Joseph Stiglitz and JICA-RI in Pretoria Task Force

JICA-RI Director Keiichi Tsunekawa commenced the event with an opening speech. He emphasized the importance of Africa for the ODA policy of the Japanese government in general and of JICA in particular. He also updated the audience on development activities JICA has done for Ethiopia since last-year's IPD meeting in Addis Ababa as a follow-up. In collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry, JICA launched a dialogue to discuss strategies for the nation's manufacturing industry, from which ideas and recommendations are expected to be adopted for the new five-year development plan. He also explained JICA's new kaizen project to be launched this August, also in support of industrialization. According to Director Tsunekawa, the kaizen initiative will begin as a pilot project in thirty Ethiopian firms but is expected to spread to other Sub-Sahara African countries.

JICA-RI senior researcher, Shinichi Takeuchi, presented his current study of social transformation in post-conflict countries entitled "Conflict and Land Tenure in Rwanda." Using a historical case study of Rwanda, Dr. Takeuchi pointed out that government legitimacy is crucial for stability in land issues. As policy implications of his work, Dr. Takeuchi argues that pro-poor policies and inclusive democracy are most effective in establishing government legitimacy.

JICA-RI research fellow, Jean-Claude Maswana, introduced his study entitled "Global Financial Crisis & Recession: Impact on Africa and Development Prospects." Dr. Maswana believes the worst of the Crisis is yet to come and that focus should not only lie in assessing the impact of the Crisis as it is unfolding now, but on what could be the damaging effects resulting from the adjustment policies of the developed countries.

Katsuro Saito, JICA Deputy Director General, presented on JICA's efforts with the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) while Koichi Fujita of Kyoto University presented on "Green Revolution in India and Its Significance in Economic Development: Implications for Sub-Sahara Africa." Nihon University's Akifumi Kuchiki spoke on "Lessons from Asian Experiences of Industrial Agglomeration and Trade."

"The general thrust of the task force," according to Professor Stiglitz, "is to identify some of the common problems facing Africa...with a particular view of what lessons can be learned from Asia and Japan," in allusion to the Asian Financial Crisis of the 1990s. "How can we [socialize risk and restructure the economy] in ways that are supportive to economic growth?" The on-going quest to answer this question and many others affirms the importance of open discussion, dialogue, and events such as IPD.

■ Agenda & Papers
"Click on name to view presentation"

July 9

9:00-10:00
Introduction
　Joseph Stiglitz, Co-President, Initiative for Policy Dialogue,
　Columbia University
　Keiichi Tsunekawa, Director, JICA Research Institute
　Akbar Noman,Senior Fellow, Initiative for Policy Dialogue,
　Columbia University

10:00-11:30
Global Recession and Africa Ⅰ
　Louis Kasekende, Chief Economist, African
　Development Bank
　Joseph Stiglitz
　Valpy Knox, Professor and Department Head, Department of
　International Development at Oxford University
　John Weeks, Professor Emeritus of Development Economics,
　SOAS
　Pierre Jacquet, Chief Economist, Agence Francaise de
　Developpement

11:30-12:00　Break

12:00-13:00
Global Recession and Africa II
　Seeraj Mohamed, Director, Corporate Strategy and Industrial
　Development Research Programme in the School of
　Economic and Business Sciences
　Jean Claude Maswana.pdf , Research Fellow, JICA Research
　Institute
　David Hulme, Executive Director, Brooks World Poverty
　Institute

13:00-14:00　Lunch

14:00-15:00
Land and Agriculture
　Howard Stein, Professor, University of Michigan
　Shinichi Takeuchi.pdf , Senior Research Fellow, JICA Research
　Institute
　Roy Prosterman, Founder and Chairman Emeritus,
　Rural Development Institute, Emeritus Professor of Law,
　University of Washington
　Hans Binswager, Sector Director for Rural
　Development and Environment, Africa Region, World Bank

July 10

9:00-10:00
Aid and Trade
　Akifumi Kuchiki, Director-General, Institute of Developing
　Economies, Japan External Trade Organisation (IDE-JETRO)
　Julia Cage, Ecole Normale Superieure

10:00-11:00
Climate Change and Africa Alessandra Gianni
　Discussant: Pierre Jacquet

11:00-12:00
Agriculture and Africa I
　Akbar Noman
　Simon Roberts, Divisional Manager Policy and Research,
　Competition Comission South Africa

12:00-13:00
Agriculture and Africa II
　Katsuro Saito.pdf , Director of the Forestry and Natural
　Environment Department, JICA
　Koichi Fujita.pdf , Professor, Center for East Asian Studies,
　Kyoto
　Francis Wilson, Professor, University of Capetown

13:00-14:00　Lunch

14:30
Public panel
"Macroeconomic management and industrial-
technology policy in the South: Some salient issues
for South Africa"
　Joseph Stiglitz
　Mushtaq Khan, Senior Professor in Economics, Associate
　Dean of Research for the Faculty of Law and Social Science,
　SOAS, London