Visegrad Countries' Development Aid to Africa: Beyond the Rhetoric*

Abstract

The Visegrad Countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, also called the V4) have formally agreed to gradually shift the focus of their development policy and aid allocation to Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet, contrary to their official rhetoric, African countries continue to find low priority in aid policies. Development cooperation policy in the V4 is largely focused on the close neighbourhood and current political and business stakes triumph over the ‘needs and merits’ logic of aid allocation. The V4 policy also runs counter to the various international obligations for which the countries have signed up. Officially, a number of African states are classified as priority countries, but in practice, they serve merely as fig leaves masking a true disinterest. This article demonstrates that in most cases, the official message coming from the governments significantly diverges from reality. It also shows that many arguments traditionally used to explain the marginal position of SSA do not hold any longer and the current stance towards African countries is more the result of a lack of strategic vision and ad hoc formulation of foreign policy.

Key Words:

• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Visegrad countries
• ODA
• development assistance
• aid policy

Notes

A version of this article originally appeared in the Polish Centre for African Studies (PCSA) Working Paper Series (7/2011). The PCSA is the first independent, non-governmental organization in Poland devoted to the study of contemporary Africa.

If not specified otherwise, Africa is synonymous with Sub-Saharan Africa.

During its G8 presidency in 2006, Russia held a special meeting with donors in Moscow, which clearly showed the ‘back in the game’ attitude of the Russian government.

Whereas Slovakia and the Czech Republic have successfully launched aid agencies and adopted specific law underpinning aid delivery, Poland is still struggling to put in place a proper legislation. As noted by Lightfoot and Vittek (2010), in relation to Slovak officials, this may produce a different pattern of satisfaction and thus determination for political change in government circles.

Written communication with Ondrej Horky, Institute of International Relations, Prague.

Apparently, cooperation between the Czech Republic and Angola was troubled inter alia over visa issues for Czech aid personnel. Available from: http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/czech/africa.pdf [Accessed 3 May 2011].

In 2005, the Hungarian government decided to forgive Ethiopia's $7.4 million debt (90 per cent of its existing debt) under an agreement signed in Addis Ababa on 28 June. The remaining obligation was to be spent on poverty reduction programmes.

See the Slovak official quoted in Vittek and Lightfoot (2010).

One of the advantages Poland enjoys over the other V4 countries and other Western donors with regard to Africa is the multiple presence of missionaries, mostly Catholic, who are relatively active in aid delivery and could serve as local anchors for further engagement with the region. In 2007, there were 919 Polish missionaries in Africa. Being aware of this advantage, the Polish government is seeking to increase the involvement of Polish missionaries in development aid.