About: EU-Africa relations

Investing in human capital is key to making migration benefit the EU and Africa

Europe and Africa must invest in their human capital to ensure that migration can be beneficial for both continents, write Paul Kagame and Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Germany seeks key role in new EU-Africa policy

The German government hopes the EU-Africa Summit that ends Friday (18 February) will mark a new beginning in Africa policy, with development and energy policy, in particular, being at the forefront. EURACTIV Germany reports.

A hydrogen strategy for a balanced EU-Africa partnership

The EU must work with Africa to develop hydrogen as part of a broader economic and development cooperation agenda moving beyond resource production and extraction, writes Eleonora Moro.

Macron hosts European and African leaders in preparation of Sahel redeployment

The French president welcomed his European and African counterparts to revisit actions to combat terrorism in the Sahel, confirming that the redeployment of French troops in the region is on the horizon.

As EU seeks to rival China’s infrastructure offer, Africans are sceptical

When the EU launched its global gateway initiative earlier this month, it was pitched as a greener and more transparent alternative to China’s belt and road. 

New EU travel bans defy science, says South Africa’s Ramaphosa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched another furious broadside against the EU’s handling of the COVID-19, accusing them of ‘vaccine apartheid’ and arguing that the new travel bans on travellers from some African countries defied scientific logic.

Vaccine waiver battle rumbles into EU–African Union summit

EU and African officials are still at loggerheads over whether to waive intellectual property protection for COVID vaccines ahead of a meeting between EU and African Union foreign ministers meet in Rwanda next week.

Turkey’s Erdogan puts Europe’s colonial past at heart of pivot to Africa

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised Europe’s colonial past as he launched a new pitch for his country to rival Europe in the race to increase trade and investment ties with Africa.

EU commits to fund African vaccine hubs

The European Union will provide financial support for vaccine manufacture on the African continent with the specific aim of supplying Africa, as it seeks to fight back against accusations of 'vaccine nationalism'. 

Bye-bye regional implementation, hello variable geometry

The agreement between the EU and Kenya to the implement the Economic Partnership Agreement originally planned with the entire East African Community unties the Gordian knot between its supporters and opponents among African countries in the short term, but has long-term consequences beyond the divergence of tariffs towards the EU, writes Frederik Stender.

Africans do not yearn for Europe

The recent events in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta may have suggested otherwise, but (most of) Africa does not yearn to come to Europe, writes Oriol Puig.

Hungary to block EU’s Africa-Pacific trade and development deal

Hungary cannot approve a new European Union trade and development accord with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries because it would bring more migrants into the bloc, the country's foreign minister said on Thursday (20 May).

The EU carbon tax could create a new era of trade wars

Europe's carbon border levy to increase the cost of carbon-intensive goods entering the EU could push the Global South towards less restrictive trade deals, ultimately causing more harm to the environment, writes Muhammed Magassy.

Von der Leyen calls for African green deal

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday called for the creation of an African Green Deal which, like the European Green Deal, would be the "centrepiece" for Africa's recovery.

Successor to EU-Africa Cotonou treaty marks ‘turning point’, says EU

The EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Community on Thursday (15 April) finalised the successor to the Cotonou agreement, bringing a close to two and a half years of negotiations and repeated delays.

Spain presents new EU-Africa development strategy

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said his country has aspirations to help create a new EU development strategy in Africa, EURACTIV's partner EFE reports.  

Healthcare should be at heart of EU-Africa partnership, say MEPs

EU-Africa relations should prioritise healthcare as part of a new partnership of equals, EU lawmakers said as they set out their priorities for talks on a ‘strategic partnership’ between the two continents.

EU-Africa relations must step up on defence, says Portuguese presidency

Portugal's defence minister wants to strengthen political dialogue between the European Union and African decision-makers, which he believes is insufficient despite the fact that most European military missions are in Africa.

Don’t forget local authorities in EU-Africa relations

As the EU and African Union seek to make up for lost time in 2020 by accelerating talks on a new ‘strategic partnership’ covering political and economic cooperation one of the risks is that the talks take place in a vacuum at high political level with little regard for local communities.

EU-Africa partnership must reflect ‘realities of African agriculture’

Future agrifood partnerships between the EU and Africa take into account the realities of farming in Africa, especially in the context of a drive for a greener transition, agrifood stakeholders have warned.

‘Stars are aligned’ for EU-African relations

The EU’s plans to strike a ‘strategic partnership’ with Africa were one the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Portuguese government, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, is anxious to conclude the agenda by the summer.

EU and Africa must ‘co–operate as equals’, MEPs say

Europe should move away from a donor-recipient relationship with Africa and cooperate as equals instead, EU lawmakers have said in a new report adopted on Thursday (28 January).