African Migration to Europe:Obscured Responsibilities and Common Misconceptions

The number of migrants from conflict regions in Africa has been increasing dramatically. The European Union shares dual responsibility for the continuing migration pressure: First, because they fostered over decades corrupt and autocratic regimes with dire disregard to principles of ‘good governance’. The aftermath of these regimes is still to be felt today, and constitutes one of the underlying factors for politically motivated migration. Secondly, the EU contributed to Africa’s economic misery, due to the damaging effects of European selfish external trade policy. Nevertheless, the prevailing perspective of the EU and of its member countries concerning African immigration remains to be focused on security, the foreclosure of its external borders and prevention. Current EU programs and concepts to combat African migration are questionable. Even development orientated approaches are bound to fail, if not backed by sustainable immigration policies

Cultures of innovation of the African poor : common roots, shared traits, joint prospects? ; on the articulation of multiple modernities in African societies and black diasporas in latin America

The globalized Western culture of innovation, as propagated by major aid institutions, does not necessarily lead to empowerment or improvement of the well-being of the stakeholders. On the contrary, it often blocks viable indigenous innovation cultures. In African societies and African Diasporas in Latin America, cultures of innovation largely accrue from the informal, not the formal sector. Crucial for their proper understanding is a threefold structural differentiation: between the formal and informal sector, within the informal sector, according to class, gender or religion, and between different transnational social spaces. Different innovation cultures may be complementary, mutually reinforcing, or conflicting, leading in extreme cases even to a ‘clash of cultures’ at the local level. The repercussions of competing, even antagonistic agencies of innovative strategic groups are demonstrated, analyzing the case of the African poor in Benin and the African Diasporas of Brazil and Haiti.Die globalisierte westliche Innovationskultur, wie sie von den großen Entwicklungshilfeinstitutionen propagiert wird, führt nicht notwendigerweise zur Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen der Armen. Sie blockiert im Gegenteil oft wertvolle Ansätze endogener kultureller Innovationen. In afrikanischen Gesellschaften und in der Afrikanischen Diaspora Lateinamerikas entstehen Innovationskulturen überwiegend im informellen, nicht im formellen Sektor. Diese Innovationskulturen weisen eine dreifache strukturelle Differenzierung auf: zwischen formellem und informellem Sektor, innerhalb des informellen gemäß sozialer Schichtung, Geschlecht oder Religion sowie zwischen transnationalen sozialen Räumen. Diese unterschiedlichen Innovationskulturen können sich gegenseitig ergänzen und verstärken oder aber auch bekämpfen, was in Extremfällen bis hin zum „Kampf der Kulturen“ auf lokaler Ebene führt. Die Auswirkungen dieser konkurrierenden oder antagonistischen Handlungsstrategien innovativer strategischer Gruppen werden an Hand von Fallstudien der Armen in Benin und in der Afrikanischen Diaspora Brasiliens und Haitis aufgezeigt

The Transformation of Rural Labour Systems in Colonial and Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria

The study attempts to highlight the interrelation between three central points in the ongoing debate on the political economy of development: viability, surplus, and class-formation. A case study of the develop¬ment of rural labour systems in Northern Nigeria is meant to provide both a better qualitative and quantitative idea of this interrelation. After an analysis of the socio-economic effects of forced and bonded labour during colonial times, the articulation of different systems of family and non-family labour has been investigated. Class-specific effects of labour and capital input do even result in an increasing use of communal labour by rich and middle peasants after the Nigerian Civil War: its form remains, but its content changes fundamentally. The socio-economic and material base for small-scale peasant subsistence production has been gradually destroyed.political economy of development; labour systems; rural areas; economic history; Africa; colonialism; Nigeria;

Country Concepts and the Rational Actor Trap - Limitations to Strategic Management of International NGOs

