(Photo courtesy of the EU delegation to Egypt)
The European Union has dispatched envoys to Africa ahead of the fourth EU-Africa Summit to be held in Brussels at the beginning of April. Ambassador Hans-Peter Schadek arrived in Egypt on Sunday with a message of cooperation, highlighting the need for Egypt’s relationship to the EU to move away from dependence on aid.
At a roundtable event in Cairo, Schadek told reporters of April’s summit, themed “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace,” which aims “to mark a further significant step forward for the partnership between the EU and Africa in all three areas identified” said an EU press release.
The envoy pointed to the 2007 EU-Africa summit held in Lisbon, looking to emphasise and create a “partnership between Europe and Africa [that] should go far beyond the traditional or historic aid cooperation dimension and become a much more strategic partnership of equals and partnership that deals with Africa as a whole”.
Schadek was hopeful for the success of this transition in the future. “If you see the growth rates of the economies of both continents you will see that the African continent is moving much faster at present,” said the envoy. He said that continued development cooperation could lead to a situation in which “economies emerge and aid becomes superfluous as a consequence”. He pointed to “Asian economies that 20 years ago benefitted from development cooperation so well they don’t need it anymore”.
Schadek said that Europe and Africa both face common challenges, which he said are “to consolidate sustainable growth and ensure that it is inclusive in creating jobs, improving public-private partnership and business climate and enhancing the development of small to medium enterprises, with a special attention to women and young people”.
On the specific role of Egypt in the summit, Schadek confirmed that Egypt has been invited despite the suspension of its membership to the African Union’s Peace and Security Council. He hoped for “a high-level presence at the summit”. Earlier on Sunday the envoy met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamdy Sanad Loza, and is expected to meet later with officials in the “Ministry of International Cooperation and Ministry of Trade and Foreign Investment as well as members of different chambers of commerce and representatives of NGOs”.
Schadek is scheduled to depart Egypt on Monday, and will continue his North Africa tour in Tunisia and then Morocco.
