Author: Harvard Law School

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Power Africa: The Most Exciting Development Initiative of 2013

Jan. 24, 2014 – John Rennie

This past summer President Obama announced what I believe is perhaps the most exciting development program currently underway. Phase One of Power Africa seeks to increase access to electricity for 20 million Africans. The impacts of this program are potentially transformative and can alter the participating country’s economic trajectory.

The statistics on the lack of electricity in Africa are long and shocking. Only one third of sub-Saharan Africans (SSA) have access of electricity, leaving over 600 million people without power and forcing them to spend significant amounts of their income on costly and unhealthy forms of energy, such as diesel. It also deprives them of educational opportunities, restricts economic productivity, and hinders communication. Perhaps the most astonishing fact I have heard about the lack of electricity in Africa is that the entire country of Liberia uses the same amount of power as the Dallas Cowboy’s stadium.

Power Africa aims to change this. Taking a collaborative approach and partnering with multiple organizations, such as African governments, numerous development banks such as the African Development Bank, and the private sector, Power Africa aims to pool and leverage the resources needed to develop the necessary power infrastructure in select African countries. This means expanding mini-grid, grid, and off-grid solutions and building out power generation, transmission and distribution structures. It will do this while employing only renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydropower, natural gas, and geothermal resources. Power Africa is also an interesting development initiative because of its collaboration with the private sector. The initiative is supported $16 million, but only $7 million are from the US government. The remaining $9 million are private sector investment commitments from companies such as General Electric.

In order to reach its targets, Power Africa will have to navigate some big challenges. Many of the target countries have promising but challenging business environments. This can be seen in Nigeria, where President Jonathan is highly supportive of expanding electricity in the country. But his attempt to privative parts of the state-owned power company in order to expand electricity coverage was mostly rejected in the country’s senate, probably due to corruption. Moreover, some of these countries barely rank as investment grade, making them risky business environments. Ghana’s credit rating was recently downgraded due to its increasing debt and failure to pass budget reforms. Power Africa is trying to address these challenges through measures such as the use of political risk insurance and political engagement. But with big infrastructure projects such as Power Africa, where the benefits are derived over a long time period, operating in unpredictable environments greatly increases the risk involved.

Power Africa has the ability to provide substantial boosts to SSA economies. Moreover, electricity is essential to so many important functions that it has the potential to be transformative for individual’s daily lives. How it navigates the challenges and risks it will be an important determinate of the program’s success and will also serve as a good litmus test for the investment climate in many SSA countries.

John Rennie

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How To Land Your Dream Internship: LIDS Projects!

Jan. 21, 2014 – John Rennie

With the start of the spring semester one of the biggest questions on students’ minds is how they will spend the upcoming summer. For many law students this has already been settled and they know what law firm they will be working at during the summer. But others, especially graduate students like myself, face an open opportunity. This can be a challenge – finding the right internship can require both work and luck – but also an opportunity, as it provides a reason to reach out to organizations that you have always been interested in and see where you might fit.

I mention the process of finding internship and jobs because I think it highlights one of the biggest assets of LIDS projects – the opportunity to engage with organizations doing exciting and cutting-edge development work. As I learned last year, this can be a natural step to a great summer internship.

I began working on LIDS projects last year when I joined a project with the Vale Columbia Center for Sustainable International Investment. Our project researched best practices in the use of technology transfers in FDI. As I got to know the organization and their work better, I came to realize that their work was closely aligned with my professional interests. Vale is a young research and consulting group affiliated with Columbia University. They work with companies and government to maximize the social, economic, and environmental returns on investments while minimizing the risk. After meeting with our project’s supervisor and discussing her work, I quickly agreed to spend my summer doing further research for Vale.

I spent my summer with Vale in New York researching and writing a paper on how a recent ICSID ruling has created important new limitations on the use of performance requirements, which are a set of policies that stimulate that investors must meet certain standards if they invest in a country (such as local content requirements). This has important consequences for developing countries, many of which consider performance requirements to be a useful tool for shaping industrial and development policy. This internship gave me the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of an issue that is highly relevant to the field I hope to work in and it has been very helpful in deepening my understanding of development economics and trade law.

