Europeans are making little progress in their efforts to source critical raw materials from recycling. They should establish stricter export controls, expand domestic recycling and refining capacity, and develop stronger EU-Africa partnerships to benefit both continents
The EU’s new Industrial Accelerator Act is missing the key ingredient needed for acceleration—a reliable supply of processed minerals. For this, Europeans should turn to African countries and offer them industrial investments tied to offtake commitments
The EU must take concrete steps to support African ambitions to move exporting or processing raw materials and become a maker of clean technologies
Africa is awash with summits this year. If Europe wants to stand out, it must stay long after the photos have been taken
The EU must recalibrate to the new strategic environment driving the Lobito Corridor project specifically, and relations in southern Africa more generally
A failed coup in Benin is the latest in an increasingly volatile West Africa. To encourage stability, Europeans should support the region’s governments while doubling down on countering disinformation—but do so discretely
Africa’s digital economy is growing fast, and America and China have been sure to get a foothold. To compete, the EU’s Global Gateway needs to make a better offer to African partners
Angola’s close cooperation with the UAE demonstrates Africa’s diversification of external partners. Europe needs to overcome internal disunity, temper its reliance on the US and engage with emerging actors to remain a key player in the region
El-Fasher in North Darfur is now the epicentre of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. Europe’s options are limited, but there are still ways to hold the responsible accountable
Madagascar’s recent regime change is being described as a coup—but its young people should take the credit. The EU needs to support the Malagasy population and lend its technical expertise to the island’s new government
The IMO’s Net-Zero Framework is critical for EU competitiveness and the clearest path to decarbonise shipping. African backing may prove decisive as American and Gulf pressure stalls progress
Europeans must adapt their approach to supporting Africa’s energy transitions—or risk losing out to China and other competitors
Angola is increasingly active in the world. Here is how Europeans can cooperate with this rising middle power
Russia has many quiet enemies in Africa. Working together, like-minded Africans and Europeans can roll back its troublesome influence
After decades of extractive mining, the industrialisation of resource-rich African countries has fallen short of expectations. To change this—and give Europe a secure, diversified source of minerals—European and African countries should work together to keep more stages of mineral processing and manufacturing in Africa
Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo face a double threat—from jihadists creeping south from the Sahel and coup plotters lurking within. As northern borders buckle, the region could slip into instability and away from Europe’s reach
The EU and South Africa should accept political differences and pursue a pragmatic partnership, mutually strengthening economic and climate ties—using South Africa’s energy transition as the decisive test of this balance
The EU’s high ESG standards are strangling investment in Africa’s mining sector. A phased, realistic approach could unlock much-needed resources
Al-Shabab is regaining strength in Somalia amid obstacles with the latest peacekeeping mission—just as external partners seek to move away from costly interventions. But there is a path forward
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are making geoeconomic inroads into sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in energy and climate. This could affect Europe’s African interests
Europeans are making little progress in their efforts to source critical raw materials from recycling. They should establish stricter export controls, expand domestic recycling and refining capacity, and develop stronger EU-Africa partnerships to benefit both continents
The EU’s new Industrial Accelerator Act is missing the key ingredient needed for acceleration—a reliable supply of processed minerals. For this, Europeans should turn to African countries and offer them industrial investments tied to offtake commitments
The EU must take concrete steps to support African ambitions to move exporting or processing raw materials and become a maker of clean technologies
Africa is awash with summits this year. If Europe wants to stand out, it must stay long after the photos have been taken
The EU must recalibrate to the new strategic environment driving the Lobito Corridor project specifically, and relations in southern Africa more generally
A failed coup in Benin is the latest in an increasingly volatile West Africa. To encourage stability, Europeans should support the region’s governments while doubling down on countering disinformation—but do so discretely
Africa’s digital economy is growing fast, and America and China have been sure to get a foothold. To compete, the EU’s Global Gateway needs to make a better offer to African partners
Angola’s close cooperation with the UAE demonstrates Africa’s diversification of external partners. Europe needs to overcome internal disunity, temper its reliance on the US and engage with emerging actors to remain a key player in the region
El-Fasher in North Darfur is now the epicentre of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. Europe’s options are limited, but there are still ways to hold the responsible accountable
Madagascar’s recent regime change is being described as a coup—but its young people should take the credit. The EU needs to support the Malagasy population and lend its technical expertise to the island’s new government
Mark Leonard welcomes Nathalie Delapalme, Carlos Lopes and Alex Vines to discover the pathways and bottlenecks facing the Europe-Africa relationship
Mark Leonard welcomes Julien Barnes-Dacey, Jana Kobzová, Andrew Small and Alex Vines to discuss upcoming political changes in 2026
Mark Leonard welcomes Will Brown and Beverly Ochieng to discuss what Russia’s growing influence in the Sahel means for Europe
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…
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…
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…
As Africa becomes an increasingly central arena for Russia’s interests, the role of the United States and China is undergoing significant transformation. With Trump’s return to the White House, a broader US economic-military repositioning in Africa to contain external influences seems to occur, while Beijing continues to deepen its structural economic presence across the…
Europe has positioned its high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards as central to its global partnerships, particularly in efforts to develop sustainable critical raw materials (CRM) value chains with mineral-rich African countries such as Namibia, Zambia, the DRC, and Rwanda. With Africa home to around a third of the world’s known mineral reserves,…
Il tema di questa edizione de Il Circolo dell’ECFR è l ruolo degli Emirati Arabi Uniti in Africa. Mentre i leader europei riflettono sul futuro strategico dell’Unione Europea in un contesto di crescenti tensioni geopolitiche, un gruppo influente di potenze medie, che include paesi come India, Turchia e le monarchie del Golfo, sta assumendo…
A decade of military, humanitarian, and developmental European interventions in the Sahelian states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have failed comprehensively. Yet, European governments must accept that engagement, however ugly, is their only hope of advancing their strategic priority of a stable Sahel region. In this event, ECFR Africa reflects on recent developments…
Maddalena Procopio and Suzanne Tisserand on a more coordinated European approach to Africa
Formiche magazine features the commentary “After Ukraine: The peace dividend Africa does not want”
