JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Assessing the Africa-EU Partnership – Key findings from Evaluations Accompanying the document Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council for a renewed impetus of the Africa-EU Partnership
Date: 2017-05-04
Institutions: European Commission, European External Action Service
Subjects: Africa, democratisation, education, environmental protection, farming sector, human rights, migration, peaceful co-existence, political cooperation, sustainable development

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY Brussels, 4.5.2017  SWD(2017) 150 final   JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  Assessing the Africa-EU Partnership – Key findings from Evaluations   Accompanying the document Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council for a renewed impetus of the Africa-EU Partnership  {JOIN(2017) 17 final} {SWD(2017) 151 final}  
 
 
Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 3 

1.  PURPOSE AND SCOPE ............................................................................................ 3 

2.  METHOD .................................................................................................................... 4 

3.  STATE OF PLAY ....................................................................................................... 4 

3.1.  Political dialogue, partnership and ownership ................................................... 4 
3.2.  Peace and security ............................................................................................. 5 
3.3.  Democracy, good governance and human rights .............................................. 8 
3.4.  Human development, migration and mobility management ............................. 9 
3.5.  Sustainable  and  inclusive  development  and  growth  and  continental 

integration ........................................................................................................ 13 
3.6.  Global and emerging issues ............................................................................. 17 

4.  CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 17 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This  review  accompanies  the  Communication  "A  renewed  impetus  for  the  Africa-EU 
Partnership"  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council.  It  reviews  the  outcomes  of 
evaluations  that  have  been  carried  out,  assessing  the  impact  and  progress  of  the  EU-
Africa Partnership’s objectives, values and principles. It also reviews the extent to which 
the Partnership has guided the implementation by the EU of the development cooperation 
activities  entrusted  to  it,  in  particular  for  the  priorities  listed  in  the  joint  Africa-EU 
strategy. 

The review shows that the engagement of the EU in Africa has significantly contributed 
to the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, promotion of peace and security, 
improved  and  more  equitable  access  to  basic  services  and  the  pursuit  of  the  UN 
Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDGs).  However,  the  picture  is  mixed  as  regards 
respect for ‘essential elements’ (human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law) 
by  African  partners.  In  addition,  no  sufficiently  convincing  and  common  answers  have 
been  provided  to  critical  or  global  challenges  such  as  migration  and  mobility,  jobs  for 
growing  ranks  of  young  people  or  climate  change,  which  remains  one  of  the  most 
pressing  threats  to  the  achievement  of  sustainable  development  in  the  EU  and  in  the 
world. 

There  is  evidence  that  the    engagement  of  the  EU  has  enabled  progress  on  African 
countries’ integration into the world economy. Trade flows to and from Africa countries 
have increased, more of them are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and 
they  are  playing  a  greater  role  in  international  trade  negotiations.  The  conclusion  and 
implementation  of  economic  partnership  agreements  have  been  important  milestones. 
However,  the  results  have  been  unsatisfactory  in  terms  of  increasing  economic 
diversification,  increasing  intra-African  trade,  increasing  added  value  and  reducing 
dependency  on  a  narrow  range  of  products,  and  in  the  redistribution  of  benefits  — 
leading to growing inequalities. 

The evidence points to the Partnership’s relevance and effectiveness in contributing to its 
objectives, in particular poverty reduction, specifically through support for food security, 
education and growth — the latter especially through support for trade and infrastructure. 

However, in these difficult moments, it is crucial for the two continents to firmly reaffirm 
their commitment for a strengthened Partnership and to decide to make a big jump in its 
implementation path. 

1.  PURPOSE AND SCOPE 

This  review  of  the  strategic  evaluations  carried  out  on  behalf  of  the  European 
Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG 
DEVCO)  forms  part  of  a  joint  process  with  the  European  External  Action  Service 
(EEAS) aimed at renewing the EU-Africa Partnership (set up in 2007 and complemented 

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by the joint Africa-EU strategy in 2014). The scope of the review covers a selection of 
thematic and geographical (country and regional) evaluations managed by DG DEVCO. 

The  specific  objective  of  this  assessment  is  to  summarise  the  evidence  related  to  the 
achievement of the objectives of the Africa-EU Partnership for development cooperation. 

2.  METHOD 

The  review  aims  to  inform  the  proposal  for  a  renewed  impetus  of  the  Africa-EU 
Partnership  by  recapitulating  and  condensing  existing  assessments.  It  draws  essentially 
on the findings of two strategic evaluations adopted in 2016, assessing the EU Consensus 
for  Development1  and  the  Cotonou  Agreement2,  which  integrate  the  outcomes  of   
existing thematic and geographic evaluations3. This review assesses how the  Africa-EU 
development cooperation has progressed. The next section first considers the Partnership 
from the political point of view and continues with a review of the priorities of the joint 
Africa-EU strategy (JAES). It is followed by a short conclusion. 

3.  STATE OF PLAY 

3.1. 

Political dialogue, partnership and ownership 

The EU has undertaken political dialogue at ministerial level with a number of regional 
organisations  —  underlining  the  added  value  of  the  EU  —  taking  into  account  their 
specific remits. When it signed the Cotonou Agreement, the EU laid the foundations for 
dialogue with the African continent, formalised at the first EU-Africa summit in Cairo in 
2000.  The  African  Union  emerged  in  2002,  projecting  increased  pan-African  ambition 
and endowed with a new institutional framework facilitating dialogue with the rest of the 
world. Political dialogue with the African Union was subsequently enhanced at various 
levels, and further confirmed and expanded through the adoption of the joint Africa-EU 
strategy  at  the  second  summit  in  Lisbon,  in  2007.  Further  summit-level  meetings,  with 
very good and high level attendance on both sides, took place in 2010 in Libya and 2014 
in  Brussels.  In  addition,  the  annual  meetings  of  the  AU  and  European  Commissions' 
Colleges (C2C meetings) as well as the EU Political and Security Committee / AU Peace 
and  Security  Council  meetings  bear  witness  to  the  dynamism  of  the  EU-Africa 
Partnership.  In  a  recent  internal  review4,  several  voices  underlined  the  need  for  even 
more political traction at two levels: 

 (i) at the highest level, based on the Africa and EU shared values, to discuss and agree 
on a future common and mutually beneficial long term vision for the Partnership and on 

1 SWD(2016) 387 final of  22 November 2016 

2 SWD(2016) 380 final of 22 November 2016 

3  Listed  in  annex  1  of  document:  Review  of  strategic  evaluations  managed  by  DEVCO  to  assess  the 
2016 

European 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/consensus_review_full_report.pdf. 

