For decades, Europe has been a key partner to Africa, providing aid development support and shaping governance frameworks, but critics say the model is out of step with a changing global reality.
Europe is shifting from traditional aid models to interest-driven partnerships with Africa as competition from China, Russia and the United States intensifies and the Iran war disrupts Middle Eastern energy supplies.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
For African leaders, this creates opportunities both internally and externally, according to former Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera.
"As you grow, what was fit for purpose yesterday may not be fit for purpose today. And so there is a need for constant conversation taking place to see how best we proceed for a situation that becomes a win-win situation," Chakwera said.
According to him, there are several levels of this kind of partnership. For example, Europe trades amongst itself far more than African countries do across the continent.
"We are saying economic integration on the continent should be pushed as much as we have bilateral agreements with nations outside that continent," Chakwera said.
"And so whether you're talking about the free trade on the continent, we need to find ways of facilitating the implementation, faster implementation of such things," he explained.
EU turns to Africa for gas supplies
Today, amid rising competition from the US, China and Russia, policymakers say it was a matter of time before Europe changed its approach so as not to become irrelevant in Africa.
"I believe that we must today revise our policy with African countries and move away from this development aid policy, which is outdated and which does not draw the consequences of concrete realities," says Younous Omarjee, MEP (France/The Left) and vice president of the European Parliament.
Speaking at the Africa Political Outlook forum in Brussels, Omarjee said Europe must, on its side, assume that we have interests in Africa. "Because development and prosperity on the African continent determines development and prosperity in Europe."
"So we have interests in Africa, and African countries have interests and have an interest in their partnership with Europe," he added.
One of such areas of interest is Europe's energy landscape, which has undergone a major shift since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
And as the Iran war and Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz disrupt its alternative oil and gas routes, Africa's importance in the global energy market has increased due to its geographical proximity and relatively secure shipping routes.
To replace lost supplies, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday announced closer energy cooperation with Algeria to increase gas supplies to her country. According to Meloni, more than 30% of Italy's natural gas needs are currently being met by Algeria.
Nigeria continues to be a major supplier to southern Europe, with over half of Portugal's LNG imports coming from Nigeria.
Analysts believe this deepening of energy ties between Europe and Africa could rapidly change investment flows and economic fortunes in Africa. But key challenges to this trade remain — that of infrastructure and security.
EU reaches deals in West Africa
In March, the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas visited the West African states of Nigeria and Ghana, marking a key milestone in the strategic partnership between the two regions.
In Nigeria, Kallas signed a readmission agreement on migration and announced a €288 million support package covering healthcare, agriculture, finance, migration, climate and digital public infrastructure.
While in Ghana, Kallas signed the first-ever EU-Ghana Security and Defence Partnership on counter-terrorism and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
"This partnership allows us to work more closely in areas that matter for the security of our citizens, both in Europe and Ghana," Kallas said, describing the deal as the first of its kind between the EU and an African country.
The visits and the security agreement come at a time of weakened European dominance in the region following a string of coups that some analysts say were motivated by Russian propaganda, anti-colonialism and failure to stop jihadist violence.
The coups from 2020 to early 2026 in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar drove out French-led military forces from the Sahel, diminishing France's influence, a country long considered the primary European power in Africa.
For decades, Europe has been a key partner to Africa, providing aid development support and shaping governance frameworks.
But according to a new report by the African Political Outlook on the "State of African Governance: Forces of the Future," this era of traditional foreign aid is over.
EU remains Africa's top trading partner
Mouctar Bah, president of the Brussels-Africa Hub, said the global economy is shifting to Africa but European policymakers have been slow to adapt.
"People are still living in the past. They are not seeing the future," he said.
The EU-Africa trade exchange in 2024 was worth €355 billion, with the EU remaining Africa's top trading partner, closely followed by China, according to EU data.
The EU has signed six economic partnership agreements with 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and four association agreements with countries in North Africa.
Isabelle Herbert-Collet, a customer insights and markets expert, said a new approach must factor in what she calls "local anchorage".
"It's not only about investment, it is about imagining the right products and services and simply facilitating the intercultural exchange," she said.