From Cairo to Luanda: Europe and Africa celebrate 25 years of strategic partnership, agree on new commitments and investments

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Leaders from the European Union and the African Union are gathering in Luanda, Angola, to take forward the powerful commitment made in Cairo 25 years ago – to work together for peace and prosperity, sustainable development and new opportunities. President von der Leyen andPresident Costa, together with High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas, are participating in this 7^th edition of the AU-EU Summit.

Together with last week’s Europe-South Africa Leaders Meeting and the first ever G20 Summit held on African soil, this highlights the central role of Africa on the world’s stage. And as the world changes, our partnership must evolve and grow even closer.

President von der Leyen said: “25 years ago at our first Summit in Cairo, Europe and Africa decided to build a common future together. In Luanda today, we celebrate the spirit of Cairo. We are taking the unique partnership between Europe and Africa to the next level. With new projects under Global Gateway, Europe’s investment plan for a better-connected world, we open a new era in trade and cooperation between our two markets. And we will step up our cooperation on clean energy and critical raw materials projects that strengthen value chains and create value jobs. This is how Europe builds genuine and enduring partnerships.”

Through Global Gateway, the EU has already mobilised €120 billion for projects all across Africa. Large-scale investments and expertise have been put forward, notably through 138 Global Gateway flagship projects with Africa in strategic sectors such as green energy, transport corridors, digitalisation, health systems, education and skills development. The EU is well on track to surpass the initial target of €150 billion by 2027.

Looking ahead, Leaders committed to take the EU-AU cooperation one step forward through:

Boosting economic integration: The European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA), accompanied by a new €25.5 million funding. The aim is to connect the two vast Single Markets together – Europe’s and Africa’s. Europe already supports Africa’s economic integration from within, with 1.2 billion euro across multiple programmes. This MoU will mean a stronger trade and investment dialogue between us.

Investing in infrastructure and critical raw materials: An additional €600 million package will support infrastructure investments and feasibility studies for strategic corridors, with a focus on critical raw materials projects.

Embracing the digital revolution: Team Europe will bring €43 million to the Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge 2.0 to boost digital entrepreneurship in 14 African countries. The EU will also contribute another €122 million to the Finnfund Global Connect programme, of which €32 million to expand subsea cables, fibre networks, data centres and mobile payment systems in Africa.

Accelerating climate finance and the clean energy transition: The EU is the largest global public climate finance provider and as part of this commitment, the EU is supporting a Team Europe Initiative on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in Africa, increasing its Team Europe contribution to €3.4 billion. In addition,President von der Leyen and President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa hosted the final pledging event of the ‘Scaling Up Renewables for Africa’ campaign, which mobilised €15.5 billion for clean energy and access to electricity across the African continent. The European Union led the pledging effort, with more than €15.1 billion.

Supporting young businesses: new EU investments worth €94 million in young businesses and entrepreneurs in Ghana, The Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Uganda, Madagascar, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone.

Advancing peace, security and governance: Leaders committed to strengthening AU-led mediation efforts in conflict-affected zones like the Great Lakes and advancing African-led peace operations, such as those in Somalia or against Boko Haram. Both sides will also further deepen cooperation on counterterrorism and the fight against organised crime, as well as enhance collaboration on cyber, maritime and space security.

The Summit offered an opportunity for Leaders to take stock of progress made since the last Summit in 2022. As highlighted in the joint monitoring report to be published today, the EU and the AU have delivered on a number of joint priorities in different policy areas.

Background

Together, the AU and the EU represent and carry the voices of more than 1.9 billion people. In a time of geopolitical uncertainty, the 7^th AU-EU Summit in Luanda, themed ‘Promoting Peace and Prosperity through Effective Multilateralism’, highlighted the strong and solid relationship between Europe and Africa and the shared priorities of both continents. The high-level participation at the Summit underlined that the EU and the AU are advancing on their partnership of equal and mutual interest.

This support is taking shape via Global Gateway through concrete, high-impact projects across the continent. Key initiatives include the Lobito Corridor, linking the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Angola and backed by around €2 billion from the EU, or the Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies initiative (MAV+), which has mobilised around €2 billion of EU investments in a Team Europe approach  to scale up local vaccine production and ensure equitable access to safe and affordable health products in Africa.

In the energy sector, the Africa-Europe Green Energy Initiative is working to provide at least 50 GW of new renewable energy generation capacity and to give access to electricity to 100 million people by 2030.

On mobility and skills, more than 30 000 African and 18 000 European students have exchanged knowledge and experience through EU-funded programmes such as Erasmus+ and Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, since 2022.

In preparation for the Summit, engagements with key stakeholders took place through the AU-EU Business Forum and the Civil Society Youth Forum to gather insights from the private sector and civil society and young people.