ABSTRACT

In the context of the rise of the so-called ‘emerging donors’ the South American power Brazil has tried to gain a foothold on its neighbouring continent Africa and to establish itself as a partner and reference for South-South development cooperation. Equipped with technical expertise in the area of tropical agriculture and poverty reduction, as well as a good dose of solidarity and enthusiasm for the challenge of helping the continent to tap its dormant agricultural potential, Brazil established numerous South-South partnerships with African countries between 2005 and 2010 under the leadership of then President Lula da Silva (2003-2010). While Brazil had traditionally enjoyed close relations with Africa’s Luso-

phone countries since their independence, the new Brazilian Africa strategy designed by President Lula set out to go beyond this traditional focus and establish relations with English-and French-speaking Africa. In this continental strategy the establishment of regional offices by Brazilian development agencies was a cornerstone. As a surprise for many analysts, in 2008 the first such regional office was decided to be established in Ghana – a country that previously had not played any significant role for Brazil’s political and economic relations with the continent. The chapter sheds light on how Brazil fared as an emerging development

actor in Ghana. Representing a case study on the South American country’s activities as a new donor in a non-Lusophone African country, the case provides insights into the challenges and difficulties Brazil faced when trying to implement South-South cooperation with the West African country. In particular, this chapter offers an analysis of the characteristics of both narrative and practice by Brazilian actors, as well as an assessment of how SouthSouth cooperation unfolds in the case of the emergent power Brazil. Beginning with a brief overview of the concept of South-South cooperation and emerging donors in general, the article highlights the peculiarities of Brazil’s Africa strategy and its approach to South-South cooperation. Against this background, the article explores Brazil’s motivation to establish itself as emerging donor in Ghana. By pointing out the specifics of Brazil’s relationship with Ghana, the different expectations of the two development partners and their different understandings of ‘development’, the article provides a case study of

the often-underestimated challenges of South-South development partnerships. The chapter closes with an outlook on Brazil’s role as a development actor in the context of its status as emerging power.