The AU and EU held the first of a series of annual joint ministerial meetings in Brussels this week (January 21-22). The meeting brought together Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union and the African Union. It was co-chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Federica Mogherini, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda and Chair of the African Union Executive Council, Richard Sezibera. EU and AU Commissioners also attended. The Ethiopian delegation was led by State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Hirut Zemene.
This was the first EU-AU ministerial inter-summit meeting, and it focused on implementation of the outcome of the 5th AU–EU Summit held at Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in November 2017 under the theme of “Investing in Youth” as well as on the Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs. The meeting covered three broad themes: political covering peace, security and governance; economic, including trade, investment, and economic integration; and multilateralism, the strengthening of cooperation in support of a rules-based global order.
The Ministers reiterated the importance of the meeting to strengthen the partnership between the two continents and to promote common interests and address common challenges in a spirit of shared ownership, responsibility and mutual accountability and transparency. They welcomed sub-regional cooperation and integration initiatives. On economic cooperation, they agreed to enhance and mobilize investments in agriculture, infrastructure, industry, energy, air transport and digitalization. Ministers were updated on the European Union External Investment Plan to deploy €4.1 billion to leverage €37 billion in private investments in both continents.
They agreed to work together in combating terrorism, piracy, radicalization, violent extremism, the illegal arms trade and organized crime. In order to support African efforts to promote lasting peace, security and stability, participants reaffirmed their continued support to crisis-affected parts of the continent including Somalia, South Sudan, Libya, the Great Lakes Region and the Sahel. They also welcomed the positive steps towards regional peace and stability, particularly the Ethio-Eritrean rapprochement and its wider impact for peace and security in the Horn of Africa, and agreed to support the process.
State Minister Hirut stressed the reforms in Ethiopia had ushered in a new era of peace, hope and prosperity in the immediate neighbourhood and the peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea had unlocked the door for peace throughout the whole of the Horn of Africa. She underlined that peace, security and governance were critical for Africa’s development. It was essential to further enhance the current cooperation programs in peace, security and governance (including the African peace and security architecture and the AU peace fund). It was also vital to focus on post conflict, reconstruction and peace building including security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, stabilization, transitional justice and mediation.
Mrs. Hirut emphasized that Ethiopia’s efforts to fight poverty and create a nexus between trade and investment needed partnership between the State and the private sector. Similarly, Africa’s quest to transform its economy through investment and trade needed partnership at global, continental and local levels. Accelerating industrial development in Africa required guarantees and mobilization of loans in the form of investment de-risking, with specific attention for entrepreneurship and innovation of young people and women; including those living in rural and remote areas. It was, therefore important to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) and to encourage a structured dialogue with European and African private sectors and relevant stakeholders for job creation. Equally, the efforts to create a stable and resilient system supported by strong institutions, and the problems of dealing with trans-border issues such as terrorism, climate change and migration, were issues which required engagement with partners at high level.
