Navigating Partnerships: Analysing EU-Africa Industrial Policy Relations

The paper examines the evolution of EU-Africa relations from the 1975 Lome Convention to the 2020 Comprehensive Strategy with Africa, highlighting a persistent gap between the African Union's goals for industrialisation and the EU's focus on trade and aid. It argues that the EU's preference for market-led growth and its interest in securing raw materials have led to the marginalisation of industrial policy, technology transfer, and skills development in their partnerships. Despite new initiatives like the Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs, the author notes that foreign direct investment remains concentrated in extractive sectors rather than manufacturing.

• Since the 1970s, formal EU-Africa cooperation has prioritised trade and aid over industrial policy, neglecting critical areas such as technology transfer, skills development, and the building of industrial capabilities.
• The Lome Convention (1975) and the Cotonou Agreement (2000) operated on the economic theory that preferential market access would stimulate industrial growth, but the Lome Convention specifically focused on maintaining a stable relationship between raw material producers and users.
• The African Union and its predecessor, the OAU, have consistently pursued industrialisation as a core development strategy through initiatives such as the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action, the Alliance for Industrialisation of Africa (1996), and the Accelerated Industrial Development for Africa (2007).
• Trade between the two regions remains asymmetric: between 2011 and 2022, African exports to the EU were predominantly primary goods (averaging 67%), while EU exports to Africa were predominantly manufactured goods (averaging 70%).
• While the EU is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa, accounting for over 45% between 2016 and 2022, these investments are primarily directed toward extractive and energy sectors rather than manufacturing.
• The author identifies three reasons for the EU's lack of support for African industrialisation: a preference for market-led rather than state-led industrial policy, a desire to maintain access to raw materials, and the EU's dominance in setting the partnership's strategic agenda.

APA

Chitonge, H. (2024). Navigating Partnerships: Analysing EU-Africa Industrial Policy Relations. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/navigating-partnerships-analysing-eu-africa-industrial-policy-relations

Chicago

Chitonge, Horman. Navigating Partnerships: Analysing EU-Africa Industrial Policy Relations. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/navigating-partnerships-analysing-eu-africa-industrial-policy-relations.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chitonge |first1=Horman |title=Navigating Partnerships: Analysing EU-Africa Industrial Policy Relations |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=24 September 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/navigating-partnerships-analysing-eu-africa-industrial-policy-relations |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chitonge2024navigating, author = {Chitonge, Horman}, title = {{Navigating Partnerships: Analysing EU-Africa Industrial Policy Relations}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://afripoli.org/navigating-partnerships-analysing-eu-africa-industrial-policy-relations}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }