Andrew Hammond: Why Europe’s eyes are on Africa

The EU's new Global Gateway project is a close counterpart to China's mammoth Belt and Road initiative

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announcing the Global Gateway strategy to boost technology and public services in developing countries. The major EU African Union summit takes place in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Picture: Eyepress/Reuters

The European Union is not widely known for unveiling bold new initiatives, yet this week may be an exception when it launches its new Global Gateway project, widely seen as a counterpart to China’s mammoth Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

This week’s big announcement, the highlight of the Europe-Africa summit which starts on Thursday, will see the Brussels-based club kickstart the first Global Gateway regional plan mobilising up to €300bn for public and private infrastructure around the world by 2027. Half of this money is intended for Africa with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen intending to proclaim the EU-27 to be the continent’s “most reliable” global partner.

Africa 'a foreign policy super-priority for Brussels' 

The spending is focused on renewable energy, reducing the risk of natural disasters, digital connectivity, transport, coronavirus and wider medical vaccine production, and education.

This underlines how much the 1.2bn population African continent has become a foreign policy super-priority for Brussels and the EU-27. In recent years, there has been a clear European move to the continent increasingly based on investment rather than aid.

Brussels wants to encourage Africa as a champion of the EU’s rules-based, multilateral approach to world order, seeing the EU as a counterweight in the continent to other prominent world powers like China with the power politics they are perceived to offer.

Individual EU members engage with Africa 

While this important European pivot is being spearheaded by Brussels, individual EU nations are also doubling down on their engagement with the continent. 

French president Emmanuel Macron and Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with the symbolic Relay4Nature baton, at the One Ocean summit in Brittany. France has made plain its global ambitions including a plan to strengthen its links to African states. Picture: Ludovic Marin/AP

Take the example of France whose president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted last year the first France-Africa summit of recent times.

French influence over its former colonies continues today via political, security, economic, and cultural connections in Francophone Africa. Building from this legacy, Macron has announced significant plans to renew the historical relationship in the face of growing interest in the continent from other countries.

Outside the EU, the UK is another key European power with renewed focus on Africa too. For London, the continent has assumed new importance with Brexit as UK officials seek to consolidate ties with key non-EU nations following the 2020 departure from the EU.

Yet, it is not just the EU paying close attention to the continent given its long-term growth potential, post-pandemic. Several great powers such as the United States and China, plus also other states such as Turkey and some Gulf nations are also showering Africa with greater attention too, giving countries there more diplomatic options than in the past.

US is playing catch-up behind China

It is China which has invested most time and money in Africa in recent decades, a point that is illustrated by the fact that its top leadership (the president, premier, and foreign minister) have reportedly made around 80 visits to over 40 countries there in the past decade alone. 

Beijing is aiming to better connect its Belt and Road initiative increasingly with the continent’s development. As a result, trade and investment between the two powers has risen massively with around 40 African countries having signed on to Belt and Road, and Beijing a frequent host of China-Africa summits.

Under Joe Biden, the US is also stepping up its interest in the continent, although the new administration in Washington knows it is playing a game of catch-up with China. The Biden team is seeking to turbocharge US policy via the US Prosper Africa initiative which seeks to substantially increase two-way trade and investment.

While the upsurge of foreign attention to Africa often reflects economic calculations, broader geopolitical considerations are also in play too. From the new European plan toward the continent to the great power game underway between the United States and China, international interest in the continent appears only likely to grow into the 2020s given its growing strategic importance.

• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE Ideas at the London School of Economics