“Check against delivery”
President Lourenço,
President Costa,
Chairperson Youssouf,
Presidents,
Prime Ministers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The last time we met in this format was mid-February 2022, just after the global pandemic and just before war returned to Europe. And before global politics became much more competitive and transactional. Since then, our world has changed profoundly. Global trade is more politicised than ever. Tariffs and trade barriers are being wielded aggressively. Export controls have become a tool to damage competitors and extract concessions. Global overcapacity in certain strategic fields has reached an all-time high. This is harming industries – on both our continents. With consequences felt deep inside our societies. In this new reality, Africa and Europe are called to answer the very same questions. How can we create good jobs for our people, and deliver on the aspirations of our youth? How can we derisk and diversify our economies? How can we break free from unsustainable dependencies – while ensuring access to the capital, resources, and technologies we need?
Excellencies,
I believe that many of the answers lie in our partnership. In a more confrontational global economy, Africa and Europe need each other more than ever before. And this is what brings us here to Luanda. Today, we can look back on the progress achieved since our last Summit. But more importantly, we will look forward to new opportunities to work together as old friends. But also, as trading partners, investment partners, business partners. We want Africa and Europe to be partners of choice.
Excellencies,
In a world of trade conflicts, a closer partnership between us begins with trade itself. Europe is already your first trading partner by far. One third of Africas total trade is with Europe, and Africa exports to Europe more than twice as much as to China. Most of our trade has been duty-free and quota-free already for decades, thanks to our free trade deals and preference schemes. But I see room to expand our trade relationship even further. Right now, across the continent, we are building new infrastructure to connect Africa and Europe. From ports to pipelines. Take the Lobito corridor. You all know about this ambitious project to bring critical minerals from Zambia and DRC to global markets. But there is more to it. As we launched the corridor, we also started working with farmers right here in Angola. European companies provided training. They helped local companies align with European standards and expand their export capacity. And this week, the very first shipment of Angolan avocados will leave Lobito bound for Europe. This is how we can make global trade a driver of local growth. And while we connect Africa to global markets, we are also supporting trade within your continent. This is the best way for African companies to scale up and prepare for global competition. With this Summit, we are announcing more support to the African Continental Free Trade Area. The message is clear. Even and especially in these times of global tensions, we believe in the power of trade. Because it delivers for our people and our economies.
Excellencies,
Together with trade comes investment. And this is the second point I would like to address. At our Summit three years ago, I presented our new Global Gateway agenda. And in these three years, you have all seen what Global Gateway stands for. It is more than an infrastructure development programme. It invests in local jobs and local value chains, and this is what makes it unique in the global investment landscape. Other investors follow a different playbook. They build factories, whether in Africa or in Europe, but staff them with foreign workers. They drill, they mine and they take the profits away. They often leave a legacy of unsustainable debt. This is not Europes model. When we invest in the local processing of raw materials in Namibia or Zambia. When we build pharmaceutical industries, from Senegal to Rwanda. When we bring data cables to the Maghreb and East Africa. These investments are truly in our mutual interest. They help Africa move higher up the global value chains. They create new jobs for African youth, new skills for African researchers, and new business opportunities for African companies. And while doing so, we also create new markets for European companies and strengthen our European supply chains. When we launched Global Gateway, we aimed to invest EUR 150 billion in Africa by 2027. So far, we have already mobilised more than EUR 120 billion. We are well on track to meet our target. At a time when other major investors are rethinking their global engagement, Europes commitment to Africa is here to stay.
This leads me to my third and final point, about one sector where it is particularly urgent to scale up investment. I am talking about the clean sector. The global clean transition is now in full swing. Last year, over 90% of new energy capacity installed worldwide was renewable. Solar and wind have replaced coal as the leading sources of electricity worldwide. But out of the USD 2 trillion invested in clean energy in 2024, only 2% came to Africa – the continent with 60% of the worlds best solar potential. This cannot be. It leaves 600 million people without electricity, and four in five families without clean cooking options. Every person should have access to clean energy, every continent should enjoy cheap energy, and local jobs in clean industries. This is why, together with President Ramaphosa and Global Citizen, we launched a campaign. We call it ‘Scaling Up Renewables in Africa. And at the G20 earlier this week, we reached EUR 15.5 billion in global pledges. We will work with the private sector to expand clean energy in Africa and bring electricity to at least 100 million people by 2030. This is also why we have pledged at the IEAs Clean Cooking Summit to deliver as team Europe more than EUR 400 million toward clean cooking projects in Africa. Because the just transition must be for all. And it must be made in Africa.
Excellencies,
Our partnership was born 25 years ago, at the dawn of a new century. Back then, leaders from Africa and Europe agreed on a fundamental truth. Our continents have different histories, but we share the same destiny. What our predecessors called destiny, has become reality today. Our prosperity is more connected than ever. We both need to build the industries of tomorrow. We both need to make the most of our talent and resources and get rid of dangerous dependencies. The case for Africa and Europe to join forces is overwhelming. Let us find new ways of doing so. Let us walk this path together.
Thank you very much.
