The EU advocates “investing in Africa” ​​and strengthening its “resilience” in the face of the “battle of offers” on the continent

Announces an additional 30 million euros to support Senegal in the fight against irregular migration

DAKAR, Oct. 18 (from Europa Press envoy, Borja Aranda) –

The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, has advocated “investing in Africa” ​​to strengthen the continent’s “resilience” in the face of what she describes as a “battle of offers” by various international actors, including China and Russia, within the framework of a trip to Senegal in which he has also announced a package of an additional 30 million euros to support the authorities in tackling irregular migration.

“I think that in Africa we are not only facing a battle of narratives, but we are also facing a battle of offers, about what different partners can offer Africa,” he explained in an interview with Europa Press in Dakar after the presentation of the Global Gateway campaign in Senegal.

Thus, he has maintained that Russia bases its collaboration “largely on weapons and military equipment, perhaps some ‘services'”, in apparent reference to the deployment of mercenaries from the Africa Corps – the former Wagner Group -, while China “historically “has offered “investments in infrastructure projects through loans” so that countries “were able to make those investments.”

Urpilainen has stated that this last fact has led to an “enormous dependence” of some countries on Beijing, with “many” of them “suffering a high level of debt” and has given the example of Senegal, where the level of debt with respect to GDP reaches 84%, with a 10% deficit. “The macroeconomic situation is not very good,” he highlighted.

For this reason, he has emphasized that the EU’s “offer” seeks to strengthen Africa’s capabilities “so that it does not want to be an object of aid, but rather wants to be active in itself, to stand on its own.” “We have to invest in Africa and allow Africa to be self-sufficient and independent,” he said, citing sectors such as food production, energy or the production of medicines and vaccines.

“Our goal is really to strengthen Africa’s resilience, self-sufficiency and independence, something that is highly appreciated by our African partners. We do not want to create new dependencies but, on the contrary, support them and support their sustainable development,” said Urpilainen, who has exalted the weight of the EU on the continent.

Thus, he detailed that the bloc “is still the largest provider of Official Development Assistance to Africa, the largest trading partner with Africa and the main foreign investor in Africa.” “We are much bigger than China,” he stressed, although he acknowledged that in the face of this “battle of offers”, it is “very important” that the EU “has its own” and that this is a “positive” for the continent. and its population.

“If we look at the figures so far, we have been able to mobilize investments of up to 179 billion euros,” he stated – regarding the objective of 300 billion euros between 2021 and 2027 as part of Global Gateway -, with 116 projects supported and promoted by the bloc on the continent.

MORE FUNDS AGAINST IRREGULAR MIGRATION

Urpilainen has also announced the delivery of a new package of 30 million euros to support the efforts of the Senegalese Government against irregular migration, given the increase in migratory routes through the country, one of the main departure points to the coasts. of the Canary Islands.

The commissioner said that this additional aid “strengthens the capacities of the Senegalese authorities to provide care and assistance to migrants at risk”, while “ensuring adequate protection of migrants, fighting against smuggling and human trafficking and raises awareness about the dangers of irregular migration.”

“It is a package of different regulations and there are different dimensions when it comes to addressing migration,” he noted, before assuring that the funds will be used both to strengthen border control capacities and to generate more opportunities to mitigate the causes that lead to some people to embark on dangerous journeys to Europe.

Along these lines, he reiterated that the EU, as well as its Member States and development financial institutions, are “an important partner of Senegal”, both “on a political level and in terms of financing.” “We have been supporting the development of Senegal for a long time,” he defended, before emphasizing that the Global Gateway initiative “reinforces the concept of Team Europe, the fact that EU countries work as a team.”

“There are 16 (EU) Member States present in Senegal, but we also want to encourage greater private investment by European companies,” he said, before outlining the “enormous disparity” in the number of young people who access to the labor market and the number of offers available.

“Senegal is a huge country in terms of young people, since 75 percent are young people,” highlighted Urpilainen, who specified that “every year 300,000 young people enter the labor market, although only 30,000 new jobs are created. “, which has led the bloc to support projects to “empower young people”, both through vocational education and training programs and by trying to achieve more private investment.

In this way, he stressed that the partnership with the country “is very exhaustive and holistic” and has shown the EU’s willingness to “work with the new Government”, headed by Ousmane Sonko as Prime Minister and Bassirou Diomaye Faye as President after his victory in the elections held in March.

NEW ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRAM

The new Government has recently unveiled a new economic and social program, whose main axes include tripling the GDP per inhabitant to around 4,130 euros, reducing the poverty rate to 10% – starting from 40% of people now living with less than 1.5 euros a day–, achieve growth of around 6.5% and reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP, in addition to decentralizing the economy and fighting corruption.

“I believe that many of the projects are very aligned with this plan (of the Senegalese authorities),” said Urpilainen, who stated that one of the common points comes from the new president’s “vision” about “reinforcing the sovereignty of the country”. “That is what we support,” remarked the commissioner, who has opted to “support” the Government in “capacity building” and “strengthening institutions.”

Furthermore, he pointed out that a second common objective would be to “empower young people” and added that a large part of the projects already promoted by the EU “focus on young people.” “In this, I would say that our objectives are largely aligned,” explained Urpilainen, who met with Faye as part of his two-day visit to Senegal.

During it, he went to see various projects included in the Global Gateway initiative, which has the stated objective of promoting smart, clean and safe connections in the digital, energy and transportation sectors and strengthening health, education and research systems.

One of the main projects visited was one linked to the MADIBA initiative, aimed at promoting the manufacturing of medicines and vaccines, as well as another for decontamination and wastewater treatment in Hann Bay.

In addition, he visited a training center for port workers and a film school-collective, a building in which he also held a meeting with two ‘influencers’, with whom he highlighted the importance of “empowering” the hundreds of thousands of young people in the country and ensure that they have “more opportunities.