european think tanks group
This report addresses the state of Africa-Europe relations, almost one year after the 6th AU-EU Summit, providing a number of policy recommendations to African and European decision makers in four key areas of cooperation : climate change and fair energy transition; food security; peace, security and participatory governance; and development finance.
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.
Three concurrent crises — climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine — have combined to worsen food insecurity and malnutrition around the globe. Extreme climate events are becoming more frequent and severe, magnifying the already higher food prices caused by agricultural supply chain disruptions precipitated first by the pandemic and now by geopolitical turbulence. The Rome Based Agencies are called to provide concrete and effective responses to these multi-crises. This report is the result of an Open Consultation Forum organised with IFAD running candidates in June 2022.
British International Investment (BII) is the United Kingdom’s development finance institution (DFI). It is entirely owned by the UK government
The Dutch government has a longstanding and comprehensive cooperation with the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) via the Ministry of
The 6th EU-AU summit, held in Brussels on 17-18 February 2022, marked an important milestone
in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). After almost a
year and a half of delay, the summit provided leaders of both European and African countries
an opportunity to negotiate on a series of key topics that will shape the future of their relations.
Additionally, the summit provided a further opening for the regional bodies and their member
states to move away from an asymmetrical top-down relationship to a more vertical partnership
in which both sides negotiate deals based on sound analysis, trust and mutual respect.
Innovation for the energy transition is given a prominent role in the green recovery action plan for Africa and the European Union’s Green Deal, with both continents seeking the transformation of their economies to tackle both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic impacts while improving wellbeing of the population. There are many points of overlap between the two continents’ official agendas. But there are also many open questions and potential tensions especially around: access to energy for sustainable and inclusive industrial development; maintaining competitive value chain; addressing trade barriers; promoting knowledge transfer while protecting intellectual property rights; using gas, and promoting hydrogen. If well-managed, innovation for the energy transition can act as catalyst for a shared prosperity for the two continents. This blogpost was written by the members of the Ukama Platform’s steering committee ahead of the European Union-Africa Union Summit.
European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) joined forces to analyse divergences and seek consensus between the AU and the EU on key issues in the partnership. Drawing on roundtable discussions with experts from Africa and Europe, the group produced a series of policy briefs with proposals to strengthen the partnership between Africa and the EU on green transformation and climate change; economic development and trade; and participatory governance, peace and security. The briefs draw on contributions from more than 70 leading African and European independent experts, knowledge centres and think tanks that contributed reflections and suggested concrete policy recommendations.
This report is the outcome of a partnership initiative launched in 2021 by the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG) and
Summits are an inevitable part of the international relations game. But each and every time they end up in disappointments because expectations were too high or longstanding frustrations and irritants on both sides were not openly addressed. To break with this pattern, the partnership should move from an asymmetrical top-down relationship to a more horizontal partnership where both parties negotiate deals on the basis of trust and mutual respect.
