Investing Together, For A New Alliance Between Africa And Europe | Virtual

📅 16 February 2022
Paris, France

In connection with the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, AFD Group is organizing a high-profile event to promote a new Euro-African alliance for sustainable investment to be held on February 16, 2022.

The conference will bring together numerous partners from the private sector and civil society from both continents, on the eve of the EU-African Union Summit in Brussels, which will be attended by African and European governments and Heads of State.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Senegalese President Macky Sall will make closing remarks. Given that this conference follows the Summit on the Financing of African Economies last May 18, 2021, in Paris and the New Africa-France Summit on October 8, 2021, in Montpellier, the event will seek to convey a strong message regarding the paradigm shift from development aid to new forms of sustainable investment by European and African partners.

On the eve of the EU-African Union Summit in Brussels being held on February 17 and 18, 2022, the aim of this event is to:

• Highlight the new forms and dimensions of operational partnerships initiated by public development banks and European and African investors. This comes after the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in May 2021 and the New Africa-France Summit in Montpellier and is on the eve of the EU-AU Summit this year.
• Announce AFD’s name change, after more than four years of initiatives implemented by France, thus marking this symbolic watershed and the paradigm shift from aid to new forms of solidarity investment.
• Promote the structuring and mobilization of the European financial architecture for solidarity as part of its “Team Europe” approach, ahead of the EU/AU Summit.

The event will be structured around three workshops and a closing session attended by the French and Senegalese presidents.

• The first workshop will establish the intellectual framework for the event and examine the evolution of the provisions and objectives of the relationship between France, Europe, and Africa.
• The second workshop will cover private-sector financing. It will deal with questions surrounding the reinforcement of support for African SMEs and the development of tools and mechanisms to improve communication with those driving African growth and the jobs of tomorrow.
• The third workshop will focus on investment in sustainable infrastructure. It will promote the “Team Europe” approach by proposing ways to simplify and increase the efficiency of European financing.
• These workshops will be followed by a final session, in the presence of the French and Senegalese presidents, based on establishing new partnership relations with Africa.