Working Paper CEsA/ISEG Research No. 207/2025 examines TICAD’s contribution to South–South and Triangular Cooperation in Africa
The Working Paper CEsA/ISEG Research No. 207/2025, entitled The Historical Constraints of Africa South–South Cooperation: 30 Years of TICAD through the Lenses of South-South-Triangular Cooperation, analyses the three decades since the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and its role in ending Africa’s marginalization and exit aid dependency
The legacy of TICAD and its contribution to promoting structural changes in African development through South-South and Triangular Cooperation are the main conclusions of the new Working Paper CEsA/ISEG Research No. 207/2025, entitled The Historical Constraints of Africa South–South Cooperation: 30 Years of TICAD through the Lenses of South-South-Triangular Cooperation.
Authored by Pedro Miguel Amakasu Raposo de Medeiros Carvalho, full professor at Kansai University (Osaka, Japan) and associated researcher at CEsA/ISEG Research, the research article adopts a qualitative and chronological approach, with a cross-analysis of OECD reports, TICAD documents, UN and OAU historical resolutions, and secondary literature covering approximately 1960–2022, to understand the conceptual significance of South-South and Triangular Cooperation, explore the historical reasons why this modality has not advanced in Africa, and examine its contribution over three decades of TICAD in reducing Africa’s marginalisation and dependency on aid.
The Working Paper No. 207/2025 can be downloaded at the following link: https://cesa.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Working-Paper_207-2025_Final.pdf
Abstract:
Placing emphasis on the concepts of self-reliance and self-help, this paper contributes to the broad literature on South-South and Triangular cooperation, first, to understand its conceptual significance to south-south cooperation; second, to understand why from an historical perspective south-south cooperation has not advanced in Africa; and third, drawing on three decades of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, to understand the extent of TICAD contribution to promoting Africa’s self-reliance, essential to ending Africa’s marginalization and exit aid dependency. Based on insights from cross-analysis OECD reports, TICAD documents, UN and OAU historical resolutions, and secondary literature, through a qualitative and chronological approach, roughly from 1960 to 2022, we find that the role of TICAD through SS-TrC not only has contributed to structural development changes in Africa, but also redefined the paradigm of development assistance based on country ownership and equal partnership, thus becoming part of the Global Agenda for Development.
About the Author:
Pedro Miguel Amakasu Raposo de Medeiros Carvalho is full professor at Kansai University (Osaka, Japan) and associate researcher at CEsA/ISEG Research.
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Author: CEsA Communication Team (comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt)
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