Development 

Consensus 

October 

Report 

Final 

on 

4 JAES review, March 2017. 

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the identification of key common policies to develop and key policy objectives to achieve 
together for the next ten years in a win-win partnership; 

 (ii) at a lower but still political level, to steer and monitor regularly the implementation 
of  the  action  programmes/roadmaps  adopted  by  the  Heads  of  States,  for  each  specific 
thematic priority, strengthening synergies between the various existing frameworks and 
instruments. 

The  concept  of  ownership  has  evolved  since  the  2005  Consensus  was  drafted  and  has 
shifted  from  a  focus  primarily  on  governments  to  one  on  democratic  ownership  by 
different  stakeholders,  in  particular  civil  society,  the  private  sector  and  legislative  and 
oversight bodies. Therefore, in the EU and Member States it is often linked to respect for 
human  rights,  the  fight  against  corruption,  accountability  and  good  governance.  For 
Africa,  ownership  is  now  widely  expressed  in  the  capacity of  the  continent  to  design  a 
common  long  term  strategy  –  the  Agenda  2063.  Europe  should  respond  with  a 
comprehensive plan to be partner of African vision for a change of the continent. 

The  commitment  to  partnership  is  less  uniformly  applied.  A  recent  review  confirmed 
this  particularly  at  the  level  of  Member  States  (AU  and  EU),  including  the  weak  link 
between the JAES and the national and regional cooperation strategies developed under 
EU cooperation instruments, but also bilateral (MS) cooperation strategies. 

The  EU  institutions  and  Member  States  have  been  active  in  formulating  policies  and 
adopting strategies to enhance civil society’s role in development cooperation in partner 
countries, including engagement in ‘structured dialogue’ with civil society organisations 
and  local  authorities  in  partner  countries  and  in  Europe.  Building  on  these  shared 
commitments,  the  EU  and  Member  States  have  played  an  important  role  resulting  in 
growing  global  relevance  of  gender  equality  and  civil  society  in  international 
negotiations  (e.g.  the  Busan  partnership  for  Effective  Development  Cooperation5,  the 
Financing for Development Agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals). 

However, the view of civil society organisations, but also of other consulted stakeholders 
(social and economic actors, including youth representatives) is that the fulfilment of the 
2007 ambition is far lagging behind in terms of their participation in the implementation 
of the JAES and in engaging in political dialogue under the Partnership. 

To  strengthen  both  partnership  and  civil  society  participation,  the  2014  EU-Africa 
Summit  held  in  Brussels  set  up  the  Joint  Annual  Forum.  Its  objective  is  to  assess 
implementation  of  the actions  set out  in  the  roadmap for the joint  strategy and to  ‘[…] 
gather  all  the  actors  of  the  EU-Africa  Partnership’.  However,  the  forum  is  not  yet 
operational. 

3.2. 

Peace and security 

Civil war has exacted a heavy toll in the ACP countries since 1996, with little prospect of 
improvement  in  the  medium-term.  Apart  from  the  devastating  direct  effects  in  the 

5 

http://effectivecooperation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/OUTCOME_DOCUMENT_-
_FINAL_EN.pdf. 

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countries  concerned,  these  conflicts  also  have  a  ‘domino  effect’  in  that  their 
repercussions (particularly the loss of business confidence) are felt throughout the region. 
Despite  this  bleak  outlook,  in  some  countries  with  a  minimum  of  social  stability, 
economic growth is still generating an increase in income per capita. Peace and security 
became a strategic area for Africa-EU relations from 2000 onwards, as peacebuilding and 
conflict  prevention  and  resolution  became  an  objective  of  the  Cotonou  Agreement.  In 
that context and more particularly following the first Africa-EU Summit in Cairo in April 
that year and as the common security and defence policy (CSDP) of the EU (allowing EU 
crisis management or stabilisation missions) was gaining ground, the foreign and security 
policy  of  the  EU  began  increasingly  to  focus  on  Africa.  Under  the  10th  and  11th 
European  Development  Funds  (EDFs),  an  increasing  number  of  national  indicative 
programmes have peace and security as a specific priority sector6. 

This  is  particularly  evident  in  Africa,  where  most  situations  of  conflict  and  fragility 
happen  and  where  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  have  the  most  evident  geostrategic 
interests. It is in this context that the African Peace Facility (APF)7 was set up in 2003, to 
provide the necessary means to support the African Union to engage in genuine African 
peace  support  operations.  The  provision  related  to  peace,  conflict  and  fragility  in  the 
Cotonou Agreement (Article 11)  and the fact that the EDF is  outside the budget  of the 
Union has made it possible to support African efforts in a comprehensive and integrated 
manner. In particular, it has allowed the provision of support to operations with military 
or defence implications that would have been much more complex and uncertain to cover 
under Article 41(2) of the Treaty on the EU. The African Union became a full partner in 
the  ACP-EU  relationship  in  2010,  when  its  leading  role  in  peacebuilding,  conflict 
prevention  and  resolution  and  in  tackling  new  or  expanding  security  threats  was 
recognised  in  the  revised  Article  11  of  the  Cotonou  Agreement.  This  was  also  a 
consequence  of  the  increasing  attention  to  peace  and  security  in  the  framework  of  the 
Africa-EU Partnership, as demonstrated by the successive action programmes/roadmaps 
since 2007. 

