Empowering Africa: strategy for a new EU-Africa partnership

Europe and Africa must move away from a donor-recipient relationship, said the Development Committee, outlining its vision for a relationship between the two continents.

On Thursday, MEPs adopted a wide-ranging strategy on a new EU-Africa partnership by 20 votes, with two votes against and three abstentions. The strategy emphasises the need to go beyond simply cooperating on issues such as the green transition, energy, digital transformation, sustainable jobs, good governance and migration.

As well as addressing these areas, listed by the Commission and the European External Action Service, human development must be central to future EU-Africa relations, said MEPs, who welcome this fresh approach to the relationship. The future partnership should prioritise education, including teacher training, reducing early school leaving, and concentrate on the inclusion of girls. It should also aim to improve health care and national health systems.

Empowering Africa

The EU-Africa relationship must “move beyond the donor-recipient relationship”. Instead, the EU and Africa should cooperate as equals, empowering African nations to attain the UN Sustainable Development Goals, curb climate change, and foster gender equality, among other targets. To achieve this, MEPs call for substantial funds to be earmarked in the upcoming external financial instrument NDICI.

This announcement mirrors several of the themes highlighted in the AfriAlliance Social Innovation Factsheets.