Lagos to Mombasa: Was the AU-EU Summit a Success?

 
After two years of COVID-related delays, the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) finally sat down to a summit in February 2022.

Expectations were high, and the goal was nothing less than the fundamental reset of the EU’s relationship with Africa to become a “true partnership of equals.” How close did we get to that lofty goal? 

In this episode, Malado Kaba, managing director of Falémé Conseil and a CGD non-resident fellow, and Inge Kaul, senior fellow at the Hertie School and a CGD non-resident fellow, join Gyude to discuss how the commitments made at the summit compared to those announced at last year’s China-Africa FOCAC forum, whether the summit managed to move beyond the simplistic portrayal of Africa as a continent to be aided by the EU, and whether issues beyond aid, such as research, innovation, and trade, got the attention they deserved.

Resources: 

• EU-Africa Summit Series, CGD 
• Pressing the Reset Button on the Africa-Europe Relationship, CGD
• What a True Partnership of Equals Would Mean for the European Union and African Union, CGD