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Africa

The African continent is undergoing profound transformations. Traditional and hybrid threats, growing violent extremism, structural and climate-related vulnerabilities, and migratory pressures represent some of the challenges faced by the continent.

At the same time, Africa is also witnessing fast-paced political, economic and technological progress. This is radically changing its societies and institutions,  with African countries gaining a new prominence in a multipolar world, as demonstrated by the accession of the African Union (AU) to the G20 in September 2023.

External shocks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, have accelerated pre-existing trends.

The relationship between the European Union and African countries and institutions is also evolving, reflecting the new and more competitive geopolitical realities.

The Joint Communication ‘Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa’ calls for a strengthened EU strategic alliance with Africa. It aims to enhance cooperation on global and multilateral affairs based on a clear understanding of respective and mutual interests and responsibilities. The Strategy also highlights shared commitments between the AU and EU, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063. ‘A Joint Vision for 2030’, adopted in 2022, reiterates the need for a closer partnership for a common future and identifies key priorities in four domains: prosperity and sustainability, peace and security, migration and mobility and multilateralism.

EUISS research on Africa

The EUISS provides innovative research, analysis and advice to support EU and Member States’ strategies and policies towards Africa. Our objective is to contribute to forging a stronger partnership between the two continents.

The EUISS uses its convening power to facilitate knowledge sharing, brainstorming, consensus building and dialogues with stakeholders and local partners, to break new ground on matters affecting Africa-EU relations. The Institute looks at evolving conflict dynamics across the continent, formulating recommendations on how to strengthen the implementation of the EU’s integrated approach.

The EUISS also monitors political, economic and security trends in countries at risk of falling or relapsing into conflict, to make the case for prevention when EU action can be impactful, using strategic foresight methodologies.

Finally, the EUISS studies the African geopolitical landscape and the role of new geopolitical actors projecting their influence in the continent, as well as related emerging challenges, such as cyber risks and hybrid threats.

Flagship initiatives

Chaillot Papers

Four flagship publications exploring the new geo-strategic landscape in Africa:

  • The Africa Atlas ‘maps’ areas of shared interest in the partnership between the EU and the AU and key trends and trajectories by means of visuals and infographics, thus letting data speak through graphics, charts and maps.
  • African Spaces accounts for physical and non-physical spaces where geopolitical competition takes place in the continent.
  • African Futures 2030 uses foresight scenarios to explore the implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area for peace and prosperity.
  • African Strategies analyses the evolution of European and global actors’ strategies towards the continent, as a result of the ‘new scramble for Africa’.

EUISS-COAFR Meetings 

Since January 2019, the EUISS organises regular meetings with the European Council’s Working Party on Africa (COAFR). Sessions are designed to provide delegates of EU Member States with innovative approaches and facilitate knowledge-sharing on selected regions, countries or topics, contributing to Africa-related policy planning and joint analysis.

Conflict Series – Policy Briefs

The Conflict Series examines contemporary conflict situations and conflict-related thematic issues to contribute to enhanced conflict analysis that serves policy planning and policymaking. Several analyses of African conflict situations have been published under the series.

Imagine Africa Series – Policy Briefs

The Imagine Africa Series provided a platform for African experts to discuss potential futures for Africa using strategic foresight scenarios on selected priority areas for Africa-Europe cooperation. Five policy briefs were published under the series and dedicated to the broad theme of ‘people-centred development’. The full list is available here.

African Futures Task Force

From November 2019 to December 2020, the EUISS ran an African Futures Task Force. Its main objective was to explore trends affecting the future of Africa in the next ten years, emphasising challenges and opportunities for policymaking. The task force resulted in the publication of the Chaillot Paper ‘African Futures 2030: free trade, peace and prosperity’ on 9 March 2021.

 

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    17February 2016
    The EU and Africa: a changing security partnership
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    With Africans increasingly taking charge of security governance on their continent, this Brief assess to what extent the African Union’s partnership with the EU is truly strategic. Have the two continents finally managed to overcome the donor-recipient dynamic which long dominated their relationship?

  • 17February 2016
    Europe & Africa: a strategic approach

    Part of the expert outreach and consultation process for the preparation of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, this joint conference was held on 17-18 February 2016 at the Maison de la recherche in Paris.

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    12February 2016
    Scrambling for the Indian Ocean
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    As both China and India scramble for influence in the region, the ocean looks increasingly like the board of Go – the great encircling game. Is there a maritime governance role there for the EU? One which allows it to finally develop its strategic partnership with the South Asian giant?

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    19January 2016
    Transatlantic drug trafficking – via Africa
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    The growing consumer market for illicit substances in Europe also poses challenges for West Africa. This Alert shows how its optimal geographical location is turning it into a hotbed for smuggling networks operating out of Latin America.

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    17December 2015
    Mali: an endangered peace
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    The Malian peace process underway is at risk of derailing once again. In order to avoid the mistakes of the past, further international support is needed to curb jihadist terrorist groups and create a more favourable security environment for the demilitarisation of the volatile north.

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    16October 2015
    Getting Africa right
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    Why do so many analysts fall into the trap of simply labelling Africa as either ‘cursed’ or ‘rising’? This Alert looks at how the validity of the empirical assessments on which both interpretations are based has been put into question.

