ETTG – Mercator Foundation
Timeline: 2 years (2024-2025)
The world is facing a multitude of crises, impacting the international order and cooperation between continents. Africa, particularly vulnerable, is experiencing rising poverty, social unrest, and political instability. This project aims to strengthen the Africa-Europe partnership by addressing these challenges through a shared lens.
The Challenge: Multi-Crisis Context in Africa
This ETTG-Mercator project focuses on strengthening the Africa-Europe partnership through the critical lens of digitalization and its impact on development. Recent crises, have exposed underlying tensions in the partnership. However, a focus on shared challenges and opportunities in the digital sphere offers a path for collaboration.
The Goal:
This ETTG-Mercator initiative proposes building a more balanced and interest-driven “partnership of equals” between Africa and Europe. The project will focus on the nexus between digitalization and development – key areas for joint action.
The Approach: Analysis, Dialogue, and Recommendations
The project will deliver several key outputs:
- As political instability persists in the Sahel, tailored and combined peace-security-economic initiatives from the EU and AU are required.
- Open communication with military governments is crucial, testing Europe’s global power in a multipolar context. Strategic patience is vital to avoid regional collapse.
- Rebooting EU-AU relations needs a clear African strategy for internal cohesion and equal partnerships with external powers.
- Lifting sanctions on Niger and addressing root causes like poverty and weak development are more effective than sanctions hindering civilians. Cooperation is key to tackling systemic issues.
