Africa Plan 2006-2008. Executive Summary 

THE NEED FOR & SCOPE OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR AFRICA

 

The Action Plan for sub-Saharan Africa or “Africa Plan” drawn up by the Spanish Government, following an ample process of co-ordination and consultations, has a triple justification:

 

- The existence of a new African reality, in which the progress attained in peace processes and the progressive consolidation of democratic systems and the principle of regional integration coexist with the persistence of conflicts such as those of Darfur or those of the Great Lakes Region, high indices of poverty and underdevelopment and the emergence of new challenges, such as massive unlawful migratory flows, or the threat of the setting up of terrorist networks in the case of failing or failed States.

 

sub-Saharan Africa is the planet’s poorest region. 33 countries in the region form part of the group of Less Advanced Countries, life expectancy at birth is 46.3 years, the adult literacy rate is 63.2% and the gross enrolment ratio is 44%. Additionally, the unprecedented demographic growth in the ‘90s has translated itself into an increase of the people in need: more than half the sub-Saharan population, 300 million people, survive on less than 1$ a day.

 

Africa is the victim of the great pandemics, which, apart from their impact in humanitarian terms involve a heavy burden for the continent’s development process. More than two-thirds of the total of HIV-AIDS infected people are in Africa. Together with AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis cause great distress in the region. 90 % of malaria-caused deaths occur in Africa, where 2,800 people lose their lives each day due to this disease.

 

- Spanish society’s attitude full of solidarity, aware of the opportunities the continent has before it but also of the great deficiencies and of the imperious need of acting in a resolved way to remedy them.

 

- The renewed spirit of Spanish external policy, which has sided, in a resolved way, for effective multilateralism, the adoption of a more important role in the management of global challenges, in line with Spain’s specific weight within the international community and the substantial increase, both in quantitative and in qualitative terms, in development assistance, giving special attention to the Less Advanced Countries of sub-Saharan Africa: AECI plans to increase expenditure from the € 33 million spent in 2003 to € 90 million budgeted in 206 to surpassing € 120 million in 2008; i.e. multiplying by four the effort expended on this region.          

 

Based on these ideas, the “Africa Plan”, which has a reference period of three years but that stretches far beyond, implies an historic milestone since never before had Spain possessed a comprehensive, ambitious and at the same time realistic and specific policy towards sub-Saharan Africa that constitutes our southern border and whose destiny is intimately linked to ours.

 

The “Africa Plan”, from a national perspective, comes in addition to other important initiatives related to the African continent which have arisen in the last years like the Strategy adopted by the December 2005 European Council, the Commission for Africa pushed forward by the British Prime Minister, the G-8 Action Plan or the new Chinese policy for Africa.      

 

GENERAL OBJECTIVES & GEOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVES.

 

The Africa Plan is shaped around seven main aims for whose attainment seven lines of action are set out:

 

• To contribute to the consolidation of democracy, respect for human rights, peace and security, preferably within a European Union framework and, in any case, under the aegis of the UN and pursuant to international legality;
•  The fight against poverty and the contribution to Africa’s development agenda, pursuant to the provisions contained in the Master Plan for Spanish Co-operation 2005-2008. Within this framework, the Africa Plan pays special attention to supporting health policies in Africa and combating the great pandemics;   
•  To encourage co-operation to adequately regulate migratory flows coming from the sub-Saharan region and to combat illegal trafficking in persons;
•  Active participation in the development of the European Union Strategy for Africa;
•  The strengthening and diversification of economic exchanges, as well as the encouragement of investment, without forgetting the increasing strategic importance of the sub-Saharan Region and, in particular, the Gulf of Guinea, for our energy security and the business opportunities in the oil and gas sector available for Spanish firms;
•  The strengthening of cultural co-operation and of mutual understanding and appreciation, the promotion of Spanish and, within this framework, the immediate setting up, together with the Autonomous Government of the Canary Isles and with the local insular administrations, of a “Casa África” located at Las Palmas;
•  The increase in the political projection and institutional presence of Spain in the region.

