South-South Cooperation (SSC) is being impacted by the emergence of economic behemoths?India, Brazil, China and South Africa. In 2006 alone, about US$3 billion in development assistance came from Southern contributors (Johnson, Versailles and Martin, 2008). What comes next? What are the trends and pressing demands in SSC?Trends in South-South Cooperation

Michelle L. Chang

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Research Papers in Economics

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC - IG)
Poverty Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP
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   February, 2010
No. 103
Trends in South-South Cooperation
by Michelle L. Chang, University of California, Berkeley
South-South Cooperation (SSC) is being impacted by the
emergence of economic behemoths—India, Brazil, China and South
Africa. In 2006 alone, about US$3 billion in development assistance
came from Southern contributors (Johnson, Versailles and Martin, 2008).
What comes next? What are the trends and pressing demands in SSC?
Coordination is the prime issue. International coordination is a
challenge. The United Nations Special Unit on SSC is the main
body coordinating this global effort. Regional cooperation is
indeed increasing across Asia and Africa. The East Asian crisis of
1997 underscored the interdependence of Southeast and East Asian
countries, leading to SSC-oriented arrangements such as the Chiang
Mai Initiative. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD),
a regional institution set up by the African Union, is another outcome
of regional cooperation. It aims to maintain the flow of official
development assistance (ODA) despite Africa’s conflicts. Regional
cooperation helps to leverage complementary technical, financial
and joint development activities within neighbouring countries.
The emergence of China, India and Brazil. Given the scope of China’s
activities in developing countries and the debate that those
activities have prompted, China’s involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa
cannot be overlooked. The Chinese government does not officially
report on its ODA, but private estimates suggest that it spent
US$4.5 billion on assistance for Africa alone through 2006 and plans
to double that amount by 2009 (Davies, 2006).  China’s growing role
as a donor in Africa has led to numerous infrastructure projects,
though it remains to be seen who benefits and over what period
(Kaplinsky, McCormick and Morris, 2006). In Zambia, China has run
several agricultural and infrastructure projects, and has signed
several contracts to provide economic and technical cooperation
(Davies, 2006). Data on the impact of this aid on poverty alleviation
are currently sparse. Africa needs to take ownership of its own pro-
growth policies in order to ensure that it is not captured by a new
form of colonialism. India has been playing a key role in technical
cooperation initiatives on education and training, study tours and
disaster relief assignments. The Indian government and the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have also
formed ties to promote capacity building in the distribution of new
technologies (UNIDO, 2007). Brazil’s role in sharing its successful
social policy programmes with countries in Africa, as well as its
efforts to enhance multilateral and inter-American collaboration,
have provided learning space and collaboration across continents.
Triangular cooperation is growing and is here to stay. Countries of the
North—such as the United States, the United Kingdom and
Japan—have also entered the picture to form a cooperative donor
triangle with developing partners in the South. While this provides
added financial and programme support to developing countries,
SSC with this triangular approach can easily slide into a hegemonic,
North-dominated relationship. Equally, triangular cooperation
provides an opportunity for developing countries to share
knowledge and experience if a careful balance of resources and
administration of projects and funds is maintained between the
donor and beneficiary countries. As this form of cooperation
increases, approaches will have to be refined so that the provision
of financial resources and the delegation of project implementation
are balanced.
Capacity building remains a challenge. Most of the current training on
SSC activities is undertaken within the UN and in institutions that
focus on research. For example, the Training Centre for Regional
Integration (CEFIR) serves as a hub of research and statistics
specialising in capacity building for regional integration in South
America. Its activities are geared to government officials, civil society,
academia and the private sector. The International Poverty Reduction
Centre in China (IPRCC) delivers training on policy analysis, poverty
evaluation, and monitoring and evaluation tools. Apart from
research and policy training between developing countries, there is
also technical-oriented cooperation and training. Thus UNIDO
coordinates multidisciplinary biosafety training among
biotechnology workforces in Chile, Malaysia and Tanzania.
Research is needed on the impact of SSC on human development. Training
and knowledge sharing on SSC should include practical tools and
evaluation techniques such as poverty and social impact analyses,
in order to answer the questions of who drives development
policy and who exactly benefits. Notwithstanding the South’s
heterogeneity, an institution for knowledge exchange may prove
beneficial in identifying best practices in technical cooperation and
policy innovation. Since SSC is intended to broaden development
cooperation in order to address human development, and not just
growth or the removal of bottlenecks in finance, infrastructure
or technology, there should be a greater focus on assistance
unrelated to foreign direct investment, so that the South can
more effectively achieve the Millennium Development Goals
for sustainable development.
References:
Davies, Martyn (2008). How China Delivers Development Assistance to Africa.
Stellenbosch, South Africa, Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch.
Johnson, A., B. Versailles and M. Martin (2008). Trends in South-South and Triangular
Development Cooperation, Background Study for the Development Cooperation Forum.
New York, United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Kaplinsky, R., D. McCormick and M. Morris (2006). The Impact of China on Sub-Saharan Africa.
London, UK Department for International Development.
UNIDO (2007). ‘UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation in India’, UNIDO website,
<http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=7881&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=240&cHash=c6e924a997>.

How China Delivers Development Assistance to Africa.

UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation in India’,

Trends in South-South Cooperation

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Trends in South-South Cooperation

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