The State of Africa-Europe: Ocean and Blue Economy In Focus pre-African Union Summit in Addis
On the eve of the African Union Summit 2024, the Africa-Europe Foundation facilitated a special dialogue in Addis Ababa together with Comoros (Presidency of the African Union), Portugal, Seychelles, the AU Commission, and the European Union on the centrality of ocean cooperation and blue economy for a stronger AU-EU partnership.
This dialogue coincides with the release of the Africa-Europe Foundation’s Report 2024, a comprehensive study into the implementation of commitments since the 6th EU-AU Summit in 2022, including analysis on untapped areas of cooperation such as ocean cooperation as a route to a stronger AU-EU partnership.
“BOTH THE AEF REPORT AND THE WORK OF OUR MULTISTAKEHOLDER STRATEGY GROUP PROVIDES AN OPERATIONAL BLUEPRINT FOR HOW OUR PARTNERSHIP CAN RECONCILE WORKING AT THE NEXUS OF CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORM COMMITMENTS INTO ACTION”
Speaking at the opening of the Addis dialogue, Nancy Kariguthu, Kenya’s Special Envoy for Blue Economy, member of the High-Level Group of the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) and Co-Chair of the AEF Strategy Group on Ocean Governance, set out the scope of this shared agenda: “Today’s Dialogue coincides with the publication of a Report by the Africa-Europe Foundation on the implementation of commitments of our AU-EU Partnership, exposing untapped areas of cooperation including the potential of ocean and blue economy as a route to a stronger AU-Partnership,” adding that “Both the AEF Report and the work of our multistakeholder Strategy Group provides an operational blueprint for how our Partnership can reconcile working at the nexus of climate and development and transform commitments into action”
“ADVANCING A COMMON VISION AND ROADMAP FOR A STRENGTHENED AFRICA-EUROPE PARTNERSHIP IN A CRITICAL DOMAIN OF COOPERATION”
African Union Commissioner Josefa Sako, underlined the role of the Africa-Europe Foundation Strategy Group, stating that the Strategy Group plays a key role in “advancing a common vision and roadmap for a strengthened Africa-Europe Partnership in a critical domain of cooperation”, adding that it was important to continue building on existing commitments and strategies as well as foresight work linked to the post-Malabo Process.
The European Union Ambassador to the African Union, Jose Javier Nino Perez, equally highlighted the work of the Africa-Europe Foundation’s Strategy Group and underlined how this served as “an avenue to work as partners”. Regarding cooperation on the ocean and blue economy, EU Ambassador Perez further emphasized the importance of capacity building and knowledge exchange while focusing on this domain’s centrality to biodiversity, climate, and pollution.
“THERE SHOULD BE A FOCUS ON MOVING COMMITMENTS SUCH AS THE ‘MORONI DECLARATION’ FROM DECLARATION TO IMPLEMENTATION.”
The Foreign Minister of the Union of Comoros (Presidency of the African Union), Dhoihir Dhoulkamal, underlined the importance of building on the momentum and foundations now in place to scale up cooperation on ocean and blue economy, adding that there should be a focus on moving commitments such as the ‘Moroni Declaration’ from declaration to implementation. Foreign Minister Dhoulkamal also stressed that Blue Economy must be a critical priority for the next African Union 10-Year Implementation Plan.
The Africa-Europe Foundation is working with partners, including AUDA-NEPAD, to ensure ocean and blue economy is a central pillar of the AU-EU Partnership and an integral part of the next decade for the AU Agenda 2063.
Source : Africa-Europe Foundation
