Project description

Title: Support to the African Union Border Programme
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office (AA)
Country: Africa-wide
Lead executing agency: African Union (AU), responsible ministries for border issues, national border commissions
Overall term: 2008 to 2012

Context

The long colonial history of most African nations left a legacy of numerous disputed national boundaries after their independence. Only about a quarter of sub-Saharan borders are clearly delimited and demarcated. The AU sees these ill-defined borders as potential sources of conflict, especially when mineral resources are discovered in the border regions. They therefore pose a threat to peace and security.

The AU launched the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) to minimise these risks. The programme has four components: delimitation and demarcation, cross-border cooperation, institution building and capacity development, and resource mobilisation. On behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, GIZ is supporting the AU programme through its Border Management in Africa project, which is intended to help establish supra-regional border management and secure peace in the region.

Objective

Conflicts between African states are avoided and regional convergence is taking place on the continent as a result of effective and sustainable border management.

Approach

The Border Management in Africa project is steered from Addis Ababa. It’s activities correspond to three of the components of the AUBP.

• Delimitation and Demarcation
  The project is currently supporting ten African partner countries (Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Comoros, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Sudan and South Sudan) in delimiting and demarcating their borders.
• Cross-border cooperation
  The project supports the partner countries in promoting and extending cross-border cooperation. It has also cooperated with the Trading for Peace Programme of COMESA, which is intended to simplify international trade agreements as a way of strengthening cross-border relations. The project has also initiated a network of border experts involving the AU as well as ECOWAS and its member states.
• Institution-building and capacity development, in particular at the AU level
  While focusing on its strategic alignment, the project is supporting the AU to help ensure the feasibility of its programme. This includes providing funding to pay for staff, office space, materials and equipment. The project also contributes to the legitimacy of the AUBP by conducting bilateral awareness and education measures at the national level.

Results achieved so far

The border between Mali and Burkina Faso has been fully delimited and demarcated, and 610 km of boundary have been delimited and demarcated on the borders between Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The border between Mozambique and Tanzania, and those between Malawi and Zambia and Zambia and Mozambique will be completed by 2011. In addition, the maritime boundary between the Comoros, Tanzania and Mozambique will be fully delimited by the end of 2011.

The project succeeded in ending a protracted border dispute between two villages in Mali and Burkina Faso, using a participatory method of conflict resolution. This method has now been extended to ten additional border communities. Economic and cultural cooperation among border villages has increased, thanks in part to the construction of grain elevators for their joint use. A health centre is also currently under construction in the border region, which will be administered by the two countries together.

As a result of the ongoing technical and conceptual advice from GIZ, the AUBP is now better able to implement the programme on its own. Work to develop an AU intranet site on country-specific border issues for Africa-wide access began in 2010 and is due to be completed in 2011. Thanks to these developments, the member states now view the AU as a key actor in border management. As Germany is currently the AUBP’s only partner, its involvement is highly visible, both here and within the international donor community.