The  African  Peace  Facility  (APF),  financed  by  the  European  Development  Fund,  is 
probably the most relevant EU instrument to support cooperation with Africa in the area 
of Peace and Security. As such, it is widely recognised to have had a direct and positive 
impact  in  the  resolution  of  a  number  of  crises  in  the  continent8.  Since  2004,  a  total 

6   Examples  include  the  Central  African  Republic  (EDF  11,  EUR  43  million);  Somalia  (EDF  11,  100 
million),  Chad  (EUR  65  million),  Niger  (support  for  justice  and  the  rule  of  law,  EUR  15  million), 
Nigeria (support for the criminal justice sector, EUR 28 million), a defence reform programme in DRC 
(EUR  20  million),  Guinea  Conakry  (security  sector  reform  programme,  EUR  20  million),  Somalia 
(support for the governance and security sectors, EUR 54 million), Guinea Bissau (state-building), and 
Liberia (institutional and capacity-building, EUR 20 million). National indicative programmes under 
the EDF have further made ‘significant contributions to development, peace and stability’ in Ethiopia 
(Commission  evaluation,  2012),  and  a  positive  contribution  to  conflict  mitigation,  stabilisation, 
reconstruction  and  rehabilitation  in  ACP  countries  including  Angola,  the  Central  African  Republic, 
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste. 

7   Decision No 3/2003 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers of 11 December 2003 on the use of resources 
from  the  long-term  development  envelope  of  the  ninth  EDF  for  the  creation  of  a  Peace  Facility  for 
Africa. 

8   The 2013 external evaluation of the African Peace Facility recognised the added value and relevance 
of  APF-supported  actions,  which  "have  had  a  direct  and  positive  impact  on  the  lives  of  millions  of 

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amount  of  over  EUR  2.1  billion9  has  helped  to  finance  African-led  peace  support 
operations in a number of conflict-affected countries (e.g. Somalia, Mali, Central African 
Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda and Guinea Bissau). 
APF  support  has  also  effectively  contributed to  enhancing  the  African  Union’s  and  the 
regional  economic  communities’  capacity  to  prevent  and  react  to  crises  and  threats  to 
stability  by  strengthening  the  African  Peace  and  Security  Architecture  (APSA).  The 
APSA is the main African-created mechanism to prevent and manage conflicts and offer 
mediation,  with  important  tools  and  structures  and  initiatives  such  as  the  Panel  of  the 
Wise,  the  Peace  and  Security  Council,  the  Continental  Early  Warning  System,  and  the 
African Standby Force. 

APF  support  for  the  APSA  has  been  complemented  by  specific  assistance  via  EDF 
Regional  Indicative  Programmes  (RIPs)  to  build  capacity  among  Africa’s  regional 
organisations,  as  building  blocks  of  the  African  Union,  to  prevent  and  manage  conflict 
and  security  threats  in  their  regions,  including  threats  that  spill  across  borders  like 
terrorism  and  violent  extremism,  organised  crime  and  piracy)10.  Under  the  11th  EDF 
(2014-2020),  the  amount  allocated  to  this  sector  in  African  RIPs  totals  around 
EUR 430 million. 

The EU has further expanded its engagement and investment in conflict prevention and 
peacebuilding,  in  complementarity  with  and  beyond  the  EDF,  through  the  Instrument 
contributing  to  Stability  and  Peace,  the  EU  Electoral  Observation  Missions,  CSDP 
missions,  the  use  of  preventive  sanctions,  humanitarian  assistance,  the  work  of  Special 
Representatives11 of the EU and support for civil society. These are also part of efforts to 
ensure a comprehensive approach in fragile and conflict-affected situations12. 

The  Consensus  Review  shows  that  the  EU  has  strengthened  its  policy  framework  and 
become one of the strongest players in  conflict prevention and peacebuilding. In this 
way,  it  has  contributed  to  containment,  mitigation  and  stabilisation  of  conflicts  and  to 
post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction, including in Africa. 

Africans affected by political crisis". At the same time, it found room for improvement in effectiveness 
(due  to  the  capacity  weaknesses  of  the  AU  Commission  and  regional  economic  communities),  and 
complementarity  with  other  EU  financing  and  political  tools,  including  the  RIPs,  although  good 
examples can be found, e.g. in Somalia and Mali. Another evaluation of the APF carried out in 2015 
by  the  ACP-EU  Joint  Parliamentary  Assembly  also  acknowledges  the  relevance  and  impact  of  this 
instrument. 

9   During  the  10th  EDF  period  (2008-2013),  the  EU  committed  EUR  815  million  through  the  APF. 
Under  the  11th  EDF,  the  APF  is  now  at  EUR  1 051  million,  for  the  2014-2016  period  alone.  This 
represents an annual increase of more than 200%. 

10   For example, the regional evaluation for West Africa (2008) provided evidence of the positive results 
of  the  Commission’s  support  to  the  Economic  Community  of  West  African  States  (ECOWAS),  in 
terms of contributions to its institutional conflict prevention and peacebuilding capacity-building and 
to technical expertise, but highlighted the fact that support had been mainly limited to funding. 

11   Consistent with the joint communication The EU’s comprehensive approach to external conflicts and 

crises, JOIN(2013) 30, 11.12.2013, and Council Conclusions, May 2014. 

12   For example, the EU has conducted five civilian CSDP crisis management missions and operations in 
Africa since 2003, five autonomous EU military operations (EUFOR Artemis, EUFOR DRC, EUFOR 
Chad, EUNAVFOR Atlanta, and EUFOR CAR) and two military training missions (EUTM Somalia 
and EUTM Mali). 

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The EU and the Member States are also acknowledged to have played an important role 
in addressing state fragility globally, which was one of the principles of the Consensus. 
The  EU  accountability  report  on  financing  for  development  2015  stated  that 
‘approximately half of the development funding of the EU is channelled to crisis/conflict 
situations  and  fragile  states.’13  For  the  Member  States,  addressing  state  fragility  has 
gained  prominence  in  a  number  of  development  cooperation  policies,  strategy  and 
programming.  Some  Member  States  contribute  to  addressing  fragility  within  sector 
strategies or in pursuit of global priorities, such as climate change and good governance. 

Finally,  it  was  recognised  that  the  efforts  of  the  EU  to  address  root  causes  of  conflict 
needed to increase, including efforts to help countries face challenges linked to refugee 
and migration flows. 

3.3.  Democracy, good governance and human rights 

Progress  in  the  protection  of  human  rights,  good  governance  and  democratisation  is 
fundamental for poverty reduction and sustainable development and the EU has greatly 
increased  its  efforts  related  to  ‘broad  governance’,  human  rights  and  democracy, 
especially in the last decade.   

