Driving change together: the EU's partnership with Africa towards sustainable prosperity

In 2025, the EU-AU Partnership reaches a significant milestone, celebrating 25 years since its inception at the Cairo Summit in 2000. In this pivotal year, the successful 3rd EU-AU Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on 21 May paved the way for the upcoming 7th AU-EU Summit in Africa by the end of 2025. As we commemorate this anniversary, our partnership remains more committed than ever to fostering growth that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient. Africa, with its vibrant youth population and abundant natural resources crucial for the green and digital transitions, presents a unique opportunity for transformative collaboration. The EU is dedicated to continuing to partner with Africa to foster strategic investments and innovative financial solutions to harness this potential and achieve substantial economic and social progress across both continents. 

Central to these efforts is the Global Gateway Africa–Europe Investment Package. This ambitious initiative facilitates impactful development in alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063. It focuses on 11 key policy areas: sustainable energy, environment, biodiversity, water and oceans; agri-food systems; climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction; the digital transformation; transport; private sector development and economic integration; sustainable finance; science, technology and innovation; health systems; education and skills development. By pooling resources and expertise, the EU in its Team Europe format with its member states and the European private sector, aims to create an interconnected landscape of growth and shared prosperity in partnership with African partners and responding to their priorities. 

The EU is Africa's foremost trade partner, with 2024 trade flows reaching €355 billion and the EU accounting for about one third of Africa's total trade. Reinforcing the EU’s position as Africa's leading investment partner, the EU's stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa stood at €239 billion in 2023. However, Africa still only attracts about 3% of global FDI and the EU is determined to do more, and better. To that end, the EU has developed innovative financing mechanisms to narrow the investment gap and de-risk investment mobilisation in Africa, such as the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+). In addition, jointly creating an enabling investment and business environment across Africa and reducing overrated risk perceptions are essential, and there again we are working together to make it happen. For example, the EU co-finances the Africa Virtual Investment Platform jointly created by the OECD and the AU, which aims in particular at providing comprehensive and reliable investment-related data to facilitate investment in Africa. The EU-Africa Business Forum regional platform, a €15 million five-year programme started in 2024, also provides tangible opportunities for structured engagement between the private sectors on both continents. 

To turn Africa’s aspirations into realities, further determining action is required: African countries need to be able to access concessional finance on fair terms and need to leverage their own fiscal resources. 

With illicit financial flows (IFF) draining approximately $89 billion from Africa annually, nearly matching the combined annual inflows from ODA and FDI, combatting IFF is another joint priority. Through the Team Europe Initiative launched in 2024, the EU has mobilised €450 million distributed among more than 70 programmes to tackle issues in a holistic manner ranging from money laundering, countering terrorism financing, tax- and trade-based IFFs, to anti-corruption. Once again, this is done in full partnership with African partners at all levels. 

In addition, ensuring efficient public finance management and increasing domestic resource mobilisation is pivotal, as this important report also emphasises. This is something the EU is also actively delivering on with the 'Collect More, Spend Better' agenda to help African states optimise both revenue and spending. 

The international financial system needs to be better geared to channel resources towards sustainable development. The EU is actively engaged in the international financial architecture reform, notably in the context of the G20, and in ensuring delivery towards emerging markets and developing economies’ needs. Now is the time to jointly put a strong focus on the implementation of the G20 Roadmap for better, bigger and more effective multilateral development banks and optimise the use of concessional finance, work better as a system and engage more systematically with the private sector. To enhance African countries' access to concessional finance, 16 EU Member States have so far together pledged around $37 billion of voluntary channelling Special Drawing Rights to the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust and the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), and 17 EU Member States have also provided grants to the IMF’s PRGT subsidy account, for a total amount of close to €600 million. The EU complemented these efforts by granting €100 million to the subsidy account of the PRGT in 2022. 

The EU also stands as a dedicated advocate for strengthening Africa's representation and integration within the international financial architecture. This includes supporting increased representation at the IMF Executive Board and enhancing cooperation among multilateral and public development banks for better integration of African-led financial institutions. 

Africa is a continent of imminent promise, but one that navigates the challenges of limited fiscal space, high debt levels, and the necessity for sustainable development funding. The EU recognises these challenges and is making considerable strides towards addressing them together with our African partners. By investing in Africa, we are investing in a shared future built on cooperation, mutual benefit, and sustainable growth.