• The African Union and European Union meet in Angola to redefine their 25-year partnership around co-investment rather than aid, according to the Africa-Europe Foundation.

• The summit highlights critical minerals, energy security and industrial sovereignty as core tests for a new Africa–Europe compact.

• The report “State of Africa-Europe 2025” calls on both continents to replace the donor–recipient model with risk-sharing and co-designed infrastructure strategies.

Global value chains shift around critical minerals, and the Africa–Europe axis returns to the center of geoeconomic competition. As the Luanda summit opens this Monday, the Africa-Europe Foundation calls for a move from aid to strategic co-investment.

The African Union and the European Union meet on 24–25 November in Luanda under the theme “Promoting Peace and Prosperity through Effective Multilateralism.” The meeting marks the 25th anniversary of the AU–EU partnership launched at the 2000 Cairo Summit. The event takes place as the world faces economic fragmentation, geopolitical rivalry and heightened competition for resources, markets and technology.

The choice of Angola, a resource-rich state, reflects the growing importance of critical minerals, energy security, climate transitions and shifting investment flows toward Africa. The Africa-Europe Foundation’s report “State of Africa-Europe 2025 – Financing Our Future” situates its recommendations within this context.

“The Partnership Must Scale Up Now”

Paul Walton, the foundation’s executive director, argues that the post-war partnership model no longer suits both continents. He states: “If there is a moment when the Africa–Europe partnership must scale up, it is now,” as traditional global players retreat from multilateralism and leave a strategic vacuum.

Ending the Donor–Recipient Model

The report promotes a decisive break with the asymmetric donor–beneficiary relationship and advocates a shift toward co-investment, risk-sharing and co-designed public policies and infrastructure.

Walton states: “The old model — too many requests for promises on the African side, too much traditional aid on the European side — works for no one.”

Although both continents announce major commitments in energy, health, connectivity and employment, the implementation lags behind political ambition. Walton argues that the issue is not only financial but structural and institutional. He states that architectures inherited from 1945, including the UN and the global financial system, no longer align with 21st-century realities.

The shift requires a new posture: co-designing investment platforms, jointly determining sectoral and technological priorities, and aligning interests rather than issuing political pledges followed by conditional disbursements.

Blue Economy Emerges as a Catalyst

Several sectors offer natural convergence, starting with the blue economy. Absent from the previous summit, it becomes central as it links climate imperatives and economic development, particularly for coastal African states. After years of tension over ecological transitions, it provides a practical compromise between growth, jobs and sustainability.

Critical Minerals and Industrial Sovereignty as a Credibility Test

A sensitive issue at Luanda concerns critical and transition minerals. As global demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths surges, Africa — home to major reserves — moves back to the heart of global competition.

Walton argues that the question is no longer whether Europe should secure supplies but how it should do so. He warns against reproducing extractive models used by other geopolitical partners in past decades.

The report insists that any European strategy must align with the African Union’s pan-African vision, in order to ensure local value creation, industrial capacity building, technological upgrading and tangible benefits for local communities. Memorandums of understanding signed in recent years represent a first step, but the real test lies in operational delivery.

The report states that Africa’s industrialization remains essential to any credible energy transition.

The Urgency of a New Investment Contract

On financing, the analysis shows that Africa continues to suffer from a high-risk perception among European investors. This perception translates into high interest rates on international markets, often exceeding those of countries with comparable fundamentals.

In response, several African governments turn to China or Gulf states, which they perceive as faster and less restrictive. Europe therefore needs to demonstrate clear added value.

The Africa-Europe Foundation studied around 150 energy projects in Sierra Leone and engaged with Nordic pension funds, including in Denmark. It found that significant investment potential exists but that projects often fail at what Walton calls the “last mile” — the crucial phase of financial structuring and economic viability.

Walton promotes the concept of smart money: better-structured financing, stronger capacity-building and improved monitoring tools, rather than simply more funding.

From Policy Announcements to Delivery: Moving from “What” to “How”

On implementation, the 2022 Brussels summit addressed the “what” by stressing the need to monitor commitments. Luanda now focuses on the “how”: which tools, indicators and digital platforms can track, compare and accelerate real progress on the ground?

Walton argues that this part is “less ‘sexy’ but the most decisive.” Without strong governance, accountability and evaluation mechanisms, no political ambition can translate into tangible transformation.

Beyond economics, the Luanda meeting aims to reaffirm a strategic alliance between Africa and Europe in a multipolar world where multilateralism faces rising contestation. Joint progress within the G20, global development financing discussions and international treaties shows that cooperation remains possible — provided it is rebalanced and modernized.

Looking toward 2030, the report states that success will depend not only on financial outcomes but on public perception. The question is whether African and European citizens will view the partnership as yet another summit or as the beginning of a new chapter built on equity, co-creation and shared prosperity.

This article was initially published in French by Moutiou Adjibi Nourou

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum