Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Neo-Colonialism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Neo-Colonialism and the Poverty of 'Development' in Africa

Part of the book series: Contemporary African Political Economy ((CONTAPE))

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to put economic growth and private sector expansion back onto the agenda of African development. Goals 8 and 9, for instance, place great significance on the need for decent jobs and for infrastructure building to spur African prosperity. This chapter illustrates how the SDG’s pivot to economic growth and private sector development (PSD) represents a reinforcement of existing donor commitment to free market policies in Africa. Moreover, by focusing on sustainable development initiatives in the palm oil sector, and the EU-Africa Infrastructural Trust Fund (EU-AITF), the chapter queries whether poverty reduction is at the heart of donor (and corporate) strategies in the era of the UN SDGs. Again, Nkrumah’s concerns about neo-colonial trade and aid linkages appear pertinent for a current assessment of African ‘development’.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • ACP-EEC Joint Council of Ministers. (1987). Annual report of the ACP-EEC Joint Council of Ministers. Luxembourg: European Commission. Available at: http://aei.pitt.edu/6002/01/003236_1.pdf. Accessed 8 Oct 2009.

  • ACP-EEC Lomé Convention IV. (1989). Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé Convention signed at Lomé on 15 December 1989. Available at: http://database.balcanicooperazione.it/content/download/2408/16192/file/IV+Lom%E8+convention.pdf. Accessed 8 Oct 2009.

  • Amnesty International. (2016). The great palm oil scandal: Labour abuses behind big brand names: Executive summary 2016. London: Amnesty International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asante, E. (2012). The case of Ghana’s President’s special initiative on oil palm (PSI-Oil palm) (DIIS Working Paper, 2012: 11).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, R. (1981). Social forces, states and world orders: Beyond International Relations theory. Millennium Journal of International Studies, 10(2), 126–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Essabra-Mensah, E. (2015). Local oil palm growers cry for protection. Accra: B&FT Online.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU-AITF, (2015). Annual report. Brussels: European Union Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurodad, (2015). A dangerous blend? The EU’s agenda to ‘Blend’ public development finance with private finance. Brussels: Eurodad.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2015). Action document for the creation of the Africa infrastructure fund. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016a). Towards a new partnership framework with third countries under the European agenda on migration: FAQ factsheet. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016b). Sustainable development: EU sets out its priorities. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016c). Fact sheet: Towards a renewed partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries after 2020. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016d). Final joint communication to the European parliament and the council: A renewed partnership with the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016e). Final communication from the commission to the European parliament, the council, the European economic and social committee, and the committee of the regions: Proposal for a new European consensus on development: Our world, our dignity, our future. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016f). Commission staff working document: Assessing the 2005 European consensus on development and accompanying the initiative “Proposal for a new European consensus on development” accompanying the document “Communication from the commission to the European parliament, the council, the European economic and social committee and committee of the regions proposal for a new European consensus on development our world, our dignity our future. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanon, F. (1961). The wretched of the earth. Reprint—London: Penguin Classics, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friends of the Earth International. (2015). Ugandan oil palm project taken to court over land grab claims. Friends of the Earth International, 19 Feb 2015. Available at: http://www.foeeurope.org/uganda-palm-oil-court-landgrab-190215. Accessed 25 July 2017.

  • Grassroots, & EIA. (2016). Who watches the watchmen? Auditors and the breakdown of oversight in the RSPO. London: EIA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregoratti, C. (2010). Growing sustainable business in Eastern Africa: The potential and limits of partnerships for development. In P. Utting & J. Marques (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility and regulatory governance (pp. 203–254). London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregoratti, C. (2018). The UN Global Compact. London: Routledge. Forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humanity United. (2015). Free and fair labor in palm oil production: Principles and implementation.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPS. (1987, November 12). Hurdles to ACP/EEC trade identified. IPS. Available at: http://www.sunsonline.org/trade/process/during/uruguay/regional/11140087.htm. Accessed 25 Mar 2017.

  • Iwuagwu, J., & Ugwuanyi, J. (2014). Treatment and valorization of palm oil mill effluent through production of food grade yeast biomass. Journal of Waste Management. Online version available at: https://www.hindawi.com/archive/2014/439071/. Accessed 25 July 2017.

  • Krinninger, T. (2017). Big palm oil is making the rules.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langan, M. (2011). Private sector development as poverty and strategic discourse: PSD in the political economy of EU-Africa trade relations. Journal of Modern African Studies, 49(1), 83–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langan, M. (2012). Normative power europe and the moral economy of Africa-EU ties: A conceptual reorientation of normative power. New Political Economy, 17(3), 243–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mawdsley, E. (2015). DFID, the private sector and the re-centring of an economic growth agenda in international development. Global Society, 29(3), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muchhala, B., & Sengupta, M. (2014). A Déjà vu agenda or a development agenda? A critique of the post-2015 development agenda from the perspective of developing countries. Economic and Political Weekly, XLIX(46), 28–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkrumah, K. (1963). Africa must unite. London: Heineman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkrumah, K. (1965). Neo-colonialism: The last stage of imperialism. Sixth Printing—New York International Publishers, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1995). Private sector development: A guide to donor support. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogada, M., Mwabu, G., & Muchai, D. (2014). Farm technology adoption in Kenya: A simultaneous estimation of inorganic fertilizer and improved maize variety adoption decisions. Agricultural and Food Economics, 2(12). Open access available at: https://agrifoodecon.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40100-014-0012-3. Accessed 25 July 2017.

  • Partnerships for Forests. (2016). Seven African governments sign the TFA 2020 marrakesh declaration for the sustainable development of the oil palm sector in Africa. (Partnership for Forests).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pingeot, L. (2014). Corporate influence in the post-2015 process. Aachen: Bischöfliches Hilfswerk.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pingeot, L. (2016). In whose interest? The UN’s strategic rapprochement with business in the sustainable development agenda. Globalizations, 13(2), 118–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pye, O., Daud, R., Manurung, K., & Siagan, S. (2016). Workers in the palm oil industry: Exploitation, resistance and transnational solidarity. Koln: Stiftung Asienhaus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quintos, P. (2015). The post-2015 corporate development agenda: Expanding corporate power in the name of sustainable development. Quezon City: IBON.

    Google Scholar 

  • RSPO. (2016). Impact report. Kuala Lumpur: RSPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheyvens, R., Banks, G., & Hughes, E. (2016). The private sector and the SDGs: The need to move ‘beyond business as usual’. Sustainable Development, 24(6), 371–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suarez, A., Kim, H., Kim, H., & Madhavan, M. (2013). Measuring environmental externalities to agriculture in Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Courier. (1985). ACP–EEC Convention Lome III, The Courier, Special issue No. 89 January–February. Brussels: European Commission. Available at: http://aei.pitt.edu/1778/01/Lome_III_dossier.pdf. Accessed 8 Oct 2009.

  • The Courier. (1994). Dossier: The private sector—country reports: Eritrea, Chad. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN. (2015). Transforming our world the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN Global Compact. (2015). SDG compass: UN executive summary. New York: United Nations Global Compact.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNEP. (2011). Global environmental alert service (GEAS): Taking the pulse of the planet: Connecting science with policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Djik, T. A. (1993). Principles of discourse analysis. Discourse and Society, 4(2), 249–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, H. (2017). Politics of leaving no one behind: Contesting the 2030 sustainable development goals agenda. Globalizations, pp. 1–16; early view edition.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Mark Langan

Authors
  1. Mark Langan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Langan .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Langan, M. (2018). The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Neo-Colonialism. In: Neo-Colonialism and the Poverty of 'Development' in Africa. Contemporary African Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58571-0_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation