As Brussels gears up for its second Global Gateway Forum — where the European Union will chart its global investment priorities through its flagship platform, particularly in Africa — the usual buzzwords are floating around: strategic investments, sustainable infrastructure, equal partnerships. These are not just empty phrases — Brussels deserves credit for putting Africa high on the agenda. But behind the polished language is a difficult pill to swallow, and a critical blind spot.
To put it bluntly, Europe is neither exporting enough to Africa nor investing sufficiently in African businesses.
EU exports to Africa in 2023 amounted to €170.4 billion, representing just under 3% of the EU’s total exports of goods, and in reverse, only about a quarter of Africa’s imports (by value) come from the European Union.