Foreign Ministers and officials from the African Union and the EU committed themselves to strengthening the EU/AU strategic partnership, at the second joint African Union/European Union ministerial meeting held in physical presence on Tuesday 26 October in Kigali, Rwanda.
Much progress has been made since 2000, when this partnership was launched “in Cairo, at the first EU/Africa summit, to serve as a formal framework for cooperation between the EU and the African continent, but it needs to be made more relevant to the new challenges we face together, starting with climate change”, said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Chairman of the AU Executive Council, Christophe Lutundula Apala, who co-chaired the meeting. He is counting on “a partnership of peoples”.
This strategic partnership needs to be “rethought and reshaped to make the relationship more equitable”, said Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta.
Public health, post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, and global security dominated the discussions.
The ‘Kigali Declaration’ reflects the commitment of partners to address common challenges together. In preparation for the sixth EU/AU summit in Brussels in February, it sets out the priorities for taking the partnership to the next level.
The following are listed: – Covid-19 pandemic response and post-pandemic recovery; – building resilience; – investment in digital and ecological transitions; – peace, security, and global governance; – migration and mobility; and – education, science, technology, and skills development (see EUROPE 12815/13).
On behalf of the EU, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that “a lot of work remains to be done”. He stressed the importance of closing the immunisation gap between Europe and Africa, including through increased dose sharing, but also supporting the pharmaceutical sector in Africa, including South Africa, Senegal,and Rwanda, which has just signed a contract with the German company BioNech for the production of messenger RNA vaccines for Covid-19.
He also stressed the need to “build back better and greener" (using World Economic Forum terminology) for “sustainable growth” and to foster investment in the African continent through innovative financial instruments, set up by the EU to increase capital flows and reduce risks.
“In a few weeks, we will present our new strategy for ‘Global Gateway’ connectivity. We want to invest in quality infrastructure, connecting goods, people, and services. We want to create links, not dependencies. We want to create an African green hydrogen market that will link the two shores of the Mediterranean”, Mr Borrell stated.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian cited the “sustainable Euro-African revival”, vaccine donations to Africa, and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea among the priorities of the French Council Presidency for this partnership.
In Kigali, the High Representative had a “good meeting” with President Paul Kagame on 25 October and “welcomed Rwanda’s leadership role in Africa and the strong relationship between the EU and Rwanda”. He added, “We agreed to strengthen our security and defence cooperation”, referring to the situation in Mozambique, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
Mr Borrell also visited the 1994 Rwandan genocide memorial. “The unspeakable horrors of the genocide against the Tutsis will always remind us of the need for peaceful conflict resolution and reconciliation and the imperative to combat violence and hatred”, he said.
He was also able to visit the Interpeace project in Bugesera, supported by the EU in cooperation with Sweden, which deals with reconciliation and post-trauma care. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)