Convenor(s)
Allouche Jeremy / Institute of Development Studies - University of Sussex
Lind Jeremy / nstitute of Development Studies - University of Sussex
Large development projects in marginal rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are being pursued by a host of investors, both traditional Western donors and companies, and increasingly by China and other rising global powers. These projects have the potential to transform local governance arrangements and institutions, including those that support peace-building. The panel examines how conflict, local governance and peace-building arrangements in the rural margins of various African states – among them Chad, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Kenya – are affected by new, large-scale investments. The strengthening of hybrid forms of governance in which the state partners with a diverse range of local intermediaries and alternative sources of authority to enforce commitments and facilitate compromise between competing groups at the local level, is a key aspect for making these projects successful. The panel focuses on collective mobilisation and the determinants of its political dynamic in terms of contestation or cooperation. It will explore insights and evidence on if, how and why local peacebuilding succeeds in areas where new development projects are taking place.
Gouvernance hybride et grands projets de développement dans les zones rurales en marge : Les politiques de mobilisations collectives
En Afrique sub-saharienne, on observe un nombre croissant de projets de développement de large ampleur dans des zones rurales périphériques. Ces projets sont symptomatiques d’une nouvelle compétition entre d’une part des compagnies et bailleurs occidentaux, et d’autre part, de manière croissante, la Chine et d’autres pouvoirs émergents. Ces projets ont une influence sur les accommodements et institutions de gouvernance locale, y compris les instruments de consolidation de la paix. Cet atelier examine comment les conflits, la gouvernance locale et les programmes de consolidation de la paix dans divers pays africains, en particulier le Tchad, l’Éthiopie, la Côte d’Ivoire et le Kenya, sont affectés par ces nouveaux investissements à grande échelle. Le renforcement des formes hybrides de gouvernance, parmi lesquelles des partenaires de l’État avec un large éventail d’intermédiaires locaux et d’autres formes de pouvoir, est un aspect-clé pour faire de ces projets un succès. L’atelier porte sur la mobilisation collective et les déterminants de ses dynamiques politiques en termes de contestation ou de coopération. Il explorera si, comment et pourquoi la consolidation de la paix peut réussir dans des zones où il y a de nouveaux projets de développement.
Allouche Jeremy / IDS, University of Sussex
Lind Jeremy / IDS, University of Sussex
Contesting authorities at the margins: the politics of resource extractions and peacebuilding in sub-Saharan Africa
Across sub-Saharan Africa, a host of domestic and foreign investors, both states and private companies, are pursuing a range of extractive projects to harness the continent’s rich deposits of oil, gas and minerals. The scale of these investments is unprecedented in many places, with projects located in marginal rural areas, far from political and commercial capitals. Alongside these projects, governments across the continent are marshalling international capital to expand regional infrastructure – roads, railways, pipelines – to facilitate resource extractions while also opening up remote areas to other capitalist development. Yet these developments are often progressing with little regard for the diverse small-holder and pastoral livelihoods and local economies that exist at the margins. Further, there is evidence that these large-scale investments may actually worsen tensions and the threat of violence as the stakes around local political authority are heightened. This paper explores the consequences of new large-scale investments on the nature and levels of conflict as well as the indirect political effects associated with a transformation of governance arrangements happening alongside big projects. Drawing on evidence from Kenya and Ivory Coast, it considers the new hybrid orders that emerge and how successfully these address local understanding of peacebuilding and both historic and emerging conflict.
Odenda Lumumba Richard / Kenya Land Alliance
Hybrid Governance and large development project in marginal rural areas of Kenya: LAPSSET corridor case study
Since 2008 marginal rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have witnessed large development projects in mineral extractions, agriculture and infrastructure among others. This trend has led to complex governance arrangements and institutions, which scholars concerned with conflict and development have termed as hybrid governance to emphasize how formal and informal institutions ‘co-exist, overlap and intertwine’ (Goodfellow, 2013). From global land governance perspective hybrid governance is reflected in the establishment of the land governance institutional frameworks that range from binding national policy, legal and institutional frameworks to regional and global non-binding regulatory frameworks. Hybrid governance has emerged in response to the increasingly complex problems faced by contemporary society, problems that transcend geographic boundaries and political sectors. Thus, hybrid governance is symptomatic of the move to new forms of governance in recent decades; the process of governing has evolved from being almost entirely nation state driven to include various non-state actors such as United Nations agencies, Inter-governmental agencies, the private sector, and civil society. This paper is based on my PhD proposed thesis highlighting the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project that traverses five marginal rural areas of Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Isiolo and Turkana counties in Kenya.
