KEY MESSAGES
• The current multi-crises context is gravely affecting the African continent (and especially Sub-Saharan Africa), and the EU must critically mobilise and expand the range of tools to support African initiatives for greater resilience, and sustainable and inclusive recovery and transformation.
• Some of Africa’s sources of external finance, such as foreign direct investment or trade, are following a downward trend, and debt pressure experienced by African countries is accentuating. It is thus crucial to boost the role and impact of African and European public development banks to mobilise sustainable and transformative investment. Africa and Europe should implement tradeinducing initiatives such as avoiding new barriers or supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area negotiation and implementation process. They should cooperate to explore innovative and tailored debt solutions together. This can include adopting common positions in multilateral fora and contemplating different debt-swap mechanisms. The European Union should collectively commit to speedily rechannelling 30% of their special drawing rights, through the International Monetary Fund and innovative leveraging mechanisms.
• Other sources of African external finance, namely official development assistance, migrants’ remittances and development finance, should be strengthened, and their development impact leveraged. This can be achieved through stronger cooperation and a renewed commitment also by European actors to understand the current state of affairs, engage with all actors involved and contemplate appropriate solutions. Such a cooperative mindset can also contribute towards the fight against illicit financial flows.
Read the full brief here.
Authors: San Bilal (ECDPM), Iliana Olivié and María Santillán O’Shea (Elcano Royal Institute).
The views are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ETTG.
