The Heads of State or Government of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) will meet on Saturday 28 March in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), to mark the organisation’s fiftieth anniversary. The summit is intended not only to mark a historic milestone, but also to reaffirm the ambitions of the ‘Global South’ on the international stage, including through its partnership with the European Union.
In an interview with Agence Europe on Wednesday 25 February, Secretary-General of the OACPS Moussa Saleh Batraki outlines his vision for the future of a multilateral organisation seeking a new lease on life. (Interview by Bernard Denuit)
Agence Europe – What do you expect from the summit?
What we are hoping for from this 11th summit is for states to clearly reaffirm their commitment to the organisation and for our leaders to specify how we can best serve their interests. If possible, we would like to see a more refined approach, as our remit is, by its very nature, quite broad.
We have an important partnership with the European Union, but we would also like our member states to show us more concretely how to defend their interests on the international stage.
This summit is therefore both a celebration and, above all, a moment to look to the future.
You mention that the OACPS needs a new vision. Looking back, what has been lacking in recent years to give the organisation real momentum?
The revised Georgetown Agreement dates from 2019. Between 2019 and 2026, a number of internal reflections have been carried out.
What has probably been lacking is the time needed for member states to take full ownership of the changes that have been agreed. They wanted these changes, they wanted to work more closely together, but they may not have realised the full significance of the decisions taken in 2019. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic: for two or three years, everything came to a virtual standstill. This was a real breakthrough.
For me, this summit is therefore an opportunity to ask for a firm recommitment and, from there, to obtain a clear vision of how the states want us to serve their interests.
You proposed an institutional reform pact to OACPS members in March 2025. What does it contain?
The term “pact” was not chosen at random. It symbolises the very essence of partnership. The flagship initiative of this capacity-building programme, which I launched last year, is based first and foremost on modernisation and accessibility. We want to be more open, more available, and show that things are happening within the ACP. It is an area that belongs to its member states – and, in fact, to all the stakeholders. There’s nothing to hide. We are not a closed embassy. We want to remain an open space.
The second axis concerns the quality of the partnership: a frank, ‘win-win’ partnership. And that’s what the EU is looking for too. We need to strengthen this alignment on common positions. Last year, we already adopted two joint declarations with the EU (see EUROPE 13738/6). We want to continue along this path. We represent 79 countries, plus the 27 EU Member States. It’s a considerable political force, and we hope to see concrete results in 2026.
The new framework agreement between the OACPS and the EU was signed in Samoa in November 2023 (see EUROPE 13293/19). To date, many signatories have still not ratified the text. Will this summit be an opportunity to reassure our European partners?
We are not waiting for the summit to send a message to the Europeans. In reality, the message is twofold: it is addressed both to the European Union and to our own member states.
We recently held the EU-Caribbean Parliamentary Assemblies in Antigua and Barbuda. This was an opportunity to note that no Caribbean country had yet ratified the agreement... We have to recognise that efforts are needed on both sides.
For the OACPS, what has perhaps been lacking is clearer communication about the Samoa Agreement: its structure, its concrete benefits for our member states. Moreover, not all parliaments are renewed at the same time. Many of them are newly elected representatives, who legitimately want to understand more about the content and implications of the agreement.
The secretariat will therefore have to be more proactive in the coming months, and we are taking this very seriously.
In May 2026, the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assemblies will be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. This will also be an important opportunity to continue raising awareness of the Samoa Agreement. We intend to use more appropriate and up-to-date tools to support members of parliament. Once they’re back in their respective countries, we’re sure that [ratification] can be accelerated.