Brazil–Africa Technical Co-operation: Structure, Achievements and Challenges

Brazil provides technical assistance to Africa primarily through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), focusing on South-South solidarity and the transfer of domestic expertise in agriculture, health, and social policy. While Brazil has established flagship projects like ProSavana in Mozambique and 'Cotton-4' in West Africa, the rapid expansion of these commitments has led to institutional overstretch, a lack of monitoring mechanisms, and a need for greater transparency and civil society involvement.

• Brazil's technical co-operation is managed by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), which operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a limited annual budget of $30–40 million. Because of these financial constraints, the ABC focuses on skills development and institutional capacity rather than hard infrastructure.
• Brazil employs a South-South solidarity model based on peer learning and the adaptation of its own domestic successes in tropical agriculture, health, and social policies to African contexts, operating on the premise that 'for each African problem, there is a Brazilian solution'.
• Trilateral co-operation is a key strategy allowing Brazil to expand its reach beyond its own financial means by providing expertise while developed partners provide funding. Japan is Brazil's primary trilateral partner, followed by the US and Germany.
• The ProSavana project in Mozambique is a flagship trilateral initiative with Japan that applies Brazilian technology from the Cerrado region to the Nacala Corridor to improve food security and family farming productivity.
• Other significant projects include the 'Cotton-4' initiative in Mali, Benin, Chad, and Burkina Faso to improve cotton productivity, and a $23 million antiretroviral factory in Mozambique developed by Fiocruz, which began operations in August 2012 despite certification delays.
• Brazil's rapid expansion of co-operation has created several systemic challenges, including institutional overstretch, the absence of a formal co-operation law to regulate public funds, and a lack of monitoring-and-evaluation mechanisms to assess project impact.

APA

Alves, A. C. (2013). Brazil–Africa Technical Co-operation: Structure, Achievements and Challenges. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Policy-Briefing-69.pdf

Chicago

Alves, Ana Cristina. Brazil–Africa Technical Co-operation: Structure, Achievements and Challenges. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2013. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Policy-Briefing-69.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Alves |first1=Ana Cristina |title=Brazil–Africa Technical Co-operation: Structure, Achievements and Challenges |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=August 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Policy-Briefing-69.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alves2013brazilafrica, author = {Alves, Ana Cristina}, title = {{Brazil–Africa Technical Co-operation: Structure, Achievements and Challenges}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Policy-Briefing-69.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }