european think tanks group
EU-Africa relations have hardly followed a linear path, but the events of the past two years – namely, Covid-19 and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – seemingly put it under additional strain, allowing age-old grievances to come back in full force.
What is the impact of the war in Ukraine on Africa – Europe migration dialogue? Read our new ETTG collective blog
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has longstanding experience in coordinating and working with donors. The EBRD relationship
The European Investment Bank (EIB) cooperates with the European Union (EU), its member states and their development agencies at both
The Dutch government has a longstanding and comprehensive cooperation with the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) via the Ministry of
This brief identifies some of the shared priorities between Africa and the European Union (EU) as well as challenges in their partnership as it currently stands. It also suggests concrete ways forward to strengthen the economic development and trade agenda of the AU-EU cooperation and gives policy recommendations towards a more effective partnership.
This synthesis note presents one-page overviews of the main findings and recommendations in relation to the five themes, which are discussed in greater detail in the policy briefs that have been published during the past months. A link to the full policy brief is included at the end of each one-pager. These thematic overviews are preceded by a short analysis of the relationship between Africa and Europe and five proposals for strengthening the continent-to-continent dialogue on sustainable development.
Europe and Africa should make joint efforts to invest in projects that would support digital sovereignty on both continents, including joint industrial projects – in the area of ethical AI and open-source technologies for instance. This would respond to some of the gaps in terms of local digital industries on both continents as well as to local needs, and would demonstrate that the EU-AU digital partnership is not simply about trying to export European technologies or about aid, but about reinforcing a free and open internet.
Europe–Africa relations are facing a double challenge – the COVID-19 pandemic puts social and economic systems under strain at a point when the consequences of the climate crisis are being increasingly felt on both continents. Within Africa and Europe, debates have started about recovery measures to address the pandemic’s short and medium-term socio-economic consequences. A key question in these debates is how to “build back better” and use the crisis to promote green transitions and move towards more sustainable development pathways.
The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) maintain a long-standing partnership on peace and security which can be qualified as constructive. It is largely based on joint interests and objectives and is less contentious compared to other more challenging topics, such as migration and trade. The EU’s new seven-year budget for 2021 – 2027 introduces new ways of working which impact on how the EU will engage on peace and security in Africa. Most notable in this regard is the establishment of the European Peace Facility (EPF) which can potentially undermine the AU’s role in leading and coordinating peace and security measures on the continent. Moreover, these new developments take place against the backdrop of an overall troubled EU-AU relationship which suffers not only from the divergences in interests in key areas such as migration, trade and climate but also from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and global geopolitics.