Growing criticism of inefficient development aid demanded new planning instruments of donors, including international NGOs (INGOs). A reorientation from isolated project-planning towards holistic country concepts and the increasing rationality of a result-orientated planning process were seen as answer. However, whether these country concepts – newly introduced by major INGOs too - have increased the efficiency of development cooperation is open to question. Firstly, there have been counteracting external factors, like the globalization of the aid business, that demanded structural changes in the composition of INGO portfolios towards growing short-term humanitarian aid; this was hardly compatible with the requirements of medium-term country planning. Secondly, the underlying vision of rationality as a remedy for the major ills of development aid was in itself a fallacy. A major change in the methodology of planning, closely connected with a shift of emphasis in the approach to development cooperation, away from project planning and service delivery, towards supporting the socio-cultural and political environment of the recipient communities, demands a reorientation of aid management: The most urgent change needed is by donors, away from the blinkers of result-orientated planning towards participative organizational cultures of learning.foreign aid; aid effectiveness; INGOs; planning policy; development management; participation; Africa; globalization;

New Markets for Local Experts in Africa?

In the past decades the involvement of local experts in the planning and evaluation of development projects has steadily increased. Ownership of development planning is propagated as major aim of bilateral and international development co-operation. Yet, the quality and performance of many local experts is still open to question, last but not least, because they share the same technocratic bias as lots of their Western counterparts, notably concerning pro-poor development policies, empowerment and technology transfer. An unreserved replacement of expatriates by local experts, or the replacement of technical assistance by unconditioned budget aid would be counter-productive with respect to poverty-oriented development policies.consultancy; aid; technical cooperation; capacity building; Africa; indigenous knowledge;

New Markets for Local Experts in Africa?

In the past decades the involvement of local experts in the planning and evaluation of development programs has steadily increased. Ownership of development planning is propagated as major aim of bilateral and international development co-operation. Yet, the quality and performance of many local experts is still open to question, last but not least, because they share the same technocratic bias as quite a number of their Western counterparts, notably concerning pro-poor development policies, empowerment and ill-adapted technology transfer. An unreserved replacement of expatriates by local experts, or the substitution of technical assistance by unconditioned budget aid would be counter-productive with respect to poverty-oriented development policies.consultancy; aid; technical cooperation; capacity building; Africa; indigenous knowledge

Drivers of change or cut-throat competitors? Challenging Cultures of Innovation of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa

The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in different West African countries in recent years has been met with growing resistance by established local entrepreneurs. Whether the former have a competitive edge over the latter because of distinctive socio-cultural traits, or whether the Chinese supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading Diaspora, is open to question. This exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin tries to answer this question. Apparently, the cultural motive powers of migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems or religions like a protestant ethic or Confucianism, but they are permanently adapted and invented anew by transnational networks of migration in a globalized world. There is no evidence for a supposed superiority of Chinese versus African innovative cultures of entrepreneurial migrants. Rather there exists an enhanced innovative capacity of a trading Diaspora in general vis-à-vis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the background national culture in which it is embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut-throat competition under the impact of globalization. Often both groups act rather complementary. This contributes under certain conditions even to poverty alleviation in the host country.trading diasporas; international migration; entrepreneurs; culture; innovation; SME; Africa; China; Nigeria; Cotonou; Accra;

Are Non-state Actors Better Innovators? The Ambiguous Role of Non-state Actors in the Transition Process: The Case of Benin and Madagascar

The focusing on new rules and institutional innovations by the international donor community corresponds to current academic analyses on “weak” or “failing states” in Africa and elsewhere. However, the concentration on externally induced institutional innovations and on the formal sector of the society tackles only half of the problem. Frequently it even undermines indigenous development capacities. Innovators in the informal sector and the agency of the civil society, embedded in the local socio-cultural setting, but closely linked to transnational social spaces, do often outperform the state's development efforts and international aid. African culture is not inherently good or bad, but under certain conditions its propensity to change and to influence perceptions of power and values can induce important improvements in well-being. Even seemingly static cultural factors as custom, tradition or ethnicity, often said to be barriers to economic growth in Africa, have been invented or adapted to changing requirements of societies. Rather than blaming the failure of development efforts in Africa over the past decades on cultural barriers or traditional minded actors, we should investigate the propensity of African societies to create indigenous innovations, notably within the realm of the informal sector.Transition; development; informal sector; indigenous innovation; culture; glocalisation; Africa; Bénin; Madagascar;