Available  time-series  on  fundamental  rights  and  good  governance  performance  across 
ACP  countries  suggest  a  dilemma  emerging  in  terms  of  a  trade-off  between  greater 
accountability  and  stability  through  time  and,  a  decline  in  the  rule  of  law,  quality  of 
regulation, governmental effectiveness and control of corruption. These data are based on 
a wide range of performance, across sub regional and national performance, and so the 
emerging message might be misleading. Nonetheless, a certain element of concern about 
the  current  performance  of  ACP  countries  in  terms  of  good  governance  is  certainly 
suggested (particularly so in sub-Saharan African countries, which generally score lower 
than the ACP region as a whole). 

The references to democracy, human rights and the rule of law as ‘essential elements’ of 
cooperation,  and  the  provisions  on  possible  appropriate  measures  to  be  adopted  if  they 
are  breached,  were  largely  a  response  to  serious  governance  challenges  in  certain  ACP 
states.  Such  challenges  were  a  liability  to  the  Partnership  as  a  whole  and  to  the  use  of 
EDF  resources  in  particular.  Economic  partnership  agreements  (EPAs)  between  ACP 
partners  and  the  EU  are  explicitly  based  on  the  ‘essential  elements’  of  the  Cotonou 
Agreement  and  refer  to  appropriate  measures  under  the  Cotonou  Agreement  in  non-
execution clauses. In practice, this means that trade preferences under the EPAs could be 
suspended under the suspension mechanism in the Cotonou Agreement, if a party acts in 
breach of the ‘essential elements’ clause. 

13   EU accountability report on financing for development 2015, Section 4.4.2. Commission staff working 
document, available at https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/eu-accountability-report-financing-development-
2015_en. 

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In  general,  studies14  and  EEAS  internal  reviews15  point  to  the  relevance  of  holding 
political  dialogues16  as  an  efficient  way  of  keeping  communication  channels  open  with 
governments  on  these  issues.  However,  a  number  of  major  challenges  have  been 
identified. These include geopolitical, security and economic interests that may interfere 
and  water  down  EU  positions  in  favour  of  human  rights  in  a  given  country;  little 
government ownership of or commitment to the dialogue (making it an EU-led process); 
and lack of political will to change or improve the human rights situation. Resistance by 
some  ACP  governments  to  addressing  politically  sensitive  or  taboo  issues  such  as 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans- and intersex issues, the death penalty, and the International 
Criminal Court are also major challenges. A recent study17 refers to the benefit that such 
a  dialogue  may  have  as  a  ‘lifeline’  to  civil  society  organisations  working  on  human 
rights, particularly in repressive environments. 

Political  dialogues  on  democracy,  governance  and  human  rights  have  gained  some 
ground  under  the  regional  frameworks  that  the  EU  and  ACP  countries  have  concluded 
throughout  the  years,  especially  the  joint  Africa-EU  strategy:  human  rights  dialogue 
between the EU and the AU takes place every year18. This approach was promoted by the 
EU  Strategic  framework  and  action  plan  on  human  rights  and  democracy  (2012);  it  is 
difficult to assess whether these regional dialogues are more effective than bilateral ones. 

3.4.  Human development, migration and mobility management 

The  EU  has  supported  ACP  countries’  efforts  to  improve  the  availability  of  education, 
including  through  bilateral  programmes,  the  global  partnership  for  education  and  the 
higher  education  cooperation  programmes  of  the  EU.  The  EU  has  contributed  to  ACP 
countries  having  more  educational  infrastructure  and  teaching  and  learning  resources, 
larger numbers of trained teachers and incentives for training opportunities. However, the 
new resources and inputs provided are still insufficient; sustainability has been affected 
by  big  increases  in  enrolment  figures  as  a  result  of  population  growth.  EU  support  for 
school  education  has  focused  on  primary  schools,  with  only  a  small  share  of  overall 

14   EP study Political dialogue on human rights under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement (2014). Also 
relevant  for  this  evaluation  is  the  EP  report  on  the  use  of  political  instruments  for  the  protection  of 
human rights, democracy and the rule of law under the Cotonou Agreement of 2007. 

15   Annual reports 2010-2014 on the European Union’s development and external assistance policies and 
their implementation; DEVCO annual budget & EDF implementation reports; internal EU review on 
how human rights issues are addressed under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement (political dialogue), 
conducted in 2014-2015. 

16   For example the dialogue referred to in article 8 of the Cotonou agreement, for sub-Saharan African 

countries.  

17   EP study Political dialogue on human rights under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement (2014). Also 
relevant  for  this  evaluation  is  the  EP  report  of  2007  on  the  use  of  the  political  instruments  for  the 
protection  of  human  rights,  democracy  and  the  rule  of  law  under  the  Cotonou  Agreement 
(http://www.europarl.europa.eu). 

18   The  African  Union  has  beefed  up  its  normative  framework  for  democratic  governance  on  the 
continent,  specifically  in  the  area  of  unconstitutional  changes  in  government.  This  is  particularly 
relevant because, with the exception of Fiji and Haiti, all Article 96 consultations have been with AU 
Member States. 

9 

 
                                                            
support providing direct assistance to secondary education — mostly in ‘medium human 
development’ countries19. 

ACP  governments  have  been  helped  with  sector  budget  support  and  sector  support 
programmes to improve the quality of the education sector. Budget support has played a 
catalytic  role,  in  strengthening  systems  and  tools  to  improve  education  sector  policies, 
service delivery and resourcing20. As a result, government ownership has been high and 
new  education  policies  and  plans  have  been  set  up  or  improved  since  the  late  1990s21. 
Nonetheless, despite some improvements in terms of systems capacity (e.g. in Burundi, 
Madagascar, Namibia, Pacific), the impact on quality of education is still weak. Despite 
the  increase  in  enrolment,  the  learning  targets  set  by  ACP  governments  often  remain 
unmet22. EU provision under the Cotonou Agreement has also strengthened the capacity 
of higher education institutions and supported greater mobility of staff and students from 
ACP  countries  to  EU  countries  and  between  ACP  countries  (e.g.  Edulink,  Erasmus 
Mundus, the Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme, and the African Higher Education 
Harmonisation and Tuning initiative). 