 From the geographical point of view, the Plan distinguishes three categories of countries of special importance:

• Countries of priority interest, comprising several of the objectives indicated: Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Mali and Nigeria in Central and Western Africa; Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique in Southern Africa; and Kenya and Ethiopia in  Eastern Africa. Also included is Mauritania given its strategic importance and its condition as a country between the Mahgreb and Western Africa and the Sahel Region.
• Countries of specific interest, due to being the origin of or of transit for irregular immigration or given their economic, fishing or tourism potential or the existence of intense of historic, cultural or cooperation relations, to wit: Ghana, Cameroon, Niger, Republic of Guinea, Guinea–Bissau, the Gambia, Gabon, Tanzania, Seychelles, Cape Verde and Sâo Tomé and Príncipe.
• Countries to be closely followed, due to their medium-term potential and given their situation of instability implying a risk for regional peace and security, namely: Côte d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 Additionally, Spain will attach particular importance to strengthening collaboration with the great pan-African integration organisation, namely the African Union, the NEPAD initiative (New Partnership for African Development) and CEDEAO-ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), inevitable counterparties in discussing matters such as the maintenance of peace and the peaceful solution of conflicts, sustainable economic development or the regulation of migratory flows.

 

The prioritisation effort in no way implies Spain renounces to carry out activities or to strengthen its links with other countries and regions. Quite the contrary, the raison d’être of the Africa Plan is to be found precisely in the vocation of Spain to increase its presence in all the Continent.

 

LINES OF ACTION

 

SPANISH PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSOLIDATION OF DEMOCRACY, PEACE & SECURITY IN AFRICA.

 

Within this section, the Plan foresees actions in five different fields:

 

- Co-operation in the field of democratic governance and institutional strengthening, in particular, in matters pertaining to decentralisation, the support of electoral processes like those in Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the participation in missions of observation, the strengthening of the role of civil society and gender equality, as a cross-cutting factor.

 

- Supporting the respect for and the promotion of human rights, with both bilateral actions and actions in the context of the European Union and the United Nations and in spheres such as the eradication of torture and the death penalty, gender violence, children in armed conflicts and furthering education in human rights and civil society partnership.

 

- Active contribution in conflict management mechanisms. Spain will: strengthen its support for the agenda for peace and security of the African Union; facilitate the civil management of crises; increase its contribution to Peace Maintenance Operations in Africa; continue supporting the EU Africa Peace Facility; take advantage of its holding the rotating presidency of the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) and of SHIRBRIG to propel a specific agenda for sub-Saharan Africa; support the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, headquartered at Accra; collaborate with the ECOWAS in the light weapons control programme with a pecuniary undertaking of € 750,000, and will carry out supplementary efforts for the definitive resolution of the Sudan- Darfur and the DRC conflicts.

 

To support security in the DRC during the electoral process, Spain foresees deploying in Kinshasa a battalion, composed of 150 soldiers, within the framework of the EUFOR operation. 

 

In the field of post-conflict reconstruction, Spain will concentrate its efforts in the return of displaced persons and refugees, the reinsertion of ex-combatants, the situation of the most vulnerable populations and de-mining operations, above all in Angola, Mozambique, Senegal (Casamance) and the DRC.

 

- Co-operation in security matters. Negotiations will be furthered to sign Co-operation Protocols in the field of Security and Defence with Angola, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia, in line with the one already existing with Cape Verde. Likewise, interchanges in the training field will be strengthened and co-operation in military education will be enhanced.

 

- The fight against terrorism. Special importance will be attached to the follow-up and implementation of the conclusions of the Ministerial Round Table on Terrorism in Western and Central Africa held in May 2006 at Madrid, with the objective of promoting the ratification and application of the international legal framework and to identify areas for technical assistance, particularly in the legal and judicial sphere.

 

CONTRIBUTION OF SPAIN TO THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY & THE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

 

The Africa Plan, congruent with the undertakings contained in the Master Plan for Spanish Co-operation 2005-2008, will involve a real qualitative leap in the official development aid provided by Spain to sub-Saharan Africa, whose aggregate amount will increase exponentially.

 

In accordance with the Master Plan, priority will be given to the following sectors:

 

- The coverage of basic social needs, with special emphasis on:

• Food sovereignty and the fight against hunger, pursuant to the leadership role assumed by Spain in the Initiative against Hunger and Poverty;
• Education, especially through the initiative “Education for All- Fast Track”, to which the Spanish Government has contributed € 5 million, in 2005, and has undertaken to provide € 7 million, in 2006;
• The habitat and the fight against urban poverty; and
• Access to drinkable water and basic sewage facilities.

-The support of health policies and the fight against pandemics, as well as the full development of the VITA Programme.

- The promotion of economic, business and productive fabric, with measures in the field of fishing, basically within the framework of the NAUTA Programme, agriculture, especially within NEPAD, and tourism, on the basis of the experience accumulated by Spain.

- The fight against desertification and the protection of the environment.

