On 11-12 September 2025, ETTG, alongside German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and Nelson Mandela University, convened a high-level workshop in Pretoria to critically assess the Africa-EU partnership from a decolonial perspective.
As the ๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐จ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ, this dialogue brought together policymakers, academics, and civil society experts from both continents. The conversation was framed by keynote addresses from H.E. Grace Naledi Pandor, former Foreign Minister of South Africa, and H.E. Karin Poulsen, Ambassador of Denmark to South Africa. They set the stage for a critical examination of how, despite initiatives like the โJoint Vision for 2030,โ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ and reinforce Eurocentric structures.
Under the Chatham House Rule, we held frank discussions on:
- ย The persistent colonial legacies and power asymmetries.
- Reimagining research, mobility programmes and higher education cooperation to move beyond donor-recipient dynamics and build truly horizontal partnerships.
- Acknowledging the past and defining concrete, actionable steps toward future partnerships.
