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The end of the cold war
has brought about a new world situation. The process of liberalisation
and globalisation have introduced forces that are imperfectly
understood. The East Asian countries, held as "models"
of development, are in serious crisis. African countries have
other special difficulties. Late in the race towards market-driven
growth, weighed down by heavy debts, and burdened by a history
of racial discrimination and decades of civil strife, they
are generaly ill-equipped to manage the new processes of globalization.
Their public policy in international
fora are often determined ad hoc, and influenced by contingent
factors. Thus they are mostly takers, not makers, of international
decisions that affect their lives. They sign international
trade agreements without adequate information or analysis.
This is what happened, for example, with the signing of the
Uruguay Treaty with many, if not most, African countries.
Alternatively, for lack of
a clear perception of their interests, they often resort to
a simple negative posture rather than make commitments to
agreements that might be of value to them.
Often they have little or
no capacity to fulfil commitments which they have entered
into.
For various reasons African
governments are constrained from taking collective action
on trade and development matters. And yet there are compelling
reasons why they should be acting together on matters that
affect them collectively.
Thus there is need to appraise
fully the content and context of those negotiations and to
better prepare them. SEATINI is an initiative taken under
the auspices of the International South Group Network (ISGN).
The ISGN is a South-South Network aimed at facilitating research,
analysis, and advocacy on issues of concern to the South -
such as trade, aid, development, debt, governance, human rights,
structural adjustment, gender relations, cultural plurality,
the environment, and protecting the intellectual value systems
of the peoples of the south. The ISGN operates from offices
located in Harare, Managua and Ouagadougou. |