Ajala Olayinka / University of York
The impact of alternative governance on development and conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
One of the major areas in Africa affected by violent conflict is the Niger Delta region. The region is home to about 20 million Nigerians and significant not only to the country but also to other countries that rely on the oil produced in the region. However, incessant violence and disruption to oil exploration has affected the region negatively thereby increasing poverty in the region. Several initiatives aimed at reducing the conflict in the region and creating an enabling environment for the Multinational Oil corporations (MNCs) to work peacefully have not yielded much result as most peace accords are often ephemeral. One of the main causes of the conflict is the total breakdown of governance on the local level which is attributed to the failure of the state and the modes of operations of the MNCs. However, there is an emerging change in the dynamics of the conflict experienced in the region. A model structure of governance designed by one of the oil companies in its areas of operation has resulted in mass mobilisations that has not only encouraged development projects but has also reduced conflicts in participating communities. This paper explores the impact of the new governance structure and its effect on the outbreak of conflict, peacebuilding and community development in the region. The paper then compares the previous local governance structures with the new one with an emphasis on the effect of both models of governance on the outbreak of conflict in the region.
Hicks Celeste / Freelance Journalist
Social activism and environmental protection in Chad’s oil industry
There is an unprecedented amount of interest in oil exploration projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, often in areas that are poor and historically marginalised. Questions have arisen concerning the impacts of new oil development on local livelihoods and social justice. This paper will examine the politics and outcomes of the Chad Cameroon Development Project, a unique attempt by the World Bank to guarantee that Chad’s southern oilfields were developed in a socially responsible and environmentally sound manner.
While the World Bank project is today better known for its failures – the Bank was forced to withdraw in 2006 when Chad tore up the original agreements and used oil money to buy weapons – it nevertheless succeeded in creating a high standard of environmental protection which up until today has ensured that the devastation seen in the Niger Delta has not been repeated. Furthermore civil society activism on oil is alive and well and has had a number of successes on behalf of communities living around the project.
As new oilfields belonging to the Chinese National Petroleum Company have come into production recently, rules established under the CCDP have provided a strong framework to allow Chad to insist on high environmental protection and local employment opportunities.
Celeste Hicks is the former BBC correspondent in Chad whose new book ‘Africa’s New Oil’ seeks to understand how Chad’s environmental and social protections have influenced oil projects across Africa.
Taylor Ian / University of St Andrews
The Easter Industrial Zone in Ethiopia
In 2000, China agreed to establish various special economic zones in Africa, including one in Ethiopia: the Eastern Industrial Zone, located in Oromia region around Dukem. Of the seven proposed zones across Africa, Ethiopia’s represents one of the biggest challenges to both the Chinese developers and the host government alike. Due to its geographical location and its proposed projects, such a large-scale investment has serious implications for the local communities. Constructed at the interface between the top-down and the bottom-up, the SEZ requires a reconfiguration of local governance arrangements in a marginal part of Ethiopia, a part of the country marked by widespread poverty and underdevelopment. Both Beijing and the various African governments have marketed the “SEZ model” as the basis for future deepened collaboration between China and the continent. However, how the local communities affected by such investments have collectively responded has been generally ignored. Based on primary research involving interviews with investors, zone developers and operators, regulatory authorities, government officials, and other key stakeholders, the study integrates investigations into the agenda-setting behaviours of both Ethiopian and Chinese actors involved in the SEZ and the extent to which local communities have been engaged with. In doing so, it identifies who decides what and with what means, and for whom and with what consequences are decisions made regarding the zone.