- The encouragement of gender and development policies, via the fulfilment of the commitments undertaken at the Meeting of Women of Spain and Africa “For a better world”, held at Maputo in March 2006 at the initiative of the Governments of Spain and Mozambique.     

 

Likewise, an adequate and efficient use of the different tools of action will be promoted, including:

 

• Bilateral and multilateral projects and programmes, given preference to multilateral ones and public financing of DNGOs, linked to the implementation of the principle of coherence with the principles, objectives and priorities defined in the Master Plan and in the geographical area strategy papers (by country or region) for sub-Saharan Africa.
• Budgetary support (sectorial or direct) and sectorial approaches, following the successful experience commenced in Mozambique and to favour the appropriation by the receiving Governments of aid, its effectiveness and impact.
• Food aid, which is subordinated to the objectives of the fight against poverty, and in particular the vision of food sovereignty and humanitarian action, integrated in the EU’s and the UN Agencies’ response systems. In order to do this, financial and co-operations relations are being strengthened with the World Food Programme, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and FAO, as well as the International Red Cross Movement. Specifically, Spain has undertaken to provide a $10 million contribution to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
• Fund for the granting of Microcredits, whose introduction or continuing support are foreseen in countries such as Mozambique, Angola and Senegal.
• Development Aid Fund (DAF), geared to the financing of infrastructure and development of productive base projects, as well as basic social development ones. The ADC-OECD Recommendations of de-linking aid to Less Advanced Countries will be observed and these affect specially sub-Saharan Africa.
• Contributions to Funds managed by international bodies, in particular, Spain has undertaken to increase its contribution to the funds managed by the World Bank and by the European Investment Bank and earmarked for sub-Saharan Africa in $ 60 million (minimum) during the period this Action Plan is applicable.
• Debt relief as a fundamental tool in the fight against poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and pursuant to the principles of multilateral and internal co-ordination, conditionality and adaptation to the development needs of the debtor countries. Within the framework of the HIPC initiative the amount condoned by Spain to sub-Saharan African countries aggregates € 546.34 million.

 Likewise, Spain backs the proposal of cancelling multilateral debt launched in July 2005, during the G-8 Summit at Gleneagles, which involves cancelling 100% of the debt of beneficiary countries receiving loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and the African Development Fund (ADF) once they reach their peak in the context of the HIPC initiative or immediately if they have already reached it in the past. This Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) will imply an aggregate financial burden for Spain of circa € 800 million.

 

In addition to the initiative promoted by the G-8, the Government will also condone to sub-Saharan countries, with a high poverty incidence, bilateral debt subsequent to the cut-off date of the HIPC, aggregating $ 200 million and will implement an ambitious plan to exchange it for investment in education.

 

ENCOURAGING CO-OPERATION WITH AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN THE REGULATION OF MIGRATORY FLOWS

 

The Government will intensify its efforts in three complementary fields of action:

 

- On the domestic front, border control measures will be strengthened, as well as the mechanisms to obtain information on the routes and means used by illegal immigration rackets, with the aim of combating effectively the mafias that profit from the illegal traffic in persons and procedures to repatriate immigrants accessing irregularly Spanish territory will be streamlined, subject to conditions ensuring the scrupulous respect for human rights and international legality.

 

At the same time, actions geared at the integration of immigrants will be undertaken, encouraging an active role of the diasporas in Spain and Europe, support to regional and local authorities will be increased, as well as to NGOs that work in receiving immigrants when they arrive at Spanish territory and specific budgetary lines will be set up for co-operation in the migratory field, including the co-financing of European projects, in the Ministries of Work and Social Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs and Co-operation.

 

- On the bilateral front, efforts will be intensified to complete a network of Agreements of Migratory Co-operation and Readmission with priority countries to these effects such as Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Guinea-Conakry and the Gambia, to be added to those already concluded with Nigeria and Guinea Bissau. In order to do this, trips, visits and high-level political contacts will be made and Spain’s institutional presence in Western Africa will be significantly strengthened, both via the opening of new Embassies (Mali and Cape Verde) and via the increase in diplomatic and sectorial staff posted to countries of the region.

 

- On the multilateral front, with initiatives such as the Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development at Rabat (July 2006), sponsored by Spain together with Morocco and which will bring together, for the first time, countries of origin, transit and destiny of Europe and North, Central and Western Africa to try to achieve a consensus on solutions to these common challenges and encouraging a greater "Europeanness" of migratory policy with Africa, complementary to a closer collaboration with neighbouring countries such as France and Portugal.               

