Partnership Africa: New horizons for EU- and inter-African cooperation
This international policy summit is Friends of Europe’s third high-level conference on the challenges facing the continent of Africa. Entitled "Partnership Africa", the summit will address the full range of key issues currently facing Africa, from the effects of the global recession to competing investment models, and from healthcare to the "twin tsunamis" of climate change and population growth.
Speakers will include senior EU and national policymakers – among them EU Commissioners, Directors General, MEPs and national ministers and parliamentarians – as well as business leaders, senior NGO and civil society representatives, leading academics and the international media. Attending the conference will be some 250 senior participants from the EU, Africa and beyond.
08.30 – 09.00
Welcome and registration of participants
09.00 – 09.30
Introductory remarks by Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, and presentation of the European Commission’s new Communication on Africa
09.30 – 11.00
SESSION I
Deepening partnerships in Africa and developing new ones
Since the earliest days of the African Union (AU) and other trade and economic groupings, national leaders have understood the need for closer cooperation and regional integration. But different political cultures and at times competing economic priorities have made inter-African policymaking hard to achieve. The emphasis now being placed on initiatives like Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and Regional Economic Communities is heartening, but is it realistic? Looking beyond economic partnerships, what policy mix could promote security and improve governance? Will the AU's planned African Governance Platform help its member governments to speak with one voice, and how best can the African Peace and Security Architecture deliver on collective security?
11.00 – 11.30
Coffee break
11.30 – 13.00
SESSION II
Tackling Africa’s energy and environment challenges
Africa's energy problems are a major brake on economic development, with four-fifths of Africans affected by energy shortages. Solar and hydro power offer clean sources of power for Africa's rapidly swelling urban population, and might yet yield export earnings to European grids once the major investments have been funded. And although Africa's carbon footprint is still modest, ensuring that its growing energy production is "climate proofed" is reckoned to cost some $20bn a year and thus increase by 40% the cost of meeting its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). What role, then, can the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) play in improving African countries' energy access and security of supply? What EU financial instruments and development policies could help promote clean energy projects in Africa?
13.00 – 14.00
Lunch
14.00 – 15.30
SESSION III
Meeting Africa’s infrastructural and human capital needs
Africa's population is set to explode over the next 40 years from 800m today to 1.8bn by mid-century. Some economists argue that this promises sustained economic growth on the scale already achieved of late by a number of sub-Saharan countries. But it will also put a major strain on African resources and infrastructure. Healthcare spending has been dropping in most African countries, with about half of all children inadequately vaccinated against serious and persistent diseases. The crippling costs of poor healthcare policies are already tragically illustrated by HIV-AIDS, so a major health drive is imperative. So too is the development of education, transport and energy infrastructures. What sort of investment strategy could be envisaged that will enable Africa's policymakers to harness the power of population growth?
15.30
End of summit
Where
No on-site parking is available.
Wireless internet will be available at the event venue.
