Resource Diplomacy: How Start-Ups Boost Israel’s African Diplomacy

As the threat of climate change becomes clearer and more urgent, governments are feeling more pressure than ever to respond and protect their citizens’ ways of life. On an individual level, there are increasing calls for changes in lifestyle, such as driving electric cars, using less plastic, and conserving resources. Beyond the personal scope of its citizens’ activities, the international community has urged nations to increase their cognizance of their country’s impact on the environment.

Besides profoundly and publicly influencing domestic attitudes and policies, climate change is also shifting diplomacy between nations. This shift in the international arena is evident in the changing relationship between Israel and previously adversarial African nations. Upon general mass African independence, Israel was among the first nations to establish both diplomatic and economic ties with many of the emerging nations. However, this period of cooperation did not last for long. In 1973, after the Arab-Israeli War, the Organization for African Unity, a coalition of African nations, voted to boycott Israel.[i] Resources have had a significant role in shifting this relationship thanks to the insight Israel has developed to deal with their scarcity issues. While Israel, over the course of its history, has achieved surprising success in the agricultural arena, many nations in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to struggle to achieve consistent resource security and have looked to Israel for solutions. As such, thirty years later, with the looming threat of resource insecurity, the countries have experienced a renewal of relations.

Changing Tides

As many leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa look to maintain their legitimacy in the face of increasing resource pressure, some are turning to Israel to solve their problems. Israel contains less than 20% of arable land with which to produce agricultural products, yet is able to overcome this unfavorable climate and produce 95% of its own food.[ii] As a result, Israel makes for a valuable potential partner in the fight against resource instability due to the fact that it has also struggled with, and ultimately solved, many of the same resource-related issues plaguing these African countries.

The Israeli startups have been particularly useful global tools in boosting positive Israeli relations, while also solving basic yet pressing resource needs. One such startup is Watergen, a company that develops both small- and large-scale air-to-water convertors, which has continued to foster a relationship between African nations and Israel—even in countries where Israel has no formal diplomatic outpost. Most recently, Watergen has provided clean drinking water to numerous girl’s schools throughout Sierra Leone, strengthening relations between the states even though Israel’s closest diplomatic outpost is in Senegal.[iii] Startups like Watergen help alleviate pressure from nearby embassies, allowing them to tackle problems specific to their host nation. Additionally, Watergen’s initiatives set the economic and political groundwork for the potential opening of new outposts.

Diplomacy on the Continent

Israel’s existing embassies also help companies such as Watergen establish the footing needed to operate in African markets and use their technologies to help the communities that need them most. For example, Israel’s recently established embassies in the Lake Chad Region helped Watergen bring their filters to alleviate a water crisis. In the past summer months, the Lake Chad Basin, of which Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, and Niger rely on for drinking water, experienced severe droughts and shortages. Before the situation unfolded, Israel had already opened up embassies in Nigeria and Cameroon. Earlier in 2019, also before the water crisis, Israel and Chad agreed to establish relations and a comprehensive trade agreement. These direct, friendly relations with Israel permitted open dialogue and facilitated the use of Watergen on a large scale.[iv]

In addition to establishing embassies, there exists room for larger areas of collaboration. The Alliance for Green Agriculture Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a committee comprised of representatives from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, has aimed to establish a formal channel of collaboration on environmental issues. The AGRA has focused on determining which Israeli technologies best serve the needs of African countries, and how best to implement this technology while also elevating African businesses. Many countries view Israel’s 525 agritech startups as viable partners in achieving their goals of elevating their nations into middle to upper income tiers.[v]

The solutions these start-ups could provide to immediate resource insecurities in Western Africa lie in stark contrast to the more economically competitive operations of other nations, especially when considering many of China’s commercial operations in Africa. Investments spurring the development of cities, stadiums, and community centers, while helpful for many countries, can also be massive debt traps. These investments do not address African countries’ most pressing resource challenges and can further weaken national sovereignty by boosting dependence on donor nations like China.

Diplomacy at the UN

Besides strengthening its bilateral ties, Israel has also relied on diplomacy to secure votes at the United Nations. For the better part of a half a century, African nations almost consistently voted against Israel—until a few years ago. As part of the non-aligned movement, many African nations voted at the UN in agreement with the Arab, North African nations, which were already members of the Arab League. Thus, many nations’ actions at the U.N. were based on the viewpoints of other countries, not individual relations. Consequently, Israel has also engaged in economic and resource diplomacy to break down the conventional voting blocs at the UN.

In June of 2018, when the United States and Israel amended a bill to condemn Hamas, a small majority of nations either abstained or voted with Israel. Among the countries who aligned with Israel were Togo, South Sudan, and Liberia, while twelve other African nations abstained from the vote.[vi] This realignment in votes is not accidental, but rather a direct result of Israel’s quest to find allies in the UN.

Togo serves as an example of how Israeli agricultural innovations have shifted international diplomacy. Togo’s mango crop has consistently suffered from a fruit fly infestation. Biofeed, an Israeli startup that produces a product that fends off fruit flies, served as an answer to this problem. Farmers who used their product, Freedome, saw infestations of fruit flies reduced by up to 95%. This tie likely helped lead to Togo’s vote to confirm Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that most other nations have been reluctant to make.

Past, Present, and Future

Israel’s involvement in Africa is rooted in its own experience, as it has overcome many of the same resource problems endured by African nations. Israel’s business environment over the past decade has created a suitable platform for innovation, most evident by its 29th rank in 2010, where it outperformed all but one of the other Middle Eastern nations.[vii] Many of the startups currently assisting countries in managing their resources were instrumental in helping Israel reach almost complete agricultural independence. This groundwork for collaboration is beneficial for both diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. Providing clean water, managing droughts, and empowering farmers are all initiatives that enhance the lives of ordinary civilians. As Israeli startups continue to emerge and grow, they will need more diplomatic relationships with nations in order to spread innovation. Additionally, as relations between Israel and Africa strengthen, more nations will look to Israel for help in addressing the continuing effects of climate change. The potential for future collaboration remains bright, as Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe said: “Africa is beset by difficulties, and Israel holds the keys to them.”[viii]

Illustration by Samantha Malzahn

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