BRUSSELS, Belgium
The whole idea for the EU-African Union Summit,
which is expected to take place in Brussels next Thursday (17 February),
started some two years ago after the EU set out its plan for a ‘strategic
partnership’ with Africa.French President Emmanuel Macron (L) welcomes Senegal's President Macky Sall ahead of The Paris Peace Forum at The Elysee Palace in Paris
The EU plans to unveil six initiatives at the
Summit, including three investment packages, as part of what it calls a
‘Prosperous and Sustainable Partnership’.
“At the summit, investments will be at the heart of
the discussions because they are the means of our shared ambition,” European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Senegal’s capital Dakar on
Thursday, after announcing that the Global Gateway would comprise an investment
plan worth more than €150 billion for Africa.
Though the summit promises to establish an EU
investment platform in each Africa, it will not be backed by any new financing
commitment by Brussels.
Most importantly is to find out how much of the
$450 billion Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund
last year, a large chunk of which was allocated to EU member states, will be
reallocated to Africa to help cover the costs of the COVID pandemic.
Redirecting Special Drawing Rights to Africa has
been one of French President Emmanuel Macron’s projects, and insiders say the
French EU Council presidency has made a concerted push on SDRs.
France, Italy, and Spain have so far pledged 20% of
their new SDRs, while Belgium and the Netherlands also recycled smaller
amounts.
One civil society leader described the EU’s slow
progress on the SDR allocation as “extremely disappointing” and a “missed
opportunity for the EU to up its offer” to Africa.
Macron is said to have set a target of between $40
billion and $45 billion for the SDR allocation. However, this would still fall
well short of the demand made by Senegal’s President Macky Sall, that at least
$100 billion of SDRs should be redirected to Africa as part of a ‘New Deal’.
Progress on vaccine production and access is also
up for discussion and already, the Eu and Africa are at odds over vaccine
patents. However, Macron has promised to establish a ‘global licensing’ system,
not much has been said about it.
The EU is unlikely to agree to the AU’s main demand, and on which there is unanimous African support, for a World Trade Organisation waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID vaccines.
“We haven’t seen the commitments that we need from
the pharmaceutical giants or the EU on the IP waiver,” said one civil society
leader.
However, there could be developments in European
investment in vaccine production sites in Africa. There are signs of a
progressing pharmaceutical production industry in Africa. South Africa recently
produced its first batch of Moderna vaccines.
Mali, Guinea, Sudan, and Burkina Faso have all been
suspended from the AU over the past year after their governments were
overthrown by the military.
The AU and all international bodies have “condemned
the wave of unconstitutional changes of government. To an extent, the ECOWAS
has even been described by some security analysts as ineffective.
The EU’s high representative on foreign affairs,
Josep Borrell has warned that Amisom’s structure and mandate must be reformed
if the EU is to continue funding it.
The EU-African Union summit is expected to be a platform
for both parties to agree on the structure for Africa-Europe Security and
Stability, a joint commitment to strengthen African capacities and support
African peace operations. However, this is primarily about restating existing
defence and security efforts.
Trust has been badly damaged during the COVID
pandemic, with widely held African complaints about the EU’s vaccine hoarding
compounded by the travel bans imposed on southern African states following the
discovery of Omicron in November.
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