G8 Research Group

According to the 2011 G8 Deauville Declaration, Member States took a considerable step forward by crafting the G8/Africa Joint Declaration titled, Shared Values, Shared Responsibilities.

Specifically related to the Partnership with Africa, this joint declaration affirms the important of economic development, as outlined within the NEPAD framework. Indeed, G8 Leaders agreed that the “challenge today is to build on the current and positive dynamic of the African economy to achieve a more inclusive, shared and sustainable growth.” This is discussed as a catalyst for increasing the number of jobs within domestic economies.

In addition, the G8 Leaders pledged support for “an ambitious vision for regional integration initiatives” which will better position the countries for most substantial global integration in the future. Member states called upon African states to fully implement the previously proposed Minimum Integration Programme of the African Union, and program with similar intentions.

Within the 2011 Joint Declaration, regional integration is also cited as “crucial to ensure effective integration of the continent into the global markets” and is thus fully supported by the Member states eager to see a successful solution to previously tenuous multilateral undertakings: such as the Doha rounds.

An additional feature of the NEPAD programme is the importance of domestic resource control. At this year’s summit, the final communiqué was careful to include information on securing greater transparency – particularly with high yield domestic resources susceptible to corruption – to better regulate the state-profits that can have positive consequences such as better “delivery of public goods and services.” In addition to reiterating its opinions on the importance of transparency, the G9 Leaders affirmed the value of structures such as action plan proposed in the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region adopted in Lusaka in December 2010.

On the topic of agriculture, the G8 Member states agreed that agriculture can also be “an important driver of broad-based sustainable economic growth and development.” However, the topic of agriculture was only briefly featured in the 2011 G8 Deauville Declaration.

Importantly, G8 Leaders were careful to engage with the Partnership countries (in Africa) in discussion on the role that sustainable (or alternative) sources of energy – a necessary condition for both “economic development and poverty reduction,” – will play on the prospect of long term development.

Finally, while the 2011 Declaration failed to assert any specific goals in terms of food security, Member states cited the findings of the G8 Accountability Report as indicators that more can be done, substantively, to address this lingering problems.

Thus, while many of the crucial topics were addressed in the substantially longer G8/Africa Joint Declaration than have been in previous summits, critical exclusions and a failure to agree on specific monetary contribution of Member States. In sum, the United States is assigned a score of +0.75.