Memorandum submitted by Christine Andela,
Executive President of COSADER (Network of Cameroonian NGOs on
Food Security and Rural Development)
COSADER (Network of Cameroonian NGOs on Food Security
and Rural development) is composed of 40 NGOs and rural organisations
active on food security and rural development issues. We are member
of "Cotonou Group" gathering European and African NGOs
working on the Cotonou Agreement.
I have participated to many international conferences
WTO, in Seattle for example , P7 with the Green of the EU Parliament
in Kenya last year, to name few, and I am author of some articles
mentioned in the web
Introduction
The debate on the debt of developing countries has
gained momentum since Jubilee 2000, with increasingly refined
analyses on the origins of the debt, on how it was contracted,
and the game of interests between debtors and creditors.
Eloquent expressions such as "shameful debts",
"debts several times reimbursed" and references to the
responsibility shared by these groups in the weight of the debt
on African economies, say a lot on the changes in the vision that
the protagonists have of what has become a real scourge for Africa's
development.
Even the World Bank and the IMF wear themselves out
in "moralizing" their interventions in Developing Countries
by clinging to good governance, a veritable panacea whose role,
among others, is to clear the international community of the failures
of structural adjustment policies.
In Europe, the opening up of the European Community
to new States and the nervousness in the fight against terrorism
gave rise to fears at one moment that Africa would be consigned
to oblivion. But strong signals have been sent out, contrary to
such fears, both by the G8 and the EU.
The recent visit of British Premier Tony Blair to
the ECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) on 7 October
2004 in prelude to ADF IV (African Development Forum), and his
commitment to include support for Africa as a priority in the
dual British mandate of president of both the G8 and EU in 2005,
are some of these signals.
New initiatives are taking shape, such as Tony Blair's
"Commission for Africa", alongside earlier initiatives
such as Japan's TICAD. Bilateral debt remissions are very often
the fruits of such initiatives oriented towards Africa's development.
Questioning policies on debt
However, in spite of all these efforts, several questions
still persist which are far from being merely theoretical concepts
for civil society organizations directly involved in the daily
subsistence struggles of local communities. In my over ten years
of working closely with the rural communities of Cameroon, in
the framework of the NGO Action Group for Food Security and Rural
Development (COSADER), I have come across several of these issues:
1. I shall start from the end - i.e. from the HIPC
(Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative: In most cases, countries
being included in this initiative lack management mechanisms simply
because no one has thought about it: the debtors, because the
initiative is not theirs; the creditors, because what is more
interesting is the urgency to announce the number of countries
eligible, being as many pledges of debt reimbursement.
In this way, the national community gets entangled
due to the absence of these management mechanisms, with the following
immediate consequences:
-
absence of a national vision on the initiative
-
absence of participation from the civil society
in the debate on the initiative
-
domestication of funds by the government
-
loss of trust by civil society vis-à-vis
financial donors and creditor countries
-
non access to HIPC funds by the poor
It is this last aspect in particular that raises
a number of questions amongst the grassroots organizations as
to the usefulness of this initiative.
2. In extrapolating, a second question is raised:
does the policy of indebtedness serve Africa's development? One
is tempted to immediately answer no, in view of the foregoing,
knowing that the objective of the HIPC is to make debt servicing
more "bearable" by the elected countries.
In a country like Cameroon, there is no indication
that after four years of election into the HIPC the debt load
has become any lighter. In 1999, the debt load represented 6.2%
of the GDP, and this proportion has remained unchanged to this
date, with government reports showing an increase in poverty and
in food insecurity affecting 27% of the population as against
20% in 1999.
This indicates a complete failure.
It should however be admitted that the HIPC initiative
only includes an infinitesimal portion of Developing Countries.
3. This leads to a third question: Why is there
so much noise surrounding this initiative while the greatest part
of the debt remains unmentioned? Or, to inverse the terms, can
Africa develop in the absence of development programmes, but by
cloistering herself in the straitjacket of instruments imposed
by her creditors which are directed towards debt servicing rather
than development? The New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD) is attempting to break this vicious circle.
4. The debt policy is a failure in Developing Countries.
Rather, it leads to over-indebtedness and aggravation of poverty.
Can debt reduction not constitute a positive basis in development
policy?
For instance, France has announced the "contrat
désendettement développement (C2D) or the debt reduction/development
contract, which gives back reimbursed money to the debtor country
in the form of donations intended for development projects. This
initiative is a major step in debt servicing, in as much as particular
emphasis appears to be placed on direct access of Civil Society
Organizations to a portion of these funds. But we are still bound
by the logic of donor countries/recipient countries.
Recommendations for action
The following conditions are necessary in order for
debt reduction to become a driving force in development:
-
debt reduction must be negotiated by Developing
Countries as part of a veritable development policy which should
not be confused with poverty reduction strategies, as well formulated
as they may be
-
civil society and the private sector should
be partners of governments in these negotiations
-
debt reduction should be disconnected from
World Bank and IMF conditionalities which place countries under
control or tutelage
-
specific mechanisms should be set up by Developing
Countries for the transparent and fair management of funds
The struggle for the reduction of Africa's debt burden
is a struggle for freedom: freedom for Africa to determine her
own development priorities and options and to negotiate them with
partners rather than donors.
The African civil society is party to this struggle,
together with the civil society of the North, for more equity
in North/South relations and for global good governance.
Christine ANDELA
NGO Action Group for Food Security and Rural Development
(COSADER)
P.O. Box 11813, Yaounde, Cameroon
E-mail: andelac@yahoo.com
| 