All of the graduate schools in the Boston area have fascinating activities going on each day. But it is useful to remember that when we graduate we’ll be hoping to find a job that provides us an opportunity to use our skills and make a difference. In my experience, LIDS projects have provided an important bridge between school and the outside world. I’m excited that this spring many more students will be joining LIDS projects and having similar experiences.

John Rennie

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What is Development?: Reconciling Harvard Law School’s Rights-focused and Private Law-focused Groups

Jan. 20, 2014 – Raj Banerjee

This past year, every LIDS event has begun with the question: “What is development?” Even though we are the Law and International Development Society, we have no concrete vision of what development is. And we are wise in having none. At Harvard Law School, where we are based, those interested in international issues or development studies tend to fall into one of two categories: the human rights group, and the private international law/business group. The first group sees progress as the achievement of several individual rights: the right to food, education, clean water, freedom of speech, essential medicines. The second group focuses on economic growth, and the public and private infrastructure that stems from and feeds that growth.

One of our goals as an organization is to build a community at the intersection of law, policy and international development. And to build that community we need to reconcile the two categories listed above. Despite the significant overlap between these categories, students in one group rarely converse with those in the other. I remember attending a symposium on investor-state arbitration last year where a noted arbitrator was asked about how human rights law or environmental law factored into his decisions. His answer was simple: they did not. What I found surprising was that few of the dozens of students in the audience expressed surprise. These students belonged to the second group. They were going to embark on careers where they were bound to run into, or up against, students in the first group. And yet, even as students on the same campus, they rarely interacted.

LIDS is that rare space on campus where both groups interact. To check if that is true, we pose the question: “What is development?” The answers either focus on rights, or on economic growth. Sometimes, the people I or my colleagues pose this question to pause…they realize that whatever the answer is, it cannot solely be expressed in the language of either of the two groups on campus.

I am in India right now. A few months ago, local news outlets here fanned the flames of a debate between the U.S.-based Indian economists Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati. Both economists had come out with books about India this past summer. Mr. Sen’s An Uncertain Glory (co-authored with Jean Dreze) grimly noted that despite two decades of economic growth, India lagged behind even poorer countries on health and education indicators. In order to sustain growth, the Indian government would have to seriously invest in its primary education and healthcare infrastructure. Mr. Bhagwati’s Why Growth Matters (co-authored with his Columbia University colleague Arvind Panagariya) retorted, somewhat brashly, that GDP growth is what India should focus on. With growth, and with sound investment of the proceeds of growth, all else will follow.

India’s media played up the differences between the two arguments, and commentators put themselves in either the Sen camp or the Bhagwati camp. The whole thing reminded me of Harvard’s two international development groups. Thoughtful commentators eventually noted that, all nuance considered, there was little difference between Sen’s and Bhagwati’s theses. Both wanted economic growth, and both wanted a better-educated, healthier India. Likewise, at Harvard, both international development camps are deeply interested in the other’s area of focus. And LIDS allows both camps to acknowledge that interest.

Image: Bridge on the Sabie River, South Africa. By Chris Eason

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Apply to work on a spring LIDS project!

LIDS is currently recruiting team members to work on its exciting array of spring projects! Project partners include the ABA Criminal Law Section’s International Committee, the Center for Civil Society in India, and the Collaborative African Genomics Network, among others. Descriptions of the projects are available here.

To be eligible to work on a LIDS project, you must be a current graduate student in the Boston area. Team members are expected to dedicate 3-5 hours per week on average to their project.

Team members are primarily responsible for preparing the deliverable, which may be a legal memo, policy report, or business plan, among other possibilities. This role involves research work, which can include conventional research and potentially interviewing individuals or experts on the subject matter. Being a team member is an excellent opportunity to work with an external development group and gain subject matter expertise and valuable employment skills. Expertise in the subject matter is not essential, but a demonstrated interest in the topic is expected, as is a commitment to the project. Research and writing skills are important for this position, as is an ability to work on a team and meet deadlines.

To apply:

(1) fill out the application form.

