DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION ENTWICKLUNG UND ZUSAMMENARBEIT International Journal ISSN 2366-7257 Monthly e-Paper October 2016 Foreign trade Family matters Financial sector The right kind of How marriages Making banks X + exports is needed are arranged in contribute to to drive development Arab countries sustainability Urban challenges Christian Guy/Lineair Final pages: KfW supplementon cities Title: Ocean shore line in Lagos. Photo: Bjones/picture-alliance/AP Photo Focus: Editorial Urbanisation New global agenda must be ambitious “Improve people’s lives” Paul Romer is the World Bank’s new chief economist. One of his favour- Experts at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) want special ite ideas is to build new, business-friendly megacities in Asia, Africa and economic zones (SEZs) to serve the purpose of smart Latin America to accommodate masses of people. The approach is interest- urbanisation. ADB economist Jong Woo Kang explained ing, but fraught with challenges. matters an interview. Page 12 Romer’s model is Shenzhen in China. This city is located between Guangzhou Special opportunities and Hong Kong, and was still a small fishermen’s village a few decades ago. The government declared it a special economic zone in 1979, and today the The current rate of urbanisation is unprecedented in city has more than 10 million inhabitants with an annual per-capita GDP of human history and presents major challenges. However, about $ 22,000. If humanity built many agglomerations of this kind, poverty there also are unprecedented opportunities, argue would be vastly reduced, Romer says (see interview in D+C/E+Z 2010/06, Franz-B. Marré of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic p. 260). Cooperation and Development and Maria-Theres Haase of the German Development Institute. Page 14 Alas, it is not easy to create something like Shenzhen. China’s authoritarian regime was not only determined to make Shenzhen a success, it was also Improving governance unusually disciplined about doing so. Most dictatorships only serve top lead- ers to enrich themselves. The public interest and people’s rights are normally Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria. Once known in better hands where governments are elected. Indeed, China’s gleaming mostly for crime and dysfunction, the agglomeration’s downtowns make invisible the plight of those who were evicted for the sake international reputation has recently improved consider- of turning old urban centres into 21st century hubs. Democracy, on the other ably, reports urban activist Olamide Udo-Udoma. hand, means that large-scale plans always trigger opposition. Whether under Page 16 despotic or democratic rule: most megacities develop in an incremental and largely unplanned way. Most affordable Many Germans feel that urban life is to stroll down Berlin’s Unter den Linden, The introduction of bus rapid transit systems is a healthy the Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles or perhaps Shanghai’s Bund. However, response to the growth of private vehicle traffic. This a quarter of humankind’s urban people live in slums – and to the people affordable alternative to underground rail systems is concerned, city life means constant fear of eventual eviction, getting stuck in gaining ground internationally, writes Nicholas Holl- the mud in the rainy season and exposure to infectious diseases because nei- mann, an urban planning expert. Page 18 ther drinking water supply nor sanitation meet minimum standards. Simple things matter. Most Germans have no idea of how dangerous it is to live in Neglected people a neighbourhood without proper street lights. Norbert Herrmann spent two years in Johannesburg Urban poverty is a huge issue. Most slum dwellers lack public services, working for a non-profit organisation. He shares some of including electric power, health care and schools. Town planners often con- his insights concerning life in disadvantaged townships. sider informal settlements a problem. They tend to either neglect them or Diana Mitlin of the London-based International Institute plan evictions. The people who live there, however, need a place to stay and for Environment and Development praises the empower- they have no alternative. Attempts to drive them away compound issues of ing impact of community-based data collection. The social justice and violate human rights. As more and more people move to approach is promoted by Shack/Slum Dwellers Inter- cities because they cannot find livelihoods in the rural areas they come from, national (SDI), a network of grassroots organisations. the need to make cities inclusive will become increasingly urgent. In Nairobi, Elizabeth Wamuni Njoroge is running a symphonic orchestra with slum youths; she discusses her Today, about 3.5 billion people live in cities, and the number is set to double experience in an interview. Rüdiger Korff of Passau in the next few decades. Our urban infrastructure must therefore double in University insists that urban planning is likely to fail – un- the span of one human generation. The challenge is huge. For simple envi- less