BACK TO THE ROOTS

The size of your dreams must always exceed your current 

capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they 

are not big enough.

 History of Trade basic principles 

Trade among European and African precolonial nations developed relatively recently in the economic history of the African continent. Prior to the European voyages of exploration in the fifteenth century, African rulers and merchants had established trade links with the Mediterranean world, western Asia, and the Indian Ocean region. Within the continent itself, local exchanges among adjacent peoples fit into a greater framework of long-range trade.The merchants from Britain, France, Portugal
, and the Netherlands who began trading along the Atlantic coast of Africa therefore encountered a well-established trading population regulated by savvy and experienced local rulers.

European companies quickly developed mercantile ties with these indigenous powers and erected fortified “factories,” or warehouses, on coastal areas to store goods and defend their trading rights from foreign encroachment. Independent Portuguese merchants called lançados settled along the coasts and rivers of Africa from present-day Senegal to Angola, where they were absorbed into African society and served as middlemen between European and African traders (1991.17.31).

Those goods imported to Africa in greatest volume included cloth, iron and copper in raw and worked form, and cowry shells used by local populations as currency. Nonutilitarian items such as jewelry, beads, mechanical toys and curiosities, and alcohol also met a receptive audience. Catholic countries such as Portugal were, in theory at least, forbidden by papal injunction from selling items with potential military uses to non-Christians, although it is unclear how closely this order was followed in practice. In exchange for their wares, Europeans returned with textiles,carvings
 spices, ivory, gum, and African slaves.

Contrary to popular views about precolonial Africa, local manufacturers were at this time creating items of comparable, if not superior, quality to those of preindustrial Europe. Due to advances in
native forge technology, smiths in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa were producing steels of a better grade than those of their counterparts in Europe, and the highly developed West African textile workshopshad produced fine cloths for export long before the arrival of European traders.

It may therefore seem surprising that European importers found many customers for their goods among local populations in West Africa. Nonetheless, the novelty and comparative rarity of European imports together constituted a significant advantage over local products, and powerful rulers readily adopted them for use as courtly regalia. An example of this type of status object fashioned from a trade commodity is a Chokwe chief’s necklace from Central Africa (1996.456). 

The white ceramic “shell” attached to a woven basketry band was an item manufactured in Europe, probably Germany, for use by Portuguese slave traders. Round, white shells are valued symbols of spirituality and leadership in many Central African cultures, and European merchants clearly created this ceramic form to meet the particular demands and interests of their trading partners.
Local leaderswho prospered from the international trade also commissioned other prestige objects, such as sumptuous wood and ivory carvings, from local artisans.

Stable State Arrangements beetwen Governement.

A strong, stable and prosperous Africa is not only vital for Africans, it is essential for Europe.

Cooperation between the two continents is hardly new and a lot of progress has been made, but Europe and Africa can and must go much further together. Too much of the African continent is still plagued by a lack of decent basic infrastructures, slow growth, extreme poverty, pandemics, droughts, civil wars, terrorism and poor governance.

But Africa also has abundant resources – its most precious being its young, rapidly-growing – and often digitally native and entrepreneurial – population. Hand in hand with this African youth, African and EU leaders must develop transformative joint solutions to make the most of their partnership and adapt it to today’s realities.

The ongoing review of the Joint Africa-EU strategy, as well as the Italian G7 and German G20 Presidencies’ plans to focus on Africa, and the Africa-EU Summit in November 2017 offer a unique window of opportunity to introduce a new logic to Africa-EU relations and adapt them to new realities.

A partnership of equals

To achieve a ‘win-win’ partnership with Africa, Europe must take Africa’s own ambitions more seriously. Cooperation must balance African and EU interests in terms of migration, trade and investments within a more holistic partnership aimed at delivering peace and security, and opening up new economic opportunities, also for Africa’s most vulnerable.
Sustainable transformation built on Africa’s strenghts

Africa’s development must build on its assets – the most precious being its people. The transition to a modern agricultural sector will be key, as will industrialisation, diversification and investments in human capital and infrastructure. New technologies and business models can also help Africa to leapfrog into a sustainable development path. With the European External Investment Plan as part of its toolbox, the EU must support this transition.

A more strategic EU approach

Making the EU approach more strategic will require using the extensive range of EU instruments in a more coordinated, targeted and flexible way to respond to the very diverse developments on the ground – whether positive or negative. Given the scale of issues to address, the EU must also open up to broader collaborations with Africa’s new emerging partners, including China.
Multiple partners for multiple problems

The EU’s first partners are African governments themselves, as well as Africa’s continental and regional organisations, which are indispensable for achieving a holistic approach, in particular on migration, trade and security issues. But the EU’s Africa strategy should also support the local, bottom-up initiatives that are sprouting across the continent to fill the gaps left open by Africa’s governments, in sectors such as energy, healthcare, education and food security.

One continent, multiple realities

Demographic projections leave little doubt: population growth on the African continent will be one of the most substantial structural changes that will happen in the world in the 21st century. Reaching an estimated total of 4.2 billion people by 2100 (Figure 1), Africa will dwarf Europe’s population of 600 million and account for 41% of global working-age population.

Engaging Africa’s potential

Africa presents genuine business opportunities in wide-ranging sectors, from agriculture and energy to tourism to textil and fashion , mobile banking and digital technologies. However, major deficiencies in the core enabling infrastructure – unreliable power supply and transmission networks, badly maintained and congested highways, inefficient and fragmented railway systems, inefficient ports, a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities, and very limited regional connectivity – have to be overcome, while also investing consistently in human development.

