Charles Michel, president of the European Council, calls it a “new alliance between Africa and Europe”. President Emmanuel Macron of France refers to a “New Deal with Africa”. Last week, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, promised €150bn of investments in the continent by 2027 as part of the EU’s Global Gateway, its counter-offer to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Yet as leaders from both continents descend on Brussels on Thursday for the start of a much-delayed two-day EU-Africa Summit, some African delegates are wondering what the new alliance is all about.
“I think there’s a bit more excitement from the European side than from the African side,” said Lidet Tadesse Shiferaw, associate director of the European Centre for Development Policy Management. “The EU is an important partner to the African continent, but it’s no longer the main or the most important partner,” she said. “The EU could be setting itself up for failure by announcing so many flagship projects to woo the African side.”