October 28, 2022, Brussels — The Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) has launched its annual in-depth assessment of the state of relations between our two neighbouring continents.
The Report’s launch comes eight months after February’s long-awaited summit between the African Union and European Union leaders, closely followed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine one week later. The report has been backed by the AEF’s High-Level Group of personalities (HLG) who met together yesterday in Brussels to assess the state of Africa-Europe relations and progress since the February’s Summit.
The Report evidences a deterioration in relations stemming from fault lines that have emerged since 2020; among them, the inequitable responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and the failure to deliver on climate finance, that have highlighted the clear economic and power imbalances between our two continents. However, it further argues that despite, or indeed because of, the shift in global geopolitics, a strong Africa-Europe partnership remains the most effective way to resolve the interconnected crises of inflation, energy access, food insecurity and climate change.
Monitoring the progress, keeping spaces open for regular dialogue and addressing global governance, as well as demographic and economic realities of the 21st Century are essential to advance the Africa-Europe relations. The Report further emphasized the importance of providing accessible updates on the status of the Global Gateway for credibility and rebuilding trust between the two continents. Without the creation and development of local agri-food chains, local food supply is out of Africa’s control and it is crucial to support local agri-food chains to achieve greater economic integration and develop trade corridors. Existing funding commitments also need to be met, and new commitments agreed upon to maintain climate action momentum. The priority should be the US$100bn that COP26 should have mobilised and agreed on the pathway to doubling Adaptation Finance by 2025. Looking into 2023, climate ambition must be stepped up if either of our continents are to see the progress we need.
Mo Ibrahim, co-founder of the AEF and Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, anchored the release of the AEF High-level Group Report.
Please read the full report here.