When the European Union launched its global gateway initiative earlier this month, it was advertised as a greener and more transparent alternative to China’s One Belt One Road initiative. Reported by Climate Home News, EURACTIV’s media partner.
Brussels pledge Mobilize up to 340 billion U.S. dollars by 2027 Support global green and digital transformation. It announced the initiative the day after the important China-Africa summit in Dakar, Senegal, highlighting the contrast in approach.
Africa can certainly use this investment. African Development Bank It is estimated that the annual infrastructure needs of the African continent are USD 13-170 billion, and the financing gap is USD 6.8-108 billion. But African experts are skeptical of the EU’s proposal.
They said that although China has roads, bridges and dams to show off its 20-year relationship with Africa, the EU has brought red tape and speeches.
Ovigwe Eguegu, Nigerian policy consultant at the consulting firm Development Reimagined, told Climate House News: “Whoever listens to and understands the operating environment of African countries will become a better development partner.”
“The EU is a person who doesn’t listen,” he said. “The EU is now aware that Africa is very keen to build infrastructure. To a certain extent, the EU’s proposal of a global gateway recognizes that China’s development in Africa is correct.”
The Global Gateway Program includes grants of 2.4 billion euros for sub-Saharan Africa and 1.08 billion euros for North Africa to support the promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency and the greening of local value chains.
Further proposals include the development of a green hydrogen energy sector and the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative to integrate regional energy markets.
“It opens up many new potentials,” Cobus van Staden, senior researcher on Sino-African relations at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told Climate House. But it raises more questions than answers, he said.
For Algeria’s Fatten Agade, a former adviser to the African Union’s High Representative for Africa-EU Negotiations, the proposal was disappointing and lacked a firm commitment to new and additional cash.
“China’s financing is through loans, but at least it is already on the table,” she said. “In fact, China will certainly continue to be a more attractive partner. If it is to be truly relevant, the EU will need to increase its offer.”
Early results 2019/20 Africa Barometer Survey, A research network that measures public attitudes in Africa shows that 59% of respondents believe that China’s economic and political influence is mostly positive—compared to 46% in former colonial countries.
One of Agarde’s main criticisms is that the EU did not consult its African partners before launching-and other analysts agree with this.
“Did you consult with African partners on the global gateway? Zero,” Eggu said. “You can’t expect any enthusiasm, because you just don’t know what these promises mean and how they will be transformed on the ground.”
In contrast, Beijing held meetings and consultations with African partners a few months before the November China-Africa Cooperation Forum.At the forum, President Xi Jinping announced that China will A quarter of the recovery from the IMF pandemic is used in African countries – Redistribution is more generous than any OECD country.
Agard said that the ministerial meeting between the EU and the African Union was held in Kigali, Rwanda in October, but relations with Brussels have become tense.
Affiliate Program’s Carbon Border Tax It can be costly for some people African exporters have not provided corresponding support to help them clean up their industries.The EU insists on referring to the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative Joint Ministerial Statement, Despite the African Union’s opposition, it did not inform it of the plan.
“This is not based on a political process,” Agad said, adding that this is not the first time that African views have been bypassed. “It doesn’t land well.”
The EU-African Union summit scheduled for February may be the time to improve relations and formulate specific recommendations.
The European Commission is open to the facts of its global portal Direct response China’s huge investment strategy.
China’s infrastructure financing methods criticize Unfair procurement process, lack of transparency and technology transfer, promotion speed exceeds quality, limited job creation and Adverse conditions Put the country into debt trouble. Some of them are changing.
General Secretary Xi Jinping Stop Build coal-fired power plants abroad.China is Turn to Large-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Consider some environmental sustainability standards.
Official documents of the European Union Point out that the Global Portal aims to “establish connections rather than build dependencies” and invest in projects that “can be delivered with high standards, good governance, and transparency.”
“We want to take a different approach. We want to show that a democratic, value-driven approach can meet the most pressing challenges,” Committee Chair Ursula von der Leyen Said at the press conference At the press conference.
How this value-centric approach will be transformed on the ground is unclear. The good governance that the European Union considers is a heavy bureaucracy in many African countries and lacks the institutional capacity to fill out all forms at any time.
“I think the danger is that this may ultimately benefit richer countries,” Van Staden said. In China, there are fewer obstacles to overcome, which means that projects can be launched quickly. “This is important in Africa because many of these infrastructure projects are related to the election cycle,” the South African explained.
In Nigeria, the EU’s environmental standards will be “a double-edged sword”, Eguegu said. He said that while it is important to the energy transition, it is a “secondary” to the severe infrastructure deficit the country faces.
“Nigeria will not stand by and let the EU decide whether it will expand its hydrocarbon investment,” he added, but it will seek deals with other partners, including China, Turkey or the increasingly participating UAE.
This view has been recognized by others across the African continent.according to African Barometer55% of Africans believe that foreign lenders and donors should allow African governments to make their own decisions on how to use their resources.
For Eggu, the global portal’s competition framework with China is “problematic”, which shows that the EU is more interested in the game of power than in providing infrastructure. He said that what is needed to solve the infrastructure deficit is “cooperation, not competition.”
The scale of bridging this infrastructure gap is so large that “no one partner is big enough to deal with it,” van Staden said. “Geopolitical stereotypes should not weaken African decision-making institutions.”
Kenyan Patrick Anam, a lawyer and trade policy expert at Development Reimagined, said that where cooperation is not possible, healthy competition between China and the West can help reduce project costs and provide better loans for African countries. trade.
The EU has advantages over China in some respects.One Africa Climate Foundation report It was discovered last week that few renewable energy projects could be developed, mainly because of technical expertise and feasibility studies that the EU can help bridge.
For Anam, the EU should bring technical knowledge and capacity building to accelerate the continent’s transformation from a polluting industry. “If we have to get Belgian or French engineers to repair it, then there is no point in building a huge solar park,” he said.
“African countries need to redefine what they really want from this relationship,” Anan said. “This is not decided by the European Union, China or the United States. But Africa also needs to understand what it wants at the negotiating table.”
This article Originally appeared on Climate Family News And republished here with permission.
