EU-AU Summit: Stakes, Challenges of Renewed Partnership

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EU-AU Summit: Stakes, Challenges of Renewed Partnership

24 févr. 2022 14:30

The sixth edition of the European Union-Africa summit which took place in Brussels, Belgium on February 17 and 18 has ended with the leaders of the two continent renewing the determination for a winwin partnership. The European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) heads of State and government concluded with the issuing of a “Joint Vision for 2030” that aims to consolidate a “renewed partnership” between the two continents. “We agree that the aim of the Joint Vision is to consolidate a renewed Partnership for solidarity, security, peace and sustainable and sustained economic development and prosperity for our citizens and for our future generations, bringing together our people, regions and organisations,” the document reads. But while the document promises an investment package of 150 billion Euro for Africa over the next seven years and support for both the delivery and production of Covid-19 vaccines on the continent, it falls short on specific African demands relating to gas and fossil fuels, the waiving of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines, the reallocation of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) and migration.

And while the €150bn sum is impressive, some commentators have questioned how much of it is new: “The figure is a projection based on a combination of grants, loans, and budget guarantees designed to spur more private investment and drawn largely from the EU’s existing 2021-2027 budget”, African Business quotes Vince Chadwick’s comment on Devex. Pundits are however thinking aloud if the commitments agreed in Brussels would change Africa’s narrative and to what extent they respond to Africa’s needs. Previous EU-Africa summits have resulted in many action plans and strategic declarations. It has been twenty-two years since the first summit in Cairo, but little in the bilateral ties has changed for the better. Carlos Lopes, Africa’s leading development economist, in a tweet stated “we are still living a colonial model where Africa are only exporters of commodities that are not transformed. There is a lot of frustration that pushes Africa to look for new partnerships that contribute t...