The institution of the Africa-Europe Foundation exposed the appetite for deeper partnership between the peoples of Africa and Europe; a partnership that includes civil society, cities, the private sector and, in priority, young people.
Our Charter underpins our commitment in reshaping the Africa-Europe relations. Developed through constant dialogue with our partners and a global online consultation, it defines our priority actions:
The inclusion of young people in economic policy, governance, decision-making and meaningful and decent work is a priority on both continents. We recommend shifting the paradigm that has defined regional cooperation to date by agreeing on an overarching impact indicator focused on youth participation, mobility, and employability.
COP26 showed the inherent tension of managing the urgent imperatives of decarbonisation and human development. Unless we tackle climate change, sustainable energy and agri-food systems together, the partnership will fail. We recommend the summit establish a Climate Alliance to help resolve debates around natural gas as a transition energy source and the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy whilst simultaneously supporting initiatives that have a real, immediate impact.
Tackling the pandemic is a critical trust test for the Africa-Europe partnership. While responding to the urgent need for vaccine equity and an economic response package for vulnerable countries, the partnership should also model innovations in pandemic preparedness and address weaknesses in health systems, most specifically in Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacities.
To reframe public perceptions and mind-sets Domestic political support is a necessary prerequisite to ambitious action and a critical element in bringing our peoples together. We recommend a new Africa Europe Narrative Partnership to increase media and public literacy of the issues and, in particular to increase the reporting of Africa by Africans. A partnership bringing together news media, NGOs, CSOs, corporations, and artists could play a role in shifting European perceptions of Africa, and African Perceptions of Europe.
The EU-Africa Summit in February 2022 needs to break the mould of previous summits - grand declarations followed by a lack of real action. By introducing a monitoring mechanism for the Partnership there is a way to develop a compliance function for such Summits that would catalyse impact and facilitate practical areas of implementation.
Becoming the platform of platforms for the future of the Africa-Europe Partnership. The Africa-Europe Foundation’s ambition is to become a network of networks to catalyse partnership between the two continents.
Our purpose is to bring together new voices, fresh thinking, and to reinvigorate the partnership though our growing network of like-minded stakeholder and partners.
Providing a platform for discussing complex, sometimes contentious, issues of Africa-Europe relations.
Convening power and capacity to bringing joint Africa-Europe initiatives to the global, multilateral agenda.
The political conversations on Africa-Europe relations, anchored by the 2022 AU-EU Summit, provide AEF a window of opportunity to articulate its strategic thinking on the future partnership between the neighbouring continents.
The Africa-Europe Foundation Strategy Groups are mandated to build a commonality of purpose and focus on priority sectors that are central to Africa-Europe cooperation and critical in both the COVID context and in the face of the ongoing climate emergency.
AEF seeks to work with like-minded partners from both continents to renew the Africa-Europe relationship.
