Africa

As the global order becomes increasingly multipolar, Africa has emerged as a key arena of geopolitical competition. Shifting power dynamics and the growing influence of China are pushing the European Union to rethink its engagement with the continent, while African countries seek more balanced and diversified partnerships on their own terms.

Did Africa’s first G20 presidency deliver on its promise of solidarity, equality and sustainability? Our Head of Programme for EU and International Politics, Dr. Katharina Emschermann, spoke with Paula Assubuji, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's office in Cape Town, about what the Johannesburg G20 and the AU-EU summit in Luanda reveal about power, inequality and the state of multilateral cooperation.

In recent years, research interest in biochar has gained significant attention in mainstream discourse. The sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilisers offers triple benefits: enhanced soil health, improved livelihoods, and climate protection. 

The European Union should work together with partners in Africa to secure electoral systems against cyberattacks and to prevent the spread of false and misleading information. This is also in line with European interests and values.

Some of the world’s most important and most recently recognized peatlands can be found on the African continent. They are home to unique and rare flora and fauna – and threatened by the oil companies’ greed for money.

The peatlands of Africa's Cuvette Centrale in the Congo Basin store more carbon than the rainforest that overhangs it. But peat is only valuable as a carbon store if it remains water-saturated and untouched in the soil. What has kept the peat locked up until now is the lack of roads and other infrastructure. Irene Wabiwa Betoko, International Project Leader, Congo Basin Forest of Greenpeace Africa, talks about the threats facing peatlands in the Congo Basin and discusses ways to protect them.

Africa will host international climate talks on 6-18 November 2022 and the African Union has been busy trying to get the rest of the world’s attention on the continent's expectations in the lead up to COP27. Of course, COP27 expectations are matched only by their disappointments. However, Africans are not leaving the fate of its people to chance.

In Africa, fewer pesticides are used than in other regions of the world. Nevertheless the 33 million smallholders are increasingly becoming the focus of pesticide companies. There they also sell what has been banned in the European Union.

In the months of July and August 2022, Senegal and Kenya will hold their general elections. However, the big question remains: Where do Senegalese and Kenyan women stand on their quest to parliamentary mandates and political offices?

The UK’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda – even before their applications have been concluded – may have been halted just in time this time, but the government is still pushing forward with its controversial plans.

While nearly 82% of Europeans are fully vaccinated, this is the case for just 11% of Africans. This vaccine gap could overshadow discussions between the heads of state of the two continents at the summit to be held in Brussels on 17 and 18 February between the European Union and the African Union. France, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, has been called upon to act to waive patents on Covid-19 vaccines. Emmanuel Macron is the champion of the “global licence” project.

Four civil society representatives ask MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA) about the Covid-19 vaccine patent waiver, as the wane of some countries’ Omicron winters poses a new threat to global vaccine equity.

We are experiencing two very different pandemic realities between low-income and high-income countries. Unfortunately, instead of seeking a solidarity-based response, the international community has once again demonstrated its disunity in this health crisis. The task now is to regain credibility and rebuild trust.

The travel restrictions imposed by the European Union on people traveling from southern Africa after the discovery of the Omicron variant, will potentially have a long-term impact on the EU-AU relations.

The development and diffusion of precision agriculture might speed up since fresh money could become available through eco-schemes under the new CAP Strategic Plans. How does the EU support precision agriculture and what does it mean from a global south perspective? This article looks at the case of Rwanda and suggests technological developers and policy makers to proceed with caution to avoid widening inequality between smallholders and commercial farms, privacy breaches or undesired data dependency on tech giants like Google.

Where in the global dialogue is the aspiration for adaptation, equitable climate finance and inclusivity? What practical actions will the global community take to address these cardinal objectives? For African countries - which have contributed least to climate change but remain most vulnerable to its impacts - these objectives are as important as net-zero ambitions.

In South America, natural vegetation is being turned into pastureland and monocultures to support an unsustainable form of livestock production. In Africa and Asia, on the other hand, a sustainable form of livestock raising is losing ground to industrialized agriculture. Traditional local communities are the losers.

Mobile herders move with their herds or flocks in the remotest of pastures. This form of animal production, known as pastoralism, is economically important and climate-friendly, but it is under severe threat.

The increasing data-driven nature of societies raises concerns about how to prevent data misuse and abuse that may harm individuals and communities, particularly marginalized groups. A feminist critique of the model law on data protection of the Southern African Development Community and the EU’s GDPR, however highlights the dangerous gaps that place women and gender-diverse people at risk.

Major multilateral institutions have long claimed that their market-oriented trade rules reduce poverty and advance development. Instead, they hold back the developing world from a more human-centric, social-justice approach that it needs to reach its potential. South Africa has the potential to set an example of how a global “middle power” can drive change. The Covid-19 pandemic has provided extra impetus – and a test.