Evidence of a significant increase in access to school education has also been recorded, 
especially  for  primary  education,  with  net  enrolment  rates  in  primary  education  rising 
from 59% in 1999 to 79% in 201223. Most countries supported by the EU in this sector 
are in sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. 15 out of the 19 under the 10th EDF), with free access to 
primary education promoted in many of these countries during the past decade24. As for 
equitable access, the school enrolment rate for girls has grown faster than for boys across 
ACP  countries.  In  this  respect,  EU  investments  in  rural  areas  have  been  significant, 
resulting in large increases in access for the poor (e.g. in Zambia and Tanzania), although 
major differences between geographic areas persist across the region. 

The quality gap in education in sub-Saharan Africa is confirmed by a recent assessment 
of  student  abilities  in  mathematics  and  reading  in  10  countries  in  francophone  West 
Africa.  Over  70%  of  early  primary  pupils  have  not  achieved  ‘sufficient’  level  in 

19   Thematic  global  evaluation  of  European  Commission  support  to  the  education  sector  in  partner 

countries (including basic and secondary education) 2000-2007 (2010). 

20   Review of strategic evaluations managed by DEVCO to assess the European Consensus on 

Development Final Report October 2016 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/consensus_review_full_report.pdf. 

21   E.g. Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda in the 2000s, Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic and others, 
reviewed in Thematic global evaluation of European Commission support to the education sector in 
partner countries (including basic and secondary education) 2000-2007 (2010). 

22   Review of strategic evaluations managed by DEVCO to assess the European Consensus on 

Development Final Report October 2016 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/consensus_review_full_report.pdf. 

23   Review of strategic evaluations managed by DEVCO to assess the European Consensus on 

Development Final Report October 2016 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/consensus_review_full_report.pdf. 

24   Thematic  global  evaluation  of  European  Commission  support  to  the  education  sector  in  partner 
countries  (including  basic  and  secondary  education)  2000-2007  (2010).  EU  development  assistance 
for basic education in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, European Court of Auditors, Special Report 
No 12/2010. 

10 

 
                                                            
language, and over 50% in mathematics. At the end of the primary cycle, close to 60% of 
pupils are below this level in both subjects25. 

Special attention is needed to the conditions to benefit from the demographic dividend in 
Africa.  A  new  priority to  education  and  employment  policy  could  be considered  in  the 
context of Africa-EU dialogue. Education, training and employment promotion in Africa 
is key for long-term sustainable development. 

Digitisation can be a powerful tool to improve access and equity in education, delivery of 
quality  learning  and  teaching,  and  teachers’  professional  development,  as  well  as 
education management, governance and administration. Distance learning, for example, 
has a long and successful history in the developed countries. As digital services tend to 
reach urban, better-off and educated groups first, it is important to ensure that the urban 
poor, the rural population and people from disadvantaged groups can fully benefit from 
digitisation.  Internet  users  need  to  master  not  just  the  basic  literacy  skills  but  also 
language skills and other technical, structural and strategic skills in order to fully benefit 
from  internet  access.  EU  higher  education  programmes  have  supported  e-platforms,  e-
learning and virtual mobility. 

According to UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs statistics26, around 50% of 
African  migration  is  within  the  continent,  but  there  is  a  significant  difference  between 
sub-Saharan  Africa  and  North  Africa  in  this  regard.  Intraregional  emigration  in  sub-
Saharan Africa accounts for almost 65% of total emigrants, the largest intracontinental or 
South-South movement of people in the world. In contrast, more than 90% of emigrants 
from  North  Africa  head  to  countries  outside  Africa.  Intra-African  emigration  is  driven 
largely by a search for job opportunities in neighbouring countries, by the complexities 
of  historical  state  formation  —  colonial  borders  often  overlooked  linguistic  and  ethnic 
commonalities — and by waves of internal and cross-border conflicts. 

Figures  for  refugee  flows  recorded  by  the  United  Nations  High  Commissioner  for 
Refugees  (UNHCR)  put  the  number  of  refugees  and  internally  displaced  persons  in 
Africa at 14.9 million27 in 2015. Around 25% of the forcibly displaced people across the 
globe are in Africa, where some countries have hosted large refugee populations for over 
20  years.  Furthermore,  important  new  displacements  caused  by  conflict,  violence  and 
human  rights  abuses  are  likely  to  continue  to  affect  many  countries  in  Africa  in 
subsequent  years.  Somalia  was  the  third-largest  source  country  for  refugees  worldwide 
and  the  largest  in  sub-Saharan  Africa,  with  the  number  of  Somali  refugees  remaining 
stable  at  1.1  million.  South  Sudan  (744 100)  was  the  fourth-largest  source  country  for 
refugees  worldwide,  followed  by  Sudan  (640 900),  the  Democratic  Republic  of  the 
Congo (535 300) and the Central African Republic (470 600). Half of the top 10 refugee-

25   http://www.pasec.confemen.org/ 
26  http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimatesgraphs. 

shtml?2g2   

27   http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a02d7fd6.html    

11 

 
                                                            
hosting  countries  are  now  located  in  sub-Saharan  Africa  (Ethiopia,  Kenya,  Uganda, 
Chad, and Sudan), with four of them being least-developed countries28. 

The figures for asylum seekers coming from Africa varied between 61 650 and 84 400 in 
2008-2012  and  then  started  to  increase  sharply  in  2013  to  96 920  and  then  152 110  in 
201429.  The  major  origin  countries  in  terms  of  absolute  figures  are  Eritrea,  Somalia, 
Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, The Gambia, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

Some African countries, such as Nigeria, Somalia and Senegal30, figure among the top 27 
countries  from  which  irregular  migrants  were  apprehended  in  the  EU  Member  States 
between  2008  and  2014.  The  number  of  Africans  staying  irregularly  in  the  EU  fell 
annually between 2008 and 201231, but then increased in 2013 to 72 370 and again, very 
sharply,  to  134 895  in  2014.  Eritrea  was  the  major  country  of  origin,  followed  by 
Somalia and Nigeria32. 

