Four years after the last summit between the African Union and the European Union, leaders from both sides are to meet in Brussels from February 17 to 18. With relations strained, they'll have a lot to talk about.
EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and AU chair, Macky Sall, clearing details before the summit
The European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is leaving nothing to chance. A few days before the meeting between officials from the European Commission and the African Union, she flew to Dakar to personally clarify details with the Senegalese President and current AU chairperson, Macky Sall.
"Our two unions share the same vision of a common area of stability and prosperity. This summit must ascertain concrete ways and means to achieve it," von der Leyen said after meeting Sall. Signaling Brussels' goodwill, she added that the EU would mobilize €150 billion ($170 billion) over the next few years to help develop African infrastructure.
The EU needs the meeting to be successful because relations with the African Union have been frayed for a long time. The summit planned for 2020 fell through — officially because of the pandemic. Observers saw other reasons for the cancellation. "It was also a political signal," Nils Keijzer of the German Development Institute told DW.
The European Union is aware of the need to match China's help for infratructure building in Africa
'Colonial model' and 'vaccine apartheid'
The signal came from Africa specifically because the list of grievances from Europe's neighbors has grown long in recent years.
Economist Carlos Lopes from the University of Cape Town explained the consequences.
"We are still living a colonial model, where Africans 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 to the industrialization of the continent," he told DW. China, Russia and Turkey have accordingly expanded their influence in Africa.
"Of course we have differences," the website Politico quoted AU Commission chief Moussa Faki as saying after a meeting with von der Leyen in 2020. They ranged from international criminal justice to the issue of sexual orientation, the death penalty or AU's role in African crises, Faki said at the time. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation. Many African leaders bitterly resent the lack of vaccines for even getting started on sufficiently inoculating their population, while Europe is already boosting its people. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called it "vaccine apartheid."
The EU is countering these negative views through a charm offensive and a lot of paperwork. "African countries and the AU would prefer the current agendas to be implemented and completed. The EU has put more focus on developing new ideas and strategies. That has sometimes caused some tension in the relationship," said analyst Keijzer
Africa wants an agreement with the EU on the production of anti-COVID vaccines
AU wants more of a say
Africa is not very excited about Brussels' many new plans. "The European Union has the right to develop and publish its own strategies. What we regret is that there is little consultation before the announcements, and that the implementation of these announcements often falls far short of expectations," said Lopes.
These issues are unlikely to play an official role at the summit. "Since the 2007 debates, the EU has tried to keep controversial issues like the Economic Partnership Agreements away from the summits. They want to focus on new strategies and initiatives", said Keijzer.
Nevertheless, the summit could help solve at least some of the problems, like the issue of vaccines. "Africa's interests include the agreement on vaccine production, better access to vaccines and a common structure for the partnership [between the EU and the AU]. And so far I think it looks promising; we are going to have those outcomes," Lopes believes.
For their part, the EU is keen to adopt a common vision with Africa for 2030. But whether the African side wants to embrace that is questionable.
This story was originally written in German.
HOW AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN ARTISTS CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF AFRICA
Jacques Majorelle: "Le marché aux dattes"
The French artist preferred to paint on black paper and experiment with glue-based distemper mixed with gold and silver powder. That enabled him to create contrasting metallic gloss effects, as seen in "The Date Market" above. The painting was created between 1940 and 1945 and depicts two date dealers talking to each other at a market in Marrakech.
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