The European Union does not let its guard down in the battle for Africa and today, in the mouth of the European Commissioner for International Associations, Jutta Urpilainenhas advocated “investing” in the continent to reinforce Africa’s “resilience” in the face of what it describes as a “battle of offers” by various international actors -mainly China and Russia. The statements were made within the framework of a trip to Senegal in which he also announced a package of an additional 30 million euros to support the authorities in tackling irregular migration.
“I think that in Africa we are not only facing a battle of narratives, but we are also facing a battle of offers, about what the different partners can offer Africa,” he explained in an interview with Europa Press in Dakar after the presentation of the Global Gateway campaign in Senegal.
Thus, he has maintained that Russia bases its collaboration “largely on weapons and military equipmentperhaps some ‘services'”, in apparent reference to the deployment of mercenaries from the Africa Corps – the former Wagner Group -, while China has “historically” offered “investments in infrastructure projects through loans« so that the countries »were able to make those investments«.
Urpilainen has stated that this last fact has led to an “enormous dependence” of some countries on Beijing, with “many” of them “suffering a high level of debt” and has given the example of Senegal, where the level of debt with respect to GDP reaches 84%, with a 10% deficit. “The macroeconomic situation is not very good,” he highlighted.
The EU wants to develop Africa, not make it “dependent”
For this reason, he has emphasized that the EU’s “offer” seeks to strengthen Africa’s capabilities “so that it does not want to be an object of aid, but rather wants to be active in itself, to stand on its own.” «We have to invest in Africa and enable Africa to be self-sufficient and independent“he said, citing sectors such as food production, energy or the production of medicines and vaccines.
“Our goal is really to strengthen Africa’s resilience, self-reliance and independence, something that is highly appreciated by our African partners. We do not want to create new dependencies but, on the contrary, support them and their sustainable development,” said Urpilainen, who has praised the weight of the EU on the continent.
Thus, he has detailed that The bloc “is still the largest provider of Official Development Assistance to Africa, the largest trading partner with Africa and the main foreign investor in Africa.” »We are much bigger than China«, he has stressed, although he has recognized that in the face of this »battle of offers«, it is »very important« that the EU »has its own« and that this is a »positive« for the continent and its population.
«If we look at the figures so far, we have been able to mobilize investments of up to 179,000 million euros«, he stated – regarding the objective of 300,000 million euros between 2021 and 2027 as part of Global Gateway -, with 116 projects supported and promoted by the bloc on the continent.
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