The  trends  described  above  and  the  existence  of  huge  regional  differences  in  forced 
displacement  and  migration,  have  led  to  a  number  of  regional  initiatives  to  enhance 
dialogue and cooperation on migration including the following. 

The  Rabat  process  started  in  2006  in  order  to  respond  to  the  challenges  of  increasing 
flows of irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe along the West African 
migration route. The Rabat Process covers cooperation on: legal migration and mobility; 
prevention  of  irregular  migration  and  measures  to  counteract  it;  migration  and 
development; and international protection. 

The  Africa-EU  Migration,  Mobility  and  Employment  (MME)  partnership  was 
launched at the Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon, in December 2007. The EU-Africa Summit 
in 2014 adopted a declaration on migration and mobility, and an action plan 2014-2017, 
focusing  on  the  following  priorities:  fighting  trafficking  in  human  beings;  remittances; 
the  diaspora;  mobility  and  labour  migration  (including  intra-African  mobility); 
international protection (including internally displaced persons); and irregular migration. 

28   UNHCR Mid-year trends report 2015, http://www.unhcr.org/56701b969.html   
29   Eurostat data on asylum seekers (migr_asyappctza) . 
30   Eurostat — statistics on citizens apprehended in the EU,  

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/f/f3/T1_Top_citizenships_of_non-
EU_citizens_apprehended_in_the_EU,_with_more_than_30_000_apprehensions_from_2008%e2%80
%9314.png. Nigeria is the first non-EU country of origin for victims of trafficking in human beings 
registered  (both  identified  and  presumed)  in  the  EU  in  the  period  2013-2014,  see  Report  on  the 
progress  made 
in  human  beings  http://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking 
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_i
n_human_beings_2016.pdf . 

the  fight  against 

in 

31   At 98 115 in 2008; 95 170 in 2009; 85 595 in 2010; 75 290 in 2011; and 66 040 in 2012. 

32   Eurostat — Third country nationals found to be illegally present  — annual data (rounded). The data 
includes Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. As noted in the Report on the progress made in 
the  fight  against  trafficking  in  human  beings,  for  the  period  2013-2014,  Nigeria  and  Morocco  were, 
respectively,  the  first  and  fifth  main  non-EU  countries  of  origin  for  trafficking  victims  registered 
(identified 
http://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_i
n_human_beings_2016.pdf     

presumed) 

and 

EU 

the 

in 

12 

 
                                                            
The  Khartoum  process  was  launched  in  November  2014  in  Rome  in  order  to  tackle 
increasing  irregular  migration,  smuggling  and  trafficking  in  human  beings  along  the 
Eastern  /Horn  of  Africa  migration  route.  It  is  a  regional  dialogue  with  nine  African 
countries  (Djibouti,  Ethiopia,  Eritrea,  Kenya,  Somalia,  South  Sudan,  Sudan,  Egypt  and 
Tunisia),  as  well  as  the  African  Union  Commission.  It  is  led  by  a  Steering  Committee 
comprising  five  EU  Member  States  (Italy,  France,  Germany,  UK,  and  Malta),  five 
African countries (Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan), the European and 
African Union Commissions and the EEAS. 

More  recently,  the  Valletta  Summit,  held  at  head  of  state  level  with  some  African 
countries  in  November  2015,  adopted  a  political  declaration  and  an  action  plan  to  be 
implemented  in  five  key  areas.  These  are:  development  benefits  of  migration  and  root 
causes;  legal  migration  and  mobility;  protection  and  asylum;  prevention  and  the  fight 
against  irregular  migration,  migrant  smuggling  and  trafficking  of  human  beings;  and 
return, readmission and reintegration. 

Regional  fora,  such  as  the  Rabat  and  Khartoum  processes  set  up  independently  of  the 
Cotonou Agreement, have proven to be currently the best channels for cooperation on the 
fight  against  irregular  migration,  migrant  smuggling  and  fundamentals  rights  violations 
such  as  trafficking  in  human  beings.  These  crimes  are  inherently  cross-border  crimes, 
with  regional  particularities,  and  therefore  concerted  and  coordinated  international 
cooperation  on  specific  (regional)  routes,  through  the  regional  fora,  is  better  suited  to 
addressing the problems at hand. 

In  addition,  bilateral  dialogues  on  migration  and  mobility  between  the  EU  and  African 
countries  has  been  reinforced,  e.g.  in  a  Mobility  partnership  with  Cape  Verde  and 
Common  Agendas  on  Migration  and  Mobility  with  Nigeria  and  Ethiopia,  and  more 
recently  High-Level  Dialogues.  These  allow  more  concrete  and  effective  targeted 
cooperation, taking into account the particularities of a given partner country. 

Due to ongoing, unprecedented levels of forced displacement and irregular migration, the 
EU Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration 
and  displaced  persons  in  Africa  was  set  up  to  support  the  most  fragile  and  affected 
African countries (November 2015). The Trust Fund aims to help foster stability in the 
regions to respond to the challenges of irregular migration and forced displacement and 
to contribute to better migration management. More specifically, it will help address the 
root causes of destabilisation, forced displacement and irregular migration, by promoting 
economic and equal opportunities, security and development. 

3.5. 

Sustainable  and  inclusive  development  and  growth  and  continental 
integration 

A  significant  number  of  developing  countries  have  experienced  a  relatively  steady, 
positive  performance  in  terms  of  economic  growth.  African  countries  showed  greater 
resilience  to  the  global  crisis  and  better  performances  after  2009  compared  with  the 
world economy as a whole. This review suggests that the EU has indirectly contributed to 
the economic growth of developing countries via a wide range of channels, in line with 
the policy guidelines of the European Consensus for Development, in particular support 
13 

 
for  macroeconomic  stability,  stronger  public  finance  management,  trade  and  a  broader 
range of transport networks. 

The improvement in economic growth in the 1990s has undoubtedly helped halt or check 
the spread of poverty in some countries, but has not reduced it. This would require more 
sustained economic growth, among other things.  The World Bank estimates  that, given 
the economic structures and population growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa, an increase 
in GDP of 5% per year would still not suffice to stabilise the numbers living below the 
poverty threshold. A great deal also needs to be done to improve the impact of growth on 
poverty:  access  to  basic  social  services  should  be  widened  significantly  and,  in  some 
countries,  access  to  productive  resources  (such  as  education,  training,  land  ownership, 
electricity,  capital  and  credit)  could  be  greatly  improved:  entire  population  groups  are 
practically  excluded  from  the  formal  sector  of  the  economy.  Women  are  particularly 
vulnerable  and  an  improvement  of  their  socioeconomic  situation  would  act  as  an 
effective lever to curb poverty. 

The working age population in Africa is young and growing in size, representing a key 
asset for the continent’s development. But it is also a major challenge33. 

Social protection and support for employment is essential to the fight against poverty. An 
evaluation of indicative programmes on employment and social inclusion (ESI)34 shows 
that 22 African countries have at least one ESI-relevant sector as a core area of activity. 
These  include  action  on  vocational  education  and  training,  private  sector  development, 
and  institutional  strengthening  through  trade-related  assistance  at  regional  levels. 
Nonetheless, action supporting training and labour market needs has been judged poorly 
integrated in most country strategy papers. 

Importantly,  attention  to  employment  was  not  duly  addressed  in  assistance  to  private 
sector  development.  Employment  concerns  were  not  systematically  mainstreamed  in 
economic  reform  programmes,  although  positive  exceptions  existed  under  specific 
programme  (e.g.  banana,  rum  and  rice  support).  Most  EU  action  in  support  of  trade, 
macroeconomic  stability,  economic  reform  and  private  sector  development  has  not 
explicitly focused on employment creation as the main target. 

In  more  systematically  targeting  employment  as  a  key  target,  EU  policies  and 
interventions should take better account of the formal/informal employment nexus which 
is  particularly  relevant  in  sub-Saharan  Africa,  where  the  informal  economy  plays  an 
essential  role,  employing  up  to  66%  of  all  non-agricultural  workers,  and  up  to  90%  of 
workers if agricultural employment is included. 

In terms of trade flows, ACP integration in global markets has seen a stronger increase 
than intraregional integration for most ACP regions and for the ACP group as a whole. 
For sub-Saharan Africa, however, intraregional trade’s share of total trade increased from 
16% in 2000 to 24% in 201435. One of the main contributing factors has certainly been 

33   NEPAD, A new emerging rural world — an overview of rural change in Africa. 
34   European Commission, Thematic global evaluation of European Commission support in the sectors of 
ESI (Employment and Social Inclusion) in partner countries (including vocational training), 2011. 

35   United Nation Comtrade database: http://comtrade.un.org/. 

14 

 
                                                            
the  negotiation  of  economic  partnership  agreements  (EPAs).  The  ACP  countries’ 
integration  in  world  trade  hinges  on  the  success  of  domestic  economic  policies  and  on 
greater economic competitiveness and access to foreign markets. 

Regional  integration  has  been  strongest  in  the  agricultural  products,  textiles,  and 
machinery and transport equipment sectors. In Africa, the region in which intraregional 
trade has grown fastest compared with overall trade is the East African Community36. 

ACP  exports  to  the  EU  are  dominated  by  Africa  and  by  minerals.  With  27.3%  of  sub-
Saharan Africa’s total trade, the EU is its main trading partner, ahead of China (10.7%), 
the  United  States  (8.4%)  and  India  6.8%37.  In  2015,  China’s  imports  from  Africa  were 
reported  to  have  fallen  by  nearly  40%38,  which  highlights  the  importance  of  the  EU  as 
Africa’s main export destination. In 2014, Africa accounted for 97.6% of ACP exports to 
the EU. South Africa alone accounted for almost a quarter of that (21.6%)39. 

EU  assistance  for  digitisation  has  mainly  targeted  regulatory  harmonisation  and 
infrastructure  deployment.  The  main  goal  was  to  create  an  enabling  environment  for 
investment  and  affordable  connectivity.  This  has  been  done  for  Africa  under  the 
programme  ‘Support  for  harmonisation  of  ICT  policies  in  sub-Saharan  Africa’ 
(HIPSSA),  its  planned  successor,  HIP  Africa,  and  the  Euromed  telecommunications 
regulator group EMERG in the southern Mediterranean. 

The  exponential  spread  and  scale-up  of  digital  technologies  and  services  has  profound 
global  implications,  creating  opportunities  for  sustainable  development  and  inclusive 
growth, but at the same time new threats and challenges. Digitalisation has an important 
role  to  play  in  a  wide  range  of  areas  including  gender,  good  governance,  transparency 
and  accountability,  the  fight  against  corruption,  job  creation  and  private  sector 
development,  access  to  micro-finance,  improving  access  to  public  services  -  notably 
the  environment  and  addressing  climate  change,  providing 
energy,  protecting 
humanitarian  aid,  education  health  or  developing  agriculture.  As  such,  digital  solutions 
can  help  combat  poverty,  contribute  to  better  targeting  and  the  linking  of  humanitarian 
and development activities, and help to manage migration and address shortcomings in a 
number  of  EU  partner  countries  where  eIdentification  and  civil  registries,  digital 
entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's), eServices, eGovernment, 
mobile financing or blockchain secured transactions can reduce inequalities and increase 
prosperity. 

The  digitisation  agenda  is  to  be  seen  in  the  context  of  ‘an  enabler  for  sustainable 
development, inclusive growth and societies’. There are undoubtedly a growing number 
of  ICT  applications  being  developed  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  agribusiness  — 
from  the  geographical  information  system  (GIS),  remote  sensing  and  satellite  imagery 
technologies  to  mobile  phone  applications.  Literature  shows  the  importance  of  the 
development  of  ICT  infrastructure  (especially  in  rural  areas),  digital  skills,  digital 

36   International Trade Centre, ACP Trade — Prospects for Stronger Performance and Cooperation’, ITC 

Technical Paper, 2014. 

37   United Nation Comtrade database: http://comtrade.un.org/. 
38   http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35303981 
39   United Nation Comtrade database: http://comtrade.un.org/. 

15 

 
                                                            
entrepreneurship and sound legislation and regulations leading to competitive markets as 
enablers to the ICT for agriculture40. 

