economically ruined and underdeveloped Africa ravaged by war, a health crisis and insurmountable social problems.
Africans, on the other hand, traditionally suspect that whenever Arabs pursue a policy of closer Arab-African economic cooperation, their motivations must be predominantly political and self-interested. The notion of a racial and cultural faultline running across the African continent lingers, encouraged by the crusades of Western-based human rights organisations against the alleged enslavement of black Africans in Arab-dominated countries like Sudan and Mauritania. Some Africans have openly raised the issue of Arab compensation for past injustices, demanding reparations for the devastating impact of the medieval Arab slave trade on countries south of the Sahara.
Long gone are the days when African countries held out a begging bowl to Arabs, breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel in anticipation of Arab largesse. Today there is a common perception that Arab and African economies are uniquely complementary. For example, while many African countries are energy-deficient, and remain vulnerable to oil price hikes, Arab countries are extremely short of water and sub-Saharan Africa has an abundance of fresh water.
African countries would like to see more Arab investments come their way, especially in the domains of agriculture, tourism and infrastructural development. Other areas of possible cooperation include culture and education. In the final analysis, the Arab world -- especially the oil-rich Gulf countries -- have enough financial resources to make sizeable investments. An institutionalised framework for Arab-African cooperation should make them happen.
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