Africa-EU Summit 2014
Historically, Africa and Europe share a lot in common. Geographically, it is the Mediterranean Sea that separates the European and the African continents.
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Before the voyages of discovery, very little was known of the African continent in Europe. Europeans were more familiar with the north-African countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt because those countries are situated along the Mediterranean Sea coast.
Europe had established political, economic and cultural relations with north-African countries before the rest of Africa.
European explorers such as Vasco da Gama, Don Diego Da Zambuga, Mungo Park, David Livingstone, Stanley and Christopher Columbus, starting from the 15th Century, opened up Africa- south of the Sahara- to European religious and economic interests at first and then colonisation followed.
The slave and commodity trade encouraged European countries to build forts, probably, for a short stay.
Indeed, some Europeans such as the Dutch and the Danes withdrew and sold their forts to British and French interests in the main.
The British, French, Belgian, Portuguese and the Spanish stayed longer and, eventually, colonised many areas in Africa between the 17th and 19th century.
The decolonisation process, encouraged by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the agitation for self-determination and self-rule, compelled the European countries to grant independence.
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Article 21, clauses 1, 2 and 3 of the declaration worked directly against colonisation in all its forms.
Article 21 (1) reads: “Everyone has the right to take part in the governance of his country directly or indirectly or through freely chosen representatives.”
Article 21 (3) stipulates: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government; this will/shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
By the end of the 1960s, almost all African countries under colonial rule, except Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia), Namibia (formerly South-West Africa) and South Africa (formerly apartheid South Africa), were free.
Why? It is because under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, colonialism could not be justified any longer.
However, colonialism has its bad and good sides. To celebrate and promote the good aspects of the colonial experience, Britain established the Commonwealth of Nations.
Former colonies of Britain became voluntary members of the Commonwealth that convenes periodically at the heads of state and the government level to deliberate on matters of common interest.
The French also maintains a similar relationship with its former colonies by establishing strong and close ties with them.
This article is about the African-European Union Summit that took place between April 2 and 3 this year.
The purpose of the summit held in Brussels, Belgium, according to a declaration made at the end, was to discuss future African-EU relations and to reinforce established links between the two continents.
Contents of the declaration, made by the 60 African and European leaders, including Ghana’s President John Mahama, centred around African-EU relations, democratic values, rule of law, human rights, good governance, right of development, climate change and peace and security on both continents.
On peace and security, the leaders, according to the declaration, regarded peace and security as an essential prerequisite for development and prosperity and, therefore, pledged to support Africa in the areas of peace, security and stability.
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In pursuit of that goal, the African and EU leaders undertook “to strengthen common efforts to fight terrorism and combat the spread of small arms”.
Regarding the pursuit of prosperity for the peoples of both continents, the summit committed itself to promoting policies that would lead to job creation and stimulation of economic growth.
In particular, the EU pledged support for African countries in their efforts to combat climate change and develop strategies to promote low emission of harmful gases and the use of environmentally friendly energy resources.
The leaders also committed themselves to “ensuring effective and reliable energy supplies in Africa and the management of natural resources”.
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The declaration states that the summit emphasised the need for greater investment and economic development between the two continents.
On people, the summit offered to pursue policies that would be beneficial to the peoples of Africa and Europe. Emphasis would be placed on education, job training, poverty reduction, climate change, health and migration, among others.
The EU committed itself to helping African countries in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The summit approved a joint African-EU strategy and a road map for achieving five key priorities and areas that include peace and security, democracy, good governance, human rights, human development, sustainable and inclusive development, growth and continental integration.
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The EU President, Herman Van Rompuy, commenting on the summit, said he hoped that the summit would mark a new stage in Europe’s relationship with Africa.
He added; “The two continents must shift from development cooperation to a partnership of equals, with trade and investment playing key roles.”
On April 2, the summit held a special high-level session on the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Mr Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, who was present at the summit, reportedly observed that the “ethno-religious cleansing” in CAR through lynching, decapitation and sexual abuse was going on unpunished.
He promised at the summit to do “everything possible” to persuade the international community to respond adequately to the crisis.
The EU announced plans to send 1,000 troops to the CAR.
Meanwhile, the UN has voted to send 12,000 troops to the CAR.
Some 6,000 African Union troops are already in the CAR. That number of troops is said to be too small to contain mutual religious and ethnic killings in which 1,000 persons have died and 1.3 million persons have been displaced.
The conflict started when a Muslim-led militia group overthrew President Francois Bozize in 2013.
The leader of the Muslim-led government, Michel Djotodia, that replaced President Bozize, had allegedly failed to stop his men from killing, torturing and raping the civilian population, especially the majority Christians.
When President Djotodia was forced to step down in January 2014, a Christian militia, known as anti-Balaka, resorted to revenge, killing Muslims in the process.
On the main theme of the summit, it is necessary to ask the following questions: Why is Europe interested in improving political and economic relations with Africa? Is it correct, as some observers believe, that the African-EU Summit was neo-colonialist in nature and scope?
Europe has been the biggest trading partner of Africa and is Africa’s largest donor.
Such economic cooperation stems from the fact that the links between the two continents have been longstanding and buttressed by the colonial experience.
I believe Europe’s interest in Africa is driven by the need to keep and sustain its economic and political interests– rather than pursuing neo-colonialist intensions.
This view is reinforced by the fact that the People’s Republic of China, a new global economic power and player, is making inroads into Africa and is in serious competition with the EU on the African continent.
therson.cofie@yahoo.com