3 Priorities for African Youth at Upcoming AU-EU Summit 2022

 3 Priorities for African Youth 

at the upcoming AU-EU Summit 2022 

Everyone's eyes are on the leaders of the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) and their respective member states meeting this week for the 6th AU-EU Summit in Brussels on 17 and 18 February 2022 to discuss the AU-EU partnership with the highest political involvement. 

After over a decade of such convenings, I think there is fundamental change in the partnership that needs to take place. Before discussing "issues", there are relationship, process and engagement modalities that are very problematic and have not been addressed. We should not be expecting political solutions to political problems when Europe still treats Africa as its saver and colonial master in practice, despite the incoherence in speech that says otherwise. 

In fact, the most important moment is not the summit itself, but the process towards the summit and the process afterwards. A testimonial to the failure of many of AU-EU summits is the critique of young people who table the same exact recommendations every summit because the leaders did not yet implement those presented before. Yes, it is a question of accountability but more so, it is a question of decolonisation of process to achieve tangible results.  

Here are three priorities of the decolonisation process that I think Europe should consider. 

1. Decolonize EU Language and Practices 

   
   

Often times Europe continues to perpetuate colonial thinking in its language when engaging Africa. For instance, there has always been an emphasis on the concept of "mobility" for Europe while Africa has been emphasizing on "Free Movement of People '' and even adopted a Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in Africa. It is not enough to grant people mobility , it is fundamental to recognise the right of people's freedom of movement. European policies still have not grasped this concept. Half of African migrants die in the mediterranean while the others get their rights violated as they arrive in fortress Europe. This language and practice reinforces Eurocentric approaches and hostile attitudes towards African refugees and migrants. It’s also good to be reminded that over 53% of African migration is actually intra-continental. African migrants make up only 12.9% of Europe’s migrant population.

On communication, it seems Europe is not sure whether to address us as "Africa" or "AU" or "sub-Saharan" or whether to place "AU" or "EU" first in its communication. In some documents it's EU-Africa relations, or EU-Africa Roadmap. In other communication it's Africa-EU partnership or Joint Africa-EU Strategy. Similarly, the European language is incoherent, alternating between 'Africa' and 'Sub-Saharan Africa' when it suits. Europe needs to engage Africa moving forward as one, as 55 member states and therefore its analysis, statistics and programmes should move away from colonial divide of "sub-Saharan".

We cannot engage beyond the donor-recipient relationship that has shaped this relationship for long, if the language and practices in organizing this summit are sill neocolonial. 

2. Reconsider EU Priorities 

   
   

In 2019, a European diplomat told me in order to move in an equal partnership Africa should have a "Strategy on Europe" because Europe has a Strategy on Africa (which is only informed by very few prominent African personalities). If Africa needs to have a strategy only because Europe has one that again puts Europe as center and Africa as periphery, which is problematic. The idea of Europe having only a strategy on Africa not on North America is very linked to colonial legacy. Europe doesn’t need strategy on Africa because everything Europe needs to know is in Agenda 2063. Africa knows what she wants, AfCFTA, Silencing the Guns, among 14 other flagship continental projects. In fact, Africa is the only continent that has a 50 years vision ahead outlined in one document. The question is what is Europe’s vision?

The 5th AU-EU Summit was held on 29-30 November 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. European and African leaders adopted a joint declaration outlining common priorities for the partnership in four strategic areas:

• Economic opportunities for youth

• Peace and security

• Mobility and migration

• Cooperation on governance

There is clearly a gap between what the priorities of young people are and what the leaders are discussing at these summits. Do these actually represent Africa’s priorities? 

What about agriculture which employs 50% of Africa’s population? What about AU theme for 2022 - Nutrition? issues of food production and food security. For instance, our African farmers are still systemically exploited by European manufactures and retailers who make billions of the industry while cocoa farmers make less than $1/day. The legacy of colonial brutality in West Africa is still manifest today as unchecked European economic presence in cocoa industry.

What about Vaccine Equity as a priority?  

