In a policy paper published on Wednesday 12 November, ahead of the EU-Africa summit to be held in Luanda (Angola) at the end of the month, the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) is calling for a change of narrative between partners. The organisation advocates moving away from a rationale of simply securing supplies towards an approach in which Africans and Europeans work together to develop clean industrial and energy sectors, benefiting equally from the environmental transition. The ECDPM also calls for climate adaptation to be seen not as a cost, but as a lever for economic transformation.
According to the authors, this readjustment is essential in a context where the strategic visions of Africa and the European Union are tending towards divergence. Africa is increasingly calling for a “climate-positive growth” path, based on developing its resources and renewable potential, while the EU, faced with geopolitical and industrial tensions, is refocusing its priorities on competitiveness and energy security.
This dynamic, combined with insufficient implementation of past commitments, is fuelling a growing lack of trust between the partners, according to the ECDPM.
See the briefing note: https://aeur.eu/f/jfz (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)