Africa Buongiorno: EU's New Focus Area

"THE MEDITERRANEAN IS A LINK, NOT A SEPARATION LINE", SAYS EP's PRESIDENT

EP President Tajani (left) with Tunisian President Beji Caib Essebsi

Africa is ranking these days high on the Union’s agenda. Antonio Tajani (IT-EPP), President of the European Parliament, made an official visit to Tunisia on 30-31 October to discuss with the country’s leadership some of the common challenges with the EU—migration, economic growth, terrorism.

Addressing the Tunisian Parliament, Tajani praised the people of Tunisia for having solved rather peacefully the political crisis of the Arab Spring, but urged them to remain vigilant and persist on maintaining democracy and the rule of law.

“Let us be the guarantors of the democratic pact [concluded among the political movements of Tunisia at the end of the conflict]. We should strengthen it, because the only alternative to democracy is chaos,” said Tajani.

Tunisia has in the current decade served as departing point for thousands of political and economic refugees from failed African states, such as Libya. Tajani’s visit was, therefore, aimed at persuading the Tunisian authorities to engage in a closer collaboration with the EU in general, and Italy in particular, in order to halt the flux of migrants towards southern Europe.  

But the European Union cannot isolate herself from Africa. Trade and political ties between the two continents go back to longer than four millennia, and African population is expected to at least double in size between 2017 and 2050, according to a United Nations study published in June.

For instance, Nigeria, world’s seventh country in terms of population, will surpass the U.S. in the same timeframe and become the third most populous state.

African American family

The European Parliament envisions a ‘buffer’ role for Tunisia and other Northern African countries, which are willing to cooperate. EU officials are particularly eying Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. Thus, in Tajani’s view:

“The Mediterranean should not be a separation, but a link between the European Union and the African continent because the Mediterranean is the crucible of the values of our civilisation and Tunisia plays a fundamental role in this particular relationship.”

Some of the projects floating in Brussels for controlling immigration from Africa—sponsored primarily by France and Italy—include the creation of safe geographical zones on the African continent for repatriated refugees, sustainable development in the countries that are responsible for this exodus, and financial incentives to local governments and, especially, to those of the ‘transit’ states of Northern Africa.

However, these measures are unlikely to reduce (a) population growth, although the number of births per African woman has declined from 5.1 (2000-2005 period) to 4.7 (2010-2015), per the UN; and (b) propensity for young people to emigrate. The main reasons for this are the permanent very low per capita income, which increases the gap in living standards between Europe and Africa, and the endemic corruption of the leaders of the African continent. The latter phenomenon is, obviously, the cause of the former. The usual EU ‘soft Europeanisation’ approach may, in this case, prove both expensive and ineffective.

Lagos, Nigeria--Hairdresser at work

Technocrats in Brussels will argue that explosion in population, and increasing urbanisation in Africa presents new commercial opportunities for European firms, thus the funds used in convincing local leaders to cooperate should produce solid return on investment. Rationally, this may be accurate. However, the demographic trends in that continent have already attracted some of the EU's main competitors: China, Japan, Turkey. Their presence is already massive in the African countries whose GDP per capita is growing faster, or where there are large reserves of natural resources. 

By the time Brussels's plans are put to work, the EU may be confined to the role of the good Samaritan only.

Credit for photos: Tajani, courtesy EP; Lagos hairdresser: Toyosi Onicosi, Wikimedia; African woman with children: Stanley Kubrik, US Congress Library.