COVID-19 showed us the worst of this partnership. 75 % of COVID vaccines have gone to 10 countries. The EU promised 250m does by the end of last year - it has spent 8% of those. In fact the pandemic would have been the great manifestation of this partnership as equal. However, it actually showed us that the EU still does not recognise that living in a global world means "if I am not safe, you are not safe". Whether it is a pandemic, migration, security, education or climate, whatever is the inequality, the approach is the same. If you’re not thinking globally and advancing the interests of Africa as equally advancing your interests, there will always be a gap and a global issue.  

Ironically there has been a narrative at the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak that Africa needs saving, questioning if ‘Africa’ can cope or handle COVID-19 pandemic which is also a neocolonial narrative of Africans as incapable, and in need of saving not a the narrative of Africa’s experience with the successful combatting of Ebola outbreak thanks to people's knowledge and resilience... not a narrative of young Fatu from liberia who transformed rubbish bags into aprons, gloves and masks later replicated in Europe and North America , not a narrative of young Africans producing 1$ test kits in Senegal, not a narrative of Somalia sending 20 doctors to aid Italy etc...

And then young Africans in Europe find themselves more regularly exposed to violence, hate speech and racism, sometimes without any alternative worldview. When would racism be a discussion at heads of state level?  

3. Decolonize Youth Engagement 

   
   

The EU still has time to catch up and rectify its youth engagement approach with Africa before it's too late. I say late because African youth are not waiting for EU engagement, they are moving ahead with shifting power. I do not think that African youth care too much about these spaces anymore because they are busy making change in their communities. 

President Emannual Macron got it wrong when he organized Africa - France Summit without Heads of States few months ago.  If you really want a new decolonial format, host the summit in Africa, not France. Besides, not bringing decision makers to be challenged by young people is not "paradigm shift" ; what we need is Intergenerational Co-Leadership. In fact, hosting a club of youth is the same as hosting a club of old men, we can convene ourselves as African youth, the point of such summits is commitment of African and European leaders. Europe needs to understand that the issue of leadership on the continent is generational and the issue of development is colonial. Unless you address these two, we are wasting each other's time.

Similarly this summit is hosted in Europe and that comes with problematic approaches such as Europe deciding who goes to Brussels. This is something we experienced as Nala Feminist Collective, as we are co-hosting today a session entitled "Young Women's Political Participation for Intergenerational Co-Leadership" with the participation of European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography. After the confirmation of Nala Council speakers to be joining the event physically in Brussels and the need for African participants to obtain a visa, their physical participation was few days ago cancelled due to event moving "100% virtual" (which is not the case as rapporteurs and organisers from our organisation, residents of Europe , are present at the event physically). It is therefore a bit hypocrite to talk of “mobility” when you deny young Africans the platform to be in Brussels. 

Besides, narratives about Africa youth underpin the policy discussion and framework of our common future in the partnership. For the next few decades, the world will continue to be constructed around narratives. Who shapes the narratives ? And whose voice is heard? is key. 

So far, the narrative of African youth in Europe is - of victims or perpetrators of violence, not as peacebuilders, a narrative of African youth – as the subjects not as drivers of development, a narrative of African youth - as the problem in Europe not the solution, the unemployed, the refugees, the migrants, always some negative number we need to deal with. 

Europe needs to start asking itself, are you contributing to narratives of empowerment and agency or disempowerment of young Africans? and that should start in the political discourse before we go on to debate policies. 

Finally, I can't not talk about the priority outlined by the partnership on “economic opportunities for youth”. Does that include African youth in Europe?  The leaders in 2017 committed to - in their own words - "creating sufficient quality jobs that enable youth to enjoy decent livelihoods". Since then, youth unemployment for young Africans has been increasing in both Africa and Europe.  

Youth in Africa and in Europe share the common urgency of promoting a different narrative that sheds light on their innovation and agency. There is an opportunity now in the 6th AU-EU Summit , to change that narrative while we rethink our common future.

To conclude, it takes time to unlearn and learn again but it is urgent that Europe decolonizes its approach, strategy and policies to align the partnership priorities with the demands of the continent and  65% of its population - African youth.

Aya Chebbi 

Chair - Nala Feminist Collective 

14 February 2022