Economic transformation must also be accompanied by smart trade policies as exports constitute a major incentive to develop additional capabilities.

In parallel, local and foreign direct investment conditions have to be considerably improved through better governance, fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law and a more independent judiciary.

Sustainable transformation built on Africa’s natural assets

African economies have been largely characterised by subsistence farming, a heavy reliance on natural resources, and low productivity across most sectors. Primary commodities continue to account for close to two thirds of African exports to non-African countries, while the share of manufacturing stagnated at around 11% of the continent’s aggregate GDP over the last decade.7

In an era of slumping commodity prices and growing resource scarcity, the Africa 2063 vision calls for a ‘paradigm shift’, stating that Africa can ‘transform herself from an exporter of raw materials with a declining manufacturing sector in 2013, to become a major food exporter, a global manufacturing hub, a knowledge centre, beneficiating [our] natural resources and agricultural products as drivers to industrialisation’.8 The modernisation and industrialisation of Africa’s farm sector will inevitably be at the heart of the transition efforts (Box 1). And diversification will also be of the essence.

Africa can capitalise further on its unique human and natural assets, investing towards an ambitious and inclusive sustainable economy.
Towards an agricultural revolution

The farm sector is vital for Africa. It acts as the main source of income for some 90% of the continent’s rural population and provides the means of subsistence – rather than of employment per se – to an estimated 75% of the labour force, half of which are women (Figure 4). Although it provides the majority of Africans with their daily food, productivity in the agriculture sector remains low and based on small-scale subsistence farming. Many farmers have difficulties competing with imported staple and food. Lack of capital prevents African farmers from acquiring fertilisers, more productive crops and/or machinery and post-harvest losses are still vast, ranging from 15% to more than 30 % in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Investing in youth, investing in the future

Education and health can do more than anything else to change Africa’s prospects. Currently, Africa’s youth, and in particular Africa’s girls and young women, are not getting the attention and investment they deserve. The African continent combines multiple education failings that are putting Africa’s future at risk, while access to the most basic schooling and healthcare remains limited .

‘Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defence spending there is’Kofi Annan, seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations
Education offers the possibility to stimulate the development of higher value economic activities. Educating girls and women also has the potential to transform demographic trends across the continent, by giving them more choice and economic opportunities.

The EU and its Member States can, and already do, contribute in very concrete terms to helping to deliver education and training on the African continent. Building on this, the focus should be on furthering actions towards universal access to basic education and enhanced participation in higher education; support to vocational training; deepening collaboration on science, technology, research and innovation; continued efforts to eliminate gender disparities at all levels of education; scaling up mobility schemes for African students and academics; and reaping new synergies with the recently-created European Solidarity Corps.

Reconnecting Africa from the bottom up

The modernisation of Africa’s economy will require large-scale investments into well-functioning, low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. Improving electricity provision, transportation links and connectivity can stimulate regional integration, helping African companies to scale up and acting as a catalyst for manufacturing, skills development, research and innovation, intra-African trade and investments, and tourism.

Currently, 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity, with over 80% relying on charcoal and firewood for cooking. The lack of reliable electricity access is a major constraint to doing business .

Figure 7: Population without access to electricity

to attract more domestic and foreign capital, most African nations need an improved business and investment climate. Rule of law, an independent judiciary, and predictability of taxation, as well as peace and stability are all key factors largely influencing both domestic and foreign investors’ decisions. The cost of setting up a business is thought to be around three times higher in fragile states significantly discouraging private investment.

Shared solutions on migration

Marked by the unprecedented inflows from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan during the years 2014-2016, Europeans often tend to overlook that flows from Africa are, so far, rather modest in terms of numbers, while the majority of mobile Africans still move within their own continent. Nonetheless, the rapid growth of Africa’s population, combined with a rise in forced displacements driven by new security and climate threats, as well as the spread of digital technologies that fuel aspirations and facilitate travel, mean that migration and mobility between continents are clearly here to stay.

In this context, the first priority must be to put in place shared solutions to address the human tragedy caused as many thousands of Africans embark on life-endangering journeys across land and sea, putting their hopes and futures into the hands of ruthless smuggling networks. Addressing this harrowing and complex issue requires a truly comprehensive solution, entailing responsibilities and obligations for all involved parties, in countries of origin, transit and destination. It means sustainably tackling the root causes of migration, ensuring the protection of those in need, and reinforcing opportunities when it comes to legal migration and mobility.

The Partnership Framework, the EU’s most recent initiative to effectively manage migration, provides an umbrella for practical cooperation with third countries at a bilateral level, fully respecting humanitarian and human rights obligations. As part of this, the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) is a key instrument to mobilise funding for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement. But comprehensive solutions also need to be investigated at regional, continental and global levels.

Finally, the EU should also work with its African partners to maximise the dividends of regular migration and mobility to Europe and within Africa, and boosting its potential as a development driver ­– by faciliating and securing financial flows, including remittances, for example.

Conclusions

The upcoming Africa-EU Summit in November will be an occasion to revitalise the Africa-EU relationship and to adapt it to the new realities we are facing today.
A strong and strategic partnership of equals must combine and balance African and European priorities, driving forward cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including education, healthcare, research, low-carbon technologies, security and migration. The internationally agreed and universal United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has been translated into the African Union’s Agenda 2063, offers a shared framework for moving this relationship forward, underlining the importance of good governance and of sustainable and inclusive economic transformation that leaves no one behind.