Only three months after the launch of the Africa–Europe Alliance, the European Commission is presenting the first progress on boosting investment and creating jobs in Africa.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “Europe and Africa share a long history and a bright future. This is why I proposed a new Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs, to help attract both European and African investment and create 10 million jobs in Africa over the next five years. Translating words into action, we have already taken a series of measures to bring our ambitions to life.”
The Africa-Europe Alliance, announced by President Juncker in his 2018 State of the Union Address, focuses on four key areas. Three months on, work is already well underway in each:
1. Strategic Investment and Job Creation
The EU External Investment Plan aims to raise significant sustainable investments in Africa and European neighbourhood countries by 2020. From the €44 billion announced, programmes already in the pipeline will mobilise €37.1 billion of investments.
2. Investment in Education and Matching Skills and Jobs
Since 2015, the Erasmus+ programme supported 16,000 exchanges of African students and staff from African Universities to come to Europe on short-term exchanges. With new Erasmus+ calls ongoing, the EU is well on track to deliver on its announced 2020 target of reaching 35,000 exchanges.
3. Business Environment and Investment Climate
In 2018 alone, the European Union has committed over €540 million to support business and investment climate reforms– significantly exceeding the Africa-Europe Alliance’s commitment to increase European Union support up to €300-350 million per year for 2018-2020.
4. Economic Integration and Trade
The European Union is committed to support the creation of an African Continental Free Trade Area and has notably announced €50 million of support. A first step was taken with a €3 million programme signed with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to develop national implementation strategies for the continental free trade area. The establishment of an African trade observatory is also planned and will be a key pillar of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Original source: European Commission
Published on 18 December 2018