(2) attend the MANDATORY training on Mon., Feb. 3, 2014 from 7-8:30pm in WCC 2009. If you have a class or other legitimate conflict during that time, please email Sarah (sweiner@jd15.law.harvard.edu) and John (john.rennie@tufts.edu) so that they can send you the necessary information.

Applications are due TUESDAY, FEB. 4, 2014.

All projects described are Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe pro bono projects. LIDS members work on these projects under the supervision of Orrick’s attorneys.

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Conflict in South Sudan and the Central African Republic

Jan. 17, 2014 – Raj Banerjee

Two massive conflicts have flared up around the Sahel. South Sudan, barely a year-and-a-half old, has plunged into civil war. Over two-thirds of the country have been affected by the month-long conflict between forces loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to former-Vice President Riek Machar. An estimated half a million people have been displaced. There are no accurate reports of casualties, but two UN peacekeepers from India have been killed.

Hundreds of miles to the west, well over a thousand people have died in sectarian violence in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.). The United Nations has warned of a massive humanitarian crisis. Former colonial ruler France, as well as Rwanda and Uganda have sent in troops to maintain stability. Journalists on the ground have warned of a repeat of the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

LIDS members have strong interests in crisis response, nation building, humanitarian aid, and politics in the Sahel. We are observing the events in both South Sudan and C.A.R., and invite commentary on the conflicts in both countries for LIDS Live.

If you are interested in assisting in humanitarian relief efforts, you may contact the UNHCR (http://donate.unhcr.org/sudan) or Mercy Corps (http://www.mercycorps.org.uk/central-african-republic).

Image: President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan. By Jenny Rockett.

 

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India’s Politics of Anti-Corruption

Jan. 16, 2014 – Raj Banerjee

Just last month, something incredible happened in Indian politics. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a year-old political outfit borne out of a massive anti-corruption movement, took charge of the city-state of Delhi, home to India’s capital. Aam Aadmi means “common man” in Hindi; the acronym “AAP” means “you.” AAP’s leader, Arvind Kejriwal, a 45 year-old former engineer and tax man, spent much of 2013 pitting his common man persona against Delhi’s entrenched political leaders. Now, he finds himself the chief minister of Delhi.

AAP’s remarkable success and soaring popularity have shaken Indian politics, because they have highlighted a powerful anti-corruption sentiment across the country. At the same time, AAP struggles to define and mold that anti-corruption sentiment. This should not be a surprise to anybody who has studied corruption –academics still struggle to construct a working definition; and what is corrupt behavior often depends as much on the context as the act. AAP’s vision of a corruption-free India requires going after petty policeman and government officials, high-ranking bureaucrats and politicians, and businesses big and small. That is a lot of enemies for a fledgling political party to make. At the same time, if AAP picks its targets strategically, it will fall afoul of its own absolutist anti-corruption manifesto.

Add to this the complications of politics and governance. Despite its success in Delhi, AAP does not hold the majority of seats in the state 70 member legislative assembly. To survive, the Delhi AAP government relies on the Congress party; and as a young party, AAP needs its government in Delhi to show the country that it can deliver on its promises. At the same time, AAP cannot go soft on corrupt Congress leaders in Delhi, especially given how highly critical it has been of that corruption scandal-ridden party.

The month-old AAP government in Delhi must also realize that what makes for a good, populist movement does not necessarily make for sound policy. Mr. Kejriwal recently declared that Delhi would not allow foreign multi-brand retailers (such as Wal-Mart) to set up shop in his state. This policy has nothing to do with corruption. It was meant to be a handout to small local retailers, a large number of whom supported AAP in the Delhi elections. However, it leaves the large Delhi retail market open to massive Indian retailers, who can do just as much damage to small business. Mr. Kejriwal’s announcement also cuts against his own anti-corruption stance, as it benefits local companies subject to far less extensive corporate integrity and anti-corruption safeguards than their large Western counterparts.

AAP has done a remarkable job tapping into India’s anti-corruption sentiment. It continues to enjoy tremendous support across the country, and is growing beyond Delhi. Other anti-corruption movements and political parties around the world should take notice of its success. Nevertheless, the party will find it incredibly challenging to shape its anti-corruption vision from a position of power.

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