Agriculture and rural development are recognised as crucial to poverty eradication and 
growth in the Consensus. This review finds that EU support has targeted some areas and 
types  of  action:  support  for  agricultural  commodities;  strengthening  food  security;  and 
support for agricultural enterprises and rural employment, mainly in the ‘neighbourhood’ 
policy  context.  Support  for  agriculture  has  focused  on  food  security  and  traditional 
commodities,  while  the  sector  approach,  including  sustainable  food  value  chains  and 
rural development, has not been sufficiently developed. 

Agriculture (including livestock, fisheries and aquaculture) has the potential to generate 
growth,  and  employment  in  rural  areas  and  along  the  value  chains.  It  is  a  major 
determinant  of  environmental  management  and  of  rural  people’s  livelihoods.  In Africa, 
the working age population (aged 15 to 64) will increase by 875 million people by 2050. 
Overall,  the  population  should  remain  predominantly  rural,  with  an  increase  of  350 
million new people (which will push up rural population density). And by 2030, a total of 
440  million  young  men  and  women  already  born  will  need  to  find  an  occupation  to 
support themselves and their families. This increase in young people in rural areas poses 
a real challenge for employment in agriculture and related sectors. 

Africa  has  many  assets,  among  them  resource  wealth,  fertile  soil,  a  growing  small 
business  sector,  and  above  all,  its  young  people.  By  2035,  Africa  will  have  the  largest 
potential workforce in the world, still mainly located in rural areas at present. 

Africa  is  a  very  diverse  continent.  Many  countries  face  severe  economic  development 
constraints.  Africa  is  not  well  integrated  into  the  world  economy  or  as  an  economic 
region; it does not offer a secure environment for private investment and some countries 
face  a  growing  risk  of  remaining  permanently  in  debt.  As  a  result  of  insufficient 
economic diversification, not enough value is added to local resources. There is a lack of 
business initiative and industry. 

Industrialisation  and  diversification  of  ACP  economies  remain  limited.  At  global  level, 
ACP  countries  have  on  average  diversified  significantly  less  than  other  developing 
countries,  often  due  to  their  small  size,  remoteness  or  land-locked  character.  However, 
two regions in Africa (the East African Community and Central Africa) have managed to 
diversify  their  exports  over  the  last  10  years41.  Manufactured  goods  now  account  for 
more than 28% of total of East Africa’s exports to the rest of the world (against only 17% 
in 2000). In Central Africa, manufactured goods account for 25% of total exports (6% in 
2000)42. 

40   The  technical  centre  for  agricultural  and  rural  cooperation  (CTA),  set  up  under  the  Cotonou 
Agreement, has an important component of its work programme that addresses issues of digitisation 
and agriculture (http://www.cta.int/en/our-programmes/policies-markets-icts.html). 

41   International  Trade  Centre,  ACP  trade  —  prospects  for  stronger  performance  and  cooperation,  ITC 

Technical Paper, 2014. 

42   United Nation Comtrade database: http://comtrade.un.org/. 

16 

 
                                                            
Moreover,  it  is  important  to  recognise  that,  by  contrast  to  East  Asia,  manufacturing’s 
share  of  employment  is  not  expanding  rapidly  in  Africa.  In  East  Asian  economies,  the 
rapid  expansion  of  labour-intensive  manufacturing  for  export  accelerated  structural 
change-led growth. Although manufacturing has an important role to play in the African 
economy, it seems unlikely that it will play the same role that it played in East Asia. This 
is not necessarily bad news; it simply highlights the importance of investing in things like 
human capital and infrastructure, which can raise productivity levels in all sectors of the 
economy (IFPRI report)43. 

3.6.  Global and emerging issues 

Fostering environmental protection and addressing challenges related to climate change 
are  strategic  EU  policy  goals,  with  commitments  agreed  in  several  international  fora 
including the relevant SDGs in the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. These SDGs 
refer  specifically  to  agriculture  and  fisheries,  land  degradation  and  desertification, 
protection  of  terrestrial  and  marine  ecosystems  and  the  services  they  provide,  sound 
management  of  chemical  waste,  resource  efficiency  and  sustainable  use  of  natural 
resources. SDG 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 

African countries are home to a large share of the world’s biodiversity, which is severely 
affected  by  the  persistence  of  unsustainable  industrial  practices  and  illegal  activities. 
Although  African  countries  are  currently  among  the  lowest  greenhouse  gas  producers, 
trends  for  sub-Saharan  Africa  in  the  next  15  years  are  predicting  a  steep  increase  in 
energy  demand.  Many  African  countries  are  very  vulnerable  to  the  impacts  of  climate 
change.  To  address  these  challenges  and  vulnerabilities,  it  is  essential  that  the  Paris 
Agreement is implemented. 

Addressing environmental challenges in African countries will have high returns for the 
EU  and  the  world.  Large-scale  destruction  of  wildlife  and  ecosystems  is  primarily  an 
irreversible environmental loss, which indirectly exposes African  societies  to  economic 
and social threats. Ecosystems provide goods and regulatory and support services which 
are crucial for human wellbeing and for the economic development of African countries, 
as  well  as  indirectly  for  the  entire  planet.  Importantly,  a  shift  towards  sustainable 
practices in local production will allow a range of indirect gains for the EU. 

Evidence  shows  that  the  Partnership  has  not  sufficiently  delivered  in  addressing  global 
challenges  and  in  particular  climate  change,  which  remains  one  of  the  most  pressing 
threats to the achievement of sustainable development in the EU and in the world. 

4.  CONCLUSION 

The findings show that the engagement of the EU in Africa has significantly contributed 
to  the  progress  towards  the  eradication  of  poverty,  sustainable  development,  the 
promotion of peace and security, to improved and more equitable access to basic services 
and the pursuit  of the Sustainable Development  Goals  (SDGs). However, the picture is 

43   IFPRI, The changing structure of Africa’s economies, Discussion Paper 01598, January 2017. 

17 

 
                                                            
mixed  as  regards  African  partners’  respect  for  ‘essential  elements’  (human  rights, 
democratic  principles  and  the  rule  of  law).  In  addition,  no  sufficiently  convincing  and 
common answers have been  provided to  critical  or  global challenges  such as  migration 
and mobility, jobs for growing ranks of young people or climate change. 

18