Prior to the African and European Union Summit, the SLOGA Platform organised a discussion on Civil Society’s View on the Partnership of Equals. It was moderated by journalist and political commentator Ervin Hladnik Milharčič and featured speakers Ana Kalin (Forum FER), Max Zimani (Global Institute), Eyachew Tefera (Institute of African Studies) and Aleksandra Gačić (PhD student and member of the Platform SLOGA Expert Council).
Referring to the Declaration of African-European CSOs ahead of the EU-AU Summit, which was the starting point of the debate, Max Zimani, who participated in its drafting, considered it typical for such an event, where no changes are expected to take place. The emphasis on a partnership of equals shows that such a partnership does not yet exist, either at the policy level or at the civil society level. He also pointed to the disregard for the African Agenda 2063, which is the strategy for all other national programmes.
The Summit is essential for us as global citizens and Africans, Eyachew Tefera argued. Decisions will have an impact on increasing or decreasing inequalities, on combating climate change. The direction in which EU-AU relations go is important for the well-being of all. We need people-centred sustainable development, not GDP growth and poorer people. But the strategy adopted must be verifiable so that it can be tested by civil society and academics.
Ms Kalin recalled the achievements of Abidjan in 2007 when it was made clear that civil society, business and local authorities were also partners and stakeholders, and that they should meet annually. Then there was a setback. In her view, therefore, the right response to this Summit would be to boycott it, since civil society was not involved in the dialogue and had no say in the drafting of the Summit’s final document. Last but not least, it is not yet clear whether civil society will even be mentioned in the final document.
Aleksandra Gačić considers it inappropriate to include colonial history in the declaration. It is a negative definition with good intentions, but it overlooks, among other things, a serious problem, that of neo-colonialism, which is happening here and now in all areas.
As for the importance of using the correct terminology, she also pointed out that the very notion of linear development is controversial: who dictates what it means to be developed? More useful is the notion of an underdeveloped Africa, which shows that development is not generated in Africa itself, that it is not a matter of scarcity of resources, but of global inequity. The example of Covid-19 shows how this underdevelopment of Africa is created over and over again. She also drew attention to the overlooked problem of modern toxic colonialism – the export of garbage to Africa.
The panellists also touched on the issue of education, that is education for development, which is specifically highlighted in Agenda 2063 (Zimani), and the concrete training of personnel who would be able to manage the billions that the EU will be allocating to Africa (Hladnik Milharčič). Mr Zimani also pointed out that there are other aspects that clearly show that priorities are still being created in Europe, not in Africa. The fact that these are different perspectives is clearly seen in the example of vaccines and migration. The Africans have asked to be able to produce their own vaccines, but the EU has refused to suspend patents and prefers to give Africa its vaccines. For Europe, migration is only a security issue; for Africa, it is about facilitating migration, because three-quarters of migration takes place within Africa and is crucial for trade between countries.
Civil society has a role to play in bridging the two perspectives and highlighting the differences, he stressed.