At a moment when rising oil prices and continued supply disruptions are raising the stakes of reliance on fossil fuels, decarbonising the global shipping industry is about more than curbing emissions—it is also about strategic diversification as geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions grow. The Net-Zero Framework (NZF) presents the strongest maritime decarbonisation proposal, designed to drive switching to low-emission fuels while also ensuring a predictable stream of revenues…
Recent coordinated attacks by jihadist and separatist groups in Mali, unprecedented in their scale and coordination, have placed the state’s security apparatus under strain and reinforced concerns over instability across the wider region, despite the reconfiguration of Bamako’s external partnerships. More broadly, the Sahel and West Africa are facing a complex set of…
At a moment of heightened geopolitical turmoil and growing economic, climate and security pressures, Africa–Europe relations are undergoing an important recalibration. Last year’s AU–EU Summit in Luanda underscored the strategic interdependence of the two continents, the importance of multilateralism and the persistent gap between ambition and delivery. This year, ECFR is hosting its annual high-level Africa-Europe…
Russia has made significant inroads in Africa—particularly in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Mali—deploying military operations that, while limited in scope, are often devastating for local civilian populations. At the same time, Moscow has developed a powerful propaganda machine that taps into existing antipathy towards Europe, particularly France, to push African governments…
Africa’s energy landscape is rapidly transforming as countries pursue industrial growth and broader energy access, while leveraging different partners—from China to the US, the Gulf and more—to achieve their energy transition objectives. This structural hedging complicates Europe’s preferred model of stable long-term partnerships. This public online event will launch ECFR’s policy brief “…
Join us for a timely webinar exploring insights from ECFR’s policy brief, “Long walk to realism: Climate cooperation to reset EU-South Africa relations.” The discussion will reflect on South Africa’s G20 presidency and recent global gatherings—including the AU-EU Summit in Angola and COP30 in Brazil—to assess how the EU and South Africa…
In 2025, Angola has gained increased visibility on the global stage through its presidency of the African Union and hosting the US-Africa Business Summit as well as the 7th AU–EU Summit in Luanda last month. Despite internal challenges, such as inequality and weak institutional capacity, the country has managed to position itself as an aspiring middle power…
At the seventh Berlin Climate and Security Conference, hosted by the German Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with adelphi, ECFR Africa chaired a breakout session on the strategic importance of minerals and Africa’s role amid geopolitical turmoil. As the global race for clean technologies intensifies – spanning energy, defense and digital sectors…
Europe has explicitly committed to supporting more mineral processing and value addition taking place in African mineral-rich countries, including as part of the mineral strategic partnerships that the EU has signed with Namibia, Zambia, the DRC, and Rwanda. African governments aim to leverage growing interest in critical minerals to unlock more domestic value addition,…
As the global race for clean technologies accelerates—spanning energy, defense, and digital sectors—Africa’s critical mineral reserves have become central to a new era of geopolitical and geoeconomic competition, where climate goals, industrial policy, and strategic influence increasingly converge. Global powers are repositioning themselves across the continent, not only to secure supply chains but to…
