The European Union (EU) parliament has called for closer scrutiny of aid programmes in Africa to ensure they deliver measurable and sustainable benefits to people in partner countries.
Udo Bullmann, member of the European parliament, said the
move was necessary to inform future decisions on aid, especially as the global
landscape shifts and African countries demand greater autonomy in their deals.
Bullmann spoke in a meeting with African journalists at the
European parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
The meeting was facilitated by the Taz Panter Foundation as
part of a workshop on the impact of global powers on local realities, held
between September 20 – 29 in Berlin and Brussels.
On Europe-Africa alliance, Bullmann said the future of the
EU’s external action lies in its partnerships with countries of the Global
South.
“In times of geopolitical insecurity, where actors like
China or the US, follow a strong strategy of pure extractivism in Africa, the
EU wants to offer an alternative,” the German lawmaker said.
“It wants to create partnerships on equal footing, where the
benefits for the people and the environment in African partner countries are at
the centre of our collaboration.
“Europe has understood that it needs critical minerals for
its technological transition and its economic and political position in the
world. European stakeholders know that a whole lot of minerals are in the soil
of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and therefore have an interest to win new
partners and strengthen existing ones.
“Instead of simply exporting raw materials, I advocate for a
larger part of value creation to stay for instance in Africa. If more
processing and refining is done locally, we can ensure that more jobs and
prosperity are created locally.”
THE GLOBAL GATEWAY PROGRAMME
Launched in 2021, the global gateway is the EU’s €300
billion strategy to create stronger and links between Europe and the world.
It focuses on five sectors — digital, climate and energy,
transport, health, and education and research.
Last year, Gautier Mignot, EU envoy to Nigeria and ECOWAS,
said the EU aims to strengthen its partnership with Nigeria through the
strategy.
In March, the EU announced a €290 million investment package
for Nigeria to support digital infrastructure, healthcare manufacturing,
agriculture, and migration management.
Asked how the EU measures the impact of its interventions,
Bullmann expressed concern over a lack of clear framework for assessing their
outcomes.
“Monitoring the outcomes of our programmes is important to
ensure that they have a positive impact on the people of our partner
countries,” he said.
“The more clearly we scrutinize projects and collaborate
with actors – such as NGOs, civil society organisations, or parliaments, in our
partner countries – the easier it is to improve programmes.
“We can measure development through the amount of jobs we
create, whether fair wages are paid, what the impact on the environment is and
whether the development is sustainable on the run. This is what we need.”
He said discussions are advanced in the EU parliament on
establishing a framework to measure the outcomes of such projects.
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