  • 11September 2015
    Building security in the Sahel: European, regional and local approaches

    The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) organised this conference on the Sahel as part of the activities held under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

  • 30June 2015
    Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea – what has been done, what needs to be done?

    In association with DG DEVCO of the European Commission and the European External Action Service, the EUISS held a conference on Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea on 30 June 2015 in Brussels.

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    26June 2015
    Transit Niger: migrants, rebels and traffickers
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    Niger is increasingly becoming a major hub for drugs and arms smuggling in the Sahel region, as well as for clandestine migration across the desert, into Libya, and eventually Europe. Can Niger block these irregular migration and smuggling routes – and if so, will it?

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    12June 2015
    Elections in Africa: half-full? half-empty?
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    Half-way through a year that many dubbed ‘a milestone for African elections’, a mixed picture emerges. President Buhari’s inauguration in Nigeria celebrated the victory of an opposition party in peaceful, free elections. Yet Sudan’s sham election, Ethiopia’s marginal opening and Burundi’s escalating violence tell another story.

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    01January 2007
    Monitoring a region in crisis: the European Union in West Africa
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    The five West African countries that constitute the Mano River Basin have attracted significant international and regional attention and preoccupation over the last fifteen years. Over the years, a series of agreements has established trade and development aid partnership links between the European Union and the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group of states.

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    01October 2006
    Leçons du Liban
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    Qui aurait cru, un an après le marasme politique issu des « non » au référendum sur la Constitution, que l’Union allait devenir, en quelques mois, l’un des acteurs indispensables pour la stabilisation des crises, notamment au Moyen-Orient ?

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    01July 2006
    ESDP Newsletter No.2
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    As we finalise this second issue of the ESDP newsletter, the European Union is about to launch its fourth military operation under the European Security and Defence Policy: the UN force, MONUC, during the crucial electoral period in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The newsletter places the new mission in the context of the EU's strong, long-standing and multifaceted commitment to the DRC and its transition process.

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    01June 2006
    Towards a UN deployment in Darfur: avoiding destabilising repercussions for peacekeeping in Africa
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    On 5 May 2006, a Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed by the Government of Sudan (GoS) and one of the rebel movements in Darfur, the Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement. Furthermore, on 16 May 2006, the Security Council of the United Nations (UNSC) adopted a resolution to strengthen the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur prior to the deployment of an United Nations mission.

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    01March 2006
    Security by proxy? The EU and (sub-)regional organisations: the case of ECOWAS
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    The European Union (EU) has for a long time paid attention to processes of regional integration and cooperation on other continents. However, the relations the EU has developed with other regional or sub-regional organisations until a very recent period were essentially focused on economic, development and trade issues, partly because of the late emergence of the EU itself as a foreign and security actor.

  • 01January 2006
    EU-Afrique : les enjeux d'un « partenariat stratégique »
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    A l'encontre des perceptions des années 1990, une amélioration s'esquisse sur le continent africain. L'« afro-pessimisme » résultant de multiples conflits et de difficultés économiques récurrentes semble s'estomper au profit d'une prise en compte de l'hétérogénéité des situations africaines. Dans le sillage de ces évolutions, le Conseil de l'Union européenne des 15 et 16 décembre 2005 a adopté une nouvelle stratégie pour l'Afrique.

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    01January 2006
    Un débat pour 2006
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    Quand on aime, on ne compte pas, dit la sagesse populaire. A contrario donc, les batailles sévères entre Etats membres sur l’avenir du budget européen en disent long sur la double crise de confiance et de solidarité que traverse l’Union depuis plus de six mois. Au point que l’on peut se demander si ce sont bien les « non » français et néerlandais au référendum sur la Constitution qui ont déclenché la crise, ou s’ils n’ont été finalement que les déclencheurs ou les révélateurs d’une rupture plus profonde depuis longtemps présente dans la dynamique européenne.

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    01October 2005
    La Chine en Afrique : Anatomie d'une nouvelle stratégie chinoise
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    En 2004, 20% des minerais extraits sur le continent africain ont été exportés vers la Chine ; 20% des importations chinoises de pétrole proviennent désormais des pays d'Afrique sub-saharienne. Bien que la Chine ne réalise que 2,4% de son commerce extérieur en biens manufacturés avec l'Afrique, de nouveaux types d'exportations chinoises - avec des produits à plus forte valeur ajoutée - sont apparus ces dernières années vers les pays africains : en l'espace de quatre ans, le volume des échanges a été multiplié par trois entre la Chine et l'Afrique sub-saharienne.

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    01May 2005
    L'Union et l'Afrique subsaharienne : quel partenariat ?
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    Depuis le début des années 1990, l'Union poursuit un objectif ambitieux aujourd'hui défini par la Stratégie européenne de Sécurité : contribuer à un monde meilleur. La région du monde à la fois la plus pauvre et la plus sujette à la violence est celle avec laquelle le projet européen entretient une relation datant de ses origines et dont le destin a longtemps été façonné par ses Etats membres : l'Afrique subsaharienne.

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    01November 2004
    La gestion des crises en Afrique subsaharienne - Le rôle de l'union européenne
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    Le nombre croissant et la complexité grandissante des situations de crise en Afrique, ainsi qu’un intérêt moins marqué de la communauté internationale pour la région au lendemain de la guerre froide, ont conduit de nombreux États et organisations africains à prendre des initiatives pour trouver des solutions à leurs propres problèmes.

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