On February 17, local time, EU leaders and more than 40 African leaders held the sixth EU-AU summit in Brussels, Belgium. At the summit, the EU came up with an "ambitious" plan to tell African leaders through a €150 billion investment plan that the EU is Africa's "most reliable partner."
In the eyes of the outside world, the EU's "generous" commitment also clearly has the intention of "countering" China's influence in Africa. Analysts pointed out that China's aggressive development of trade and investment in Africa in recent years seems to have made the EU sit still, "the EU is worried about losing its dominant position in Africa."
But whether the EU will be able to deliver on these investment plans remains uncertain. The European edition of the US Politico News Network noted that the EU intends to raise funds by incentivizing private and public investors, which is very uncertain, which also means that the EU has not yet solved the fundamental problem of "where does the money come from".
Some African media pointed out that although the EU hopes to strengthen ties with Africa through the summit, the contradictions between the two sides are not so easy to bridge due to differences on issues such as migration and vaccine distribution. The AU has a close working relationship with China and will not easily change its strategy for cooperation with China.
The EU has come up with a €150 billion investment plan
Comprehensive British Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported on February 17 that EU leaders and leaders of more than 40 African countries held a summit in Brussels, Belgium, on the same day. To counter China's influence in Africa, the European Union has come up with a series of pledges that it will provide support measures to promote health, education and stability in Africa, and plans to pass a 150 billion euro investment plan.
The summit was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic and deteriorating EU relations with Africa.
Screenshot of the Reuters report
French President Emmanuel Macron, the EU's rotating presidency, said at the summit that it was the first joint summit since 2017 and that he hoped the summit would highlight the EU's goal of "reaching a new economic and financial agreement with Africa".
In order to show African leaders that "the EU is the most reliable partner", the EU has announced that it will mobilize 150 billion euros of public and private funds over the next seven years to carry out a series of investment projects in Africa. Agence France-Presse said the EU focused on 12 projects such as internet construction, transport construction and renewable energy, trying to provide a "cheaper option" for Africa.
However, the details of these investment projects are still unclear, and the relevant projects need to be further discussed between the EU and The African side.
Investment in Africa is the first regional component of the EU's Global Gateway initiative, which contains a €300 billion global investment blueprint that the EU seeks to "counter" China's Belt and Road Initiative.
In addition, the EU has committed itself to providing a package of support measures to Africa. Bloomberg previously quoted sources as saying that the relevant financing plan is worth about 20 billion euros to promote the construction of Africa's transportation network, energy, digital, education and health projects. The draft plan seen by the agency shows that investment targets include strategic corridors, submarine cables, new energy interconnection and investment in renewable energy in countries such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
President Marquez Sall of Senegal, Chairman-in-Office of the African Union and President of Senegal, said the common goal of Africa and the EU for the summit is to achieve a new, modern and more action-oriented partnership.
The EU-AU summit was held in Brussels, Belgium on the 17th Video screenshot
Relations between the EU and Africa have become increasingly strained in recent years due to migration issues, snapping up COVID-19 vaccines in rich countries and controversial travel bans. Therefore, in the eyes of some foreign media, the EU hopes to take the opportunity of the summit to "restart" relations with Africa.
According to the Financial Times, China's trade with Africa has continued to grow over the past two decades, reaching $176 billion in 2020. By contrast, the EU's trade with Africa, while worth $225 billion, has grown virtually nothing over the past decade. China's progress in consolidating trade and investment has clearly raised anxieties in the EU.
Geert Laporte, head of the European think tank group, told the newspaper that in addition to China, Russia, Turkey and other countries are also increasingly influential in Africa, "I think Europe is very worried about losing its dominant position in Africa." ”
"Where does the money come from?"
Despite the EU's "ambitious" promises, a central question remains unanswered: how the EU is prepared to come up with this huge sum of money. A large portion of the 150 billion euros may not come from public investment, which creates a lot of uncertainty in the first place.
A recent report released by the Mercator Center for Chinese Studies in Germany argues that the EU wants to use a very "European" approach to fundraising and encourage private or public investors to provide funds. While EU participation can incentivize investors, finding the right and reliable investors is not easy.
Germany's "Business Daily" pointed out that the EU's initiatives do not focus on major infrastructure projects such as road connections or cable construction, but look more like a "hodgepodge" of different projects, and the interconnection of these aspects has been proven successful by China. Today, the divisions between EU countries have not yet been bridged, and the plan lacks substance.
While the EU has not yet figured out how to spend money and how to invest, Africans are skeptical of these commitments.
Carlos Lopes, an economist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told German television that Europeans used to put forward "initiatives" to Africa every two years, but rarely implemented measures, "so Macron's words sound extremely hollow, and people here have long been accustomed to this kind of rhetoric." ”
He said Africa wanted to build an equal partnership, but that goal was still a long way off. He believes that the EU's 150 billion euro plan is still unequal. "They just repackaged it, didn't negotiate with Africa, but told us directly."
The Financial Times also admitted that the investment priorities of the EU and Africa are actually different. African leaders, especially in the EU's keen green agenda, are far more cautious, fearing it will prevent African countries from acquiring the hydrocarbon projects they need to industrialize.
"There is a disconnect between the two sides in terms of concern for priorities." Aanu Adeoye, an analyst at the Chatham Institute, a British think tank, said: "Europeans are most interested in how to block the flow of migrants, while African countries prefer to discuss economic development." ”
"The AU has close relations with China, and sowing discord will not change the strategy"
For the summit, The African Business magazine reported on the 17th with the title of "Can the Summit Reshape Eu-African Relations" that some heads of state did not attend in person, which weakened the credibility of the summit, and even African countries initially planned to boycott the summit to protest Europe's hoarding of vaccines during the epidemic.
Since the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, the issue of vaccine distribution has been one of the main sources of contradiction between the EU and Africa. While the rich countries of the European Union are snapping up a large number of vaccines, the poorer and more severe Health Conditions in African countries can only get very few vaccines, which has brought greater difficulties to the anti-epidemic work of these countries.
The British "Independent" mentioned on the 16th that a coalition of more than 100 non-governmental organizations recently issued a report criticizing the EU for selling its hoarded vaccines to rich countries at high prices, while exports to the African continent accounted for only 8% of its total vaccine exports. Not only that, but there is also a serious waste of vaccines in the EU, with about 55 million doses of vaccines due at the end of February, which can only be destroyed.
By comparison, the EU supplied Africa with 30 million doses of vaccines from January 1 to February 8 this year, less than the number of vaccines that will be wasted.
In addition, the African Union has long supported india and South Africa's call for "temporarily abandoning vaccine intellectual property rights", hoping to allow more manufacturers to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines to help fight the epidemic. But the EU has consistently argued that the scheme is "not the right solution" and prefers a voluntary agreement between companies to allow for the transfer of vaccine technology and expertise.
Jabala, a well-known columnist in Egypt's "Pyramid Newspaper", believes that the AU's closer relationship with China will not change its "look east" strategy because it is provoked by the EU. He said that EU aid to Africa was attached to political conditions and demanded in return, as if it were giving mercy to Africa. China is really seeking the welfare of Africans and making more and more contributions to Africa's development.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.