Have your say on the priorities of the proposed new EU-Africa Partnership Strategy

An opportunity for IOE members in Africa to input the EU’s five main areas for engagement in the proposed new vision for the Africa-EU partnership after Cotonou.

On 23 March 2021, the European External Action Service (EEAS), and the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission (DG INTPA), hosted a virtual meeting on the future EU regional programme for Africa, in collaboration with the Policy Forum on Development.

The objective of this meeting was to discuss the priorities and objectives of the EU-Africa strategy for 2021-2027. This new strategy aims to follow on from the Cotonou agreement, which ended in December 2020, as well as to harness the new opportunities of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

This strategy will define future programming and financing over a seven-year period.

The new strategy proposes five main areas of engagement with Africa:

• A partnership for green transition and energy access;
• A partnership for digital transformation and economic integration;
• A partnership for sustainable growth and jobs;
• A partnership for peace and governance; and
• A partnership on migration and mobility.

We strongly encourage our members in Africa to have their say on the priorities and mode of engagement.  As the representative voice of business at national and regional level, you have a unique opportunity here to bring on-the-ground experience, expertise, and local knowledge to this process and to share your own specific priorities for these five areas of engagement.

Please send us your comments by 30 March 2021.  These comments will be shared with the EU Commission and will be taken into account as the contribution of the private sector in the implementation of the strategy.