Meeting in Nov.2012) Conflicts and Economic Changes on the Emerging #Borders of #Africa in #BRIT XII, #Fukuoka and #Busan
2012/06/01
This is a proposal for a panel on African Borders in BRIT XII as accepted
by the end of Mayl 2012
http://www.borderstudies.jp/brit2012/about.html
Conflicts and Economic Changes on the Emerging Borders of Africa: Case
studies and prospects before and after the civil wars
Coordinator:
Yuji ANKEI (Professor, Yamaguchi Prefectural University)
Introduction
Yuji ANKEI (Professor, Yamaguchi Prefectural University,Japan)
We welcome the scholars from all over the world to listen to local voices fr
om African border regions and to share alternative views on the nature of co
nflicts, civil wars and the political economy of the continent. Prof. G. Mw
angi (Kenya) introduces us to the importance of understanding the ecological
and historical backgrounds of nomadic Somali as an example, before labeling
them as living in the worst “failed state” of the world. Dr. S. Takeuchi
and Prof. M. Sawada (Japan) provide us with the experience of military occu
pation followed by economic investment along the eastern border of the DR Co
ngo with Rwanda and Uganda, respectively. Dr. J.-C. Maswana (DR Congo) will
resume our panel with China’s increasing presence on African border region
s, and will invite all of the participants to discuss African issues in a wi
der global context.
1. The historical origins of border problems between Somali and her
neighbours
Gordon C. MWANGI (Professor, Shikoku Gakuin University, Japan)
All the remedies fail if the diagnosis itself is wrong. Since 2007, the Som
ali Republic has been placed on the top of the list of worst “failed states,
” perceived as having fallen short of the basic conditions or responsibilit
ies of sovereign governments. Since independence, its governments have insi
sted on reincorporating all the land used by Somali people living in her nei
ghbouring countries: Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. Thus, conflicts on Soma
li borders never end, and piracy is going on along its long coastal line. I
challenge such stereotypic views of Somali people. We should first underst
and their ethos as a nomadic people in their ecological background, and lear
n from their history since ancient times. Along this line, we will be able
to conceptualise what democracy and agriculture mean for them, and why local
clans are more important than a central government for them, why they would
not recognize political boundaries drawn by British, French, and Italian co
lonialists, and so on. Understanding and accepting nomadic ways of life is
often difficult for governments run by agrarian peoples like Kikuyu of Kenya
, but it will certainly help them to learn how to prevent (or provoke) ethni
c clashes within their countries.
2. Dominance beyond the border (1): Rwanda –; DR Congo relations and th
eir impacts on Rwanda’s political economy after the 1990s
Shinichi TAKEUCHI (Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Developing
Economies, Japan External Trade Organization)
Despite its tiny country size, Rwanda has exerted political dominance over a
part of the huge Western neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR
C). As a consequence of its military intervention in the civil war of the D
RC, Rwanda has enlarged its political influence beyond its western border si
nce the late 1990s. This has caused tremendous impacts on Rwanda’s politic
al economy. One of the most outstanding changes is the marked increase of t
rans-border mineral trade. Although Rwanda’s export had traditionally depe
nded on coffee and tea, the largest export items today are minerals such as
tin and coltan (Columbite-Tantalite) produced in the eastern border areas of
the DRC. The high economic growth that Rwanda has realized since the 1990s
is mainly attributable to the rapid development of the mineral trade. Impac
ts of the political dominance are, however, complex: it has been pointed out
that the rapid economic growth has critically widened internal economic ine
quality, which has contributed to deepening the ethnic cleavage. The paper
examines impacts of the political dominance, and especially tries to clarify
those on the daily life of ordinary people in Rwanda.
3. Dominance beyond the border (2): Uganda –; DR Congo relations
since 1990’s with special reference to oil discovered in the Lake Albert
area
Masato SAWADA (Professor, Kyoto Seika University)
Political and economical changes in DRC (the Democratic Republic of the
Congo)-Uganda border since 1990s are described. On both sides of the
border between Uganda and DRC, there existed several groups of
anti-government rebels. Although each government had tried hard to defeat
the rebels on its border, these efforts did not bring about much change to
the military balance in the area until 1998, when the second civil war in
DRC began. Ugandan army crossed the border, and occupied the vast
north-eastern areas of DRC. During this occupation, higher ranking
officials of Ugandan army illegally exploited the rich natural resources
there, such as gold and wood. UN reports also condemned Uganda because
the manipulation of ethnic relationships by Ugandan army caused deadly
ethnic cleansing in this area. When the civil war ended, Uganda seems to
have pivoted its policy from military occupation to economical investment
in DRC. Uganda’s trans-border trade with DRC drastically increased as
ethnic conflicts have decreased. Recently, petroleum was discovered under
the Lake Albert, just on their border, both Uganda and DRC governments are
keenly interested in this border for their political survival in the
global economy.
4. Africa’s Economic Landscape and Rising China: Trends and Issues
Jean-Claude Maswana (Research Fellow, JICA-Research Institute, Tokyo)
As European nations spread their influence throughout Africa in the 19th Cen
tury, they wrangled over the issue of mapping their conquests. The conferenc
e at Berlin provided the ground rules for the scramble for Africa―states cl
aiming territory would have to produce proof of economic and infrastructure
development in the region claimed. Underlying all the European motives for
colonial expansion into Africa was the pursuit for mineral wealth. Clearly,
from the outset, drawing borders has been associated with mining exploitatio
n and infrastructure development in Africa. As China is set to become Africa’
s largest export destination in 2012-2013, using trade and investment data t
he present paper seeks to explore what could be termed the emerging borders
of Africa as seen from Beijing’s perspectives. Attempts will be made to ans
wer additional questions such as how African economic borders are being re-d
esigned. How much of this reconfiguration results from China’s rising prese
nce? What challenges are emerging from the emerging borders?