EU, Africa leaders to talk trade and minerals, as Ukraine looms large

LUANDA: European and African leaders gathered in Angola on Monday for a summit to deepen economic and security ties, with emergency talks on Ukraine also on the cards.

France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz and Kenya's William Ruto are among dozens of European Union and African leaders expected in Luanda amid a US-European rift over a Washington plan to end the Ukraine conflict.

Talks with African nations will centre on trade, migration and critical raw materials.

But EU leaders will initially focus on efforts to modify a draft plan by US President Donald Trump to stop Russia's war in Ukraine, whose proposals were initially seen as heavily tilted towards Moscow's hardline demands.

After top US and Ukrainian representatives met in Geneva on Sunday for talks on a new version of the proposal, EU leaders were to hold a "special meeting" on the sidelines of the Luanda gathering on Monday, EU officials said.

There is "still a lot of work to be done on the 28-point plan", Finnish President Alexander Stubb told AFP in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Implementable commitments

The seventh EU-African Union gathering, the two-day Angola summit comes on the heels of a G20 meeting in South Africa where a US boycott underscored geopolitical fractures.

It marks 25 years of EU-African Union relations — ties that analysts say need revamping if Europe wants to hold on to its role as the continent's top partner.

"The challenges we face today — climate change, digital transformation, irregular migration, conflicts and insecurity — know no borders. The response to this multipolar world must be multipolar cooperation," EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa said in a joint statement Monday.

"Together, Africa and Europe can lead the way," they said, adding the two blocs aimed to shape "a fairer, greener, and more secure world based on shared values and mutual respect".

Africa has emerged as a battleground for its critical minerals and energy potential, with China, the United States and Russia also seeking to foster stronger ties.

The EU is the leading supplier of foreign direct investment to the continent and its top commercial counterpart. Trade in goods and services hit 467 billion euros ($538 billion) in 2023, according to Brussels.

The Gulf states and Turkey have also made significant inroads, granting African nations bargaining power with the EU, said Geert Laporte of ECDPM, a European think tank.

"We don't have that situation anymore where Europe was the only partner," he said.

Observers say Europe needs to invest in infrastructure, energy and job-creating industrial projects in Africa, and a move away from lofty statements of support.

"Africa is looking not for new declarations but for credible, implementable commitments," said AU spokesman Nuur Mohamud Sheekh.

Minerals and credibility

Boosting trade will likely be a top priority as US tariffs buffet both continents.

The EU is expected to offer expertise to help build up intra-African trade, which currently accounts for a paltry 15 percent of the global total, diplomats said.

It will also seek to secure critical minerals needed for its green transition and ease dependency on China for rare earths, essential for tech and electronic goods.

The 27-nation bloc will likely showcase new investments under the Global Gateway — a massive infrastructure plan that Brussels hopes can counter China's growing influence.

Summit-host Angola is home to one of the EU's signature undertakings: the Lobito corridor, a railway project funded in partnership with the United States to connect mineral-rich areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Atlantic coast.

EU diplomats have been at pains to present such projects as win-wins. But critics retort that the scheme repeats some extractive colonial practices and has yet to deliver significant improvements for local communities.

"Europe's credibility now depends on whether it can support the delivery of projects that create value in Africa, not just visibility for Brussels," said Ikemesit Effiong, of the Nigeria-based consultancy SBM Intelligence.

By RSS/AFP