Africa quarterly special on emerging powers.pdf - SAFPI

P A R A D I G M S H I F TDelegates at a seminar on <strong>Africa</strong>-EU relations at the <strong>Africa</strong>n Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 2010.The third <strong>Africa</strong>-EU summit of November 2010 reiteratedthese goals and set out the second action plan which alsoincluded issues of migration, mobility and employment[<strong>Africa</strong>-EU Partnership, Action Plan, 2010], This ‘partnership’is further complemented by objectives laid out inthe Cotonou Agreement, the Trade Developmentand Cooperation Agreement (TDCA), the Europe-Mediterranean Partnership and the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy, which also include support forpolitical reform and economic modernisation. Thesepartnerships have led to someviable developmental projectsfocusing on ways to build andconsolidate <strong>Africa</strong>’s infrastructure,such as the building of a highwayfrom Dakar to Djibouti andanother from Djibouti to Gabon(Libreville), which would actuallyprovide an almost transcontinentalEast-West road connectivity[Commission of the <strong>Africa</strong>nUnion, 2004]. There is another project to connect all <strong>Africa</strong>ncapitals to their counterparts in neighbouring countriesthrough fibre-optic broadband cable by 2012 [EuropeanCommission, 2010].The EU is ready to provide large sums for such projects,with a number of EU financial institutions pitching in withmoney. The lion’s share comes from the EuropeanDevelopment Fund (EDF), which has 22 billion euros at itsdisposal between 2008 and 2013, of which 20 billion euroshave been earmarked for Sub-Saharan <strong>Africa</strong>. Other fundingagencies are: the European Neighbourhood and PartnershipCompared to theself-interested actors likeChina and the U.S., the EUapproach to engaging<strong>Africa</strong> represents a morebalanced understandingof <strong>Africa</strong>’s needsInstrument (ENPI) for North <strong>Africa</strong>; the Instrument forStability; the Instrument for Democracy; the EuropeanCommunity Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO);and the European Trust Fund for <strong>Africa</strong> (the co-financinginstrument of the EU-<strong>Africa</strong> partnership on Infrastructure).Apart from these, there are bilateral contributions from EUmember states, trust funds like the <strong>Africa</strong>n Peace Facility(APF) and the AU Peace Fund, development banks like the<strong>Africa</strong>n Development Bank and the European DevelopmentBank, which facilitate aid/loans/investments from the EU[Kotsopoulos J, 2007].In the sphere of security, the EUhas focused on building regionalmechanisms and has provided fundsto enable the AU and other regionalorganisations to conduct their ownpeace support operations. The<strong>Africa</strong>n Peace and SecurityArchitecture (APSA) has beenoperationalised, though a lot remainsto be done. This involves acontinental early warning system, a ‘Panel of the Wise’, an<strong>Africa</strong>n Standby Force, enhancing the capabilities of the AUand other regional mechanisms and empowerment of theEU-AU civil-social networks capable of sustaining andsupporting peace and security initiatives, among others. TheEU will also financially enable the AU and other regionalmechanisms to plan and conduct peace support operations[<strong>Africa</strong>-EU partnership.org, 2010].Compared to the self-interested actors like China and theU.S., the EU approach to engaging <strong>Africa</strong> represents a morebalanced understanding of <strong>Africa</strong>’s needs and seeks to34August 2011-January 2012