those in charge take all social interests into account. ronmental reasons, moreover, innovative approaches are needed. If we care Pages 21, 24, 25, 28 about climate protection, we cannot keep using energy-intensive building materials such as steel, aluminium and concrete in the amounts that have “Normative compass” seemed normal so far. Urbanisation has a growing impact on all people, including This October, world leaders will meet in Quito, Ecuador, at the UN-hosted those in rural areas. Dirk Messner of the German Federal conference Habitat III. The mission is Government’s advisory council on global change (WBGU to set a new Urban Agenda with global Hans Dembowski – Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale reach. Unless the Agenda turns out is editor in chief of D+C Development Umweltveränderung) warns that the impacts are being very ambitious, it will prove meaning- and Cooperation / E+Z Entwicklung und underestimated and points out issues that matter in less. Further urbanisation will happen, Zusammenarbeit. particular. Page 29 and it must be done in a smart way. Michael Lößl [email protected] 2 D+C e-Paper October 2016 D+C October 2016 In German in E+Z Tribune Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit. Both language versions at www.DandC.eu Monitor 4 Challenges of regional integration in Africa / Violent drug gangs in Central America / Indian women fight male dominance / UNICEF demands more investment in the education and protection of children / Nowadays: African women take pride in African hair / Imprint Focus: Urban challenges Interview with Jong Woo Kang Special economic zones should drive smart urbanisation 12 picture-alliance/Qiu wenshan – Imaginechina Franz-B. Marré and Maria-Theres Haase Sustainable solutions are essential for inclusive The right kind of exports urban development 14 Economists have been arguing for a long time that Olamide Udo-Udoma exports drive growth. The paradigm is still in force, Why the reputation of Lagos has recently been improving 16 but recent publications point out that the kind of exports matters very much. Clara Brandi and Nicholas Hollmann Dominique Bruhn of the German Development Bus Rapid Transit is a useful and affordable approach 18 Institute (DIE-GDI) provide an overview over scholars’ ongoing debate. Page 34 Norbert Herrmann Tough life in Johannesburg’s townships 21 Meet environmental and Diana Mitlin social standards Community-based data collection empowers slum dwellers 24 Development finance institutions can contribute considerably to making development sustainable. Interview with Elizabeth Wamuni Njoroge When financing investments, they must take into Ghetto Classics teaches youngsters from an informal account social and enviromental issues, and they settlement in Nairobi to play in a symphonic orchestra 25 must advise their clients competently, argue Meike Goetze and Claas Langner of Germany’s develop- Rüdiger Korff ment finance institution DEG. Page 40 Why illusions all too often thwart urban planning 28 Interview with Dirk Messner Debate The global impacts of urbanisation are being underestimated 29 Franziska Schreiber Relevant reading: reinventing urban planning 32 Tribune Clara Brandi and Dominique Bruhn Growth depends on the right kinds of exports 34 Martina Sabra Fewer arranged marriages in Arab countries 36 Interview with Luther Dennis Nii Antieyie Addy Sex education in rural Ghana 38 picture-alliance/abaca Torn security forces Meike Goetze and Claas Langner What development finance institutions do to promote Violence is haunting Burundi, and even members sustainable development 40 of the police and the army are fleeing, as Marc Niyonkuru, a journlist from the country, has Debate 44 observed. For ten years, the Arusha agreement Comments on the urgency of climate protection and ensured stability – but that is no longer so. Burundi’s violent crisis Page 45 D+C e-Paper October 2016 3 Regional integration Far from united Despite many attempts for regional Hoekman adds that it actually makes erate on creating big markets, Kanimba integration in sub-Saharan Africa, more sense for African countries to export says: “We have to attract foreign direct things don’t look good at the moment. to overseas markets because they mainly investment in services and infrastructure. In several of the continent’s regional produce the same commodities and goods But they only come if they have the oppor- blocs, national interests outweigh as their neighbours do. Accordingly, tunity to trade beyond borders.” joint action. attempts to join forces with neighbours to deal with the big players in world trade Andreas Beckermann of Germany’s There are eight regional economic com- including the EU, the USA and China have Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation munities (RECs) in Africa, plus a number not been very successful even though, in and Development agrees. Foreign investors of customs unions, two monetary unions principle, regional organisations should need a large amount of goods “reliably, of and several other structures that serve have more negotiating power than indi- the same quality, on time”, he explains.