 

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION’S STRATEGY FOR AFRICA

 

Spain will concentrate its efforts in a triple direction:

• The full development of the EU Strategy towards Africa, adopted by the December 2005 European Council and its acceptance by a second EU-Africa Summit at Lisbon, an objective Spain actively supports.
• A greater involvement in the EU policies related to Africa, particularly in the field of peace and security, via the EU Africa Peace Facility, and in the co-operation field via the X FED, in which Spain has increased its contribution to 7.85%.
• The strengthening of the presence of Spaniards in community institutions.

 

PROMOTION OF TRADE & INVESTMENT. SPECIAL ATTENTION TO FISHING RELATIONS & ENERGY SECURITY

 

With the aim of strengthening our economic and trade relations with Africa which historically have been weak, the Spanish Government will focus its efforts on:

 

• The promotion of trade, via an array of tools including concessional finance from the DAF and the Viability Studies Fund, enhancing the network of Economic and Commercial Offices and more study grants for Trade Specialisation, actions to encourage trade and to disseminate information carried out by ICEX, which will grow significantly in the forthcoming three years and export risk coverage via CESCE.
• The promotion of Spanish investment, by holding Seminars, via the offices of COFIDES and by using multilateral instruments such as European Investment Bank credit lines and the negotiation of new Agreements for the Promotion and the Reciprocal Protection of Investments.
• Supporting fishing in sub-Saharan waters and its adaptation to the new African reality, in the event, by means of initiatives favouring the creation of joint ventures and the maintenance and re-negotiation of new Agreements with the EU with priority countries in this field. From the bilateral viewpoint, Spain will maintain its efforts in the field of training and qualification for the development of local fishing industries, product health, scientific co-operation in fishing and awareness campaigns.
• Supporting the participation of Spanish companies in the exploitation of oil and gas resources in Africa, with a view to re-enforcing Spain’s energy security and in a way that is both sustainable and beneficial to Africa’s economic and social development.

ENHANCING CULTURAL & SCIENTIFIC CO-OPERATION

 

Bearing in mind the importance of culture as a factor helping to bring Spain and Africa closer and as an element of development, the Spanish Government will carry out the following activities:

 

• Encouragement of programmes with an impact on human capital formation for cultural management, of the economic dimension of culture in line with UNESCO’s programme “World Alliance for Cultural Diversity” and the strengthening of links between culture, education and communication. Likewise, contributions will be made to giving greater value to cultural assets and their sustainable management.
• A greater projection of the Spanish language, which has the value of an official language of the African Union, with the opening of “Aulas Cervantes” in countries such as South Africa, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Angola, the deployment of Spanish Lectors and organising the sitting of the examination for the Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE).
• Encouragement of activities of mutual knowledge and appreciation, with collaborations in exhibitions or film festivals and, fundamentally, via the ample programme of activities that the “Casa África” will carry out, and which, with the collaboration of the Regional Authorities of the Canary Isles, will be opened at Las Palmas in 2006.

ENHANCING SPAIN’S POLITICAL & INSTITUTIONAL PRESENCE IN AFRICA

 

As an objective in its own right and, at the same time, as a means to achieve other aims, the Spanish Government will implement a series of measures in order to strengthen its capacity for dialogue and to exert influence in Africa:

 

- A diplomatic redeployment which will involve the opening of Embassies in Mali, Sudan and Cape Verde, to be added to the already existing ones in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, DRC, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and the expansion of these.

 

Also, new Technical Offices of Co-operation in Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Mali, to be added to those of Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia and Senegal, and Defence Attachés in Cape Verde, Senegal and Gabon, to be added to the one in Pretoria. Currently, Spain has Economic and Commercial Offices in Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa and Attachés of the Ministry of the Interior in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. Likewise, a re-organisation of the map of multiple accreditations will be carried out.

 

- A strengthening of the central services more directly related to the sub-Saharan region and the follow up of the undertakings contained in this Plan

 

- The creation of a “Desk for Africa” to facilitate the interchange of information and co-ordination with representatives of civil society in the development of the Plan. 

 

- The promotion of the presence of Spaniards in international organisations linked to sub-Saharan Africa.

 

- Strengthening political dialogue by means of an ample plan of official trips, visits and contacts at all levels, as well as the signing of Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding in the case of those priority countries with whom these are not already in place.

 

- Emphasising other forms of diplomacy such as parliamentary, social and public ones, with a greater presence of Spanish television and radio in Africa.