Vth EU-Africa Business Forum

31 March – 1 April, 2014.Brussels. With more than 500 high-level participants from the European and the African private sector and the presence of major African personalities such as Ahmed Heikal, Mo Ibrahim and Naguib Sawiris, the Forum confered a high-level platform to start a constructive discussion on how to use the EU-Africa partnership for meeting todays’ challenges.

European and African companies had a unique opportunity to network and exchange views on EU-Africa business and investment relations.

The main results of the round table can be found in this document: Inclusive Models in Agri-Food Chains Key Message for the EU-Africa Summit.

EABF ROUND TABLE : iNCLUSIVE MODELS IN AGRI-FOOD CHAINS from coleacp on Vimeo.

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2-3 April 2014. Brussels, Belgium. The 4th EU-Africa summit discussed peace and security, prosperity and the future of EU-Africa partnerships. The previous EU-Africa summits took place in Cairo in 2000, in Lisbon in 2007 and in Tripoli in 2010. The summit was attended by more than 90 delegations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, called for partnerships that will serve all equally.

"We must ensure that we strengthen our partnership based on understanding of each other's challenges and aspirations. With Europe's ageing population and shortage of land, Africa's land and growing youth population are key areas for mutually beneficial cooperation. Africa's youth population is set to double in the coming years while Europe's retired population is set to do the same in the next decade.

With Africa currently home to eight of the 10 fastest growing economies while Europe still recovers from global economic crisis, the meeting emphasised that "Africa is open for business but is not for sale."

Related:

A Stronger Role of the Private Sector in Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

Brussels, 13.5.2014, 16 pages

• p.3: The Commission will look for new ways of harnessing the potential of the private sector as a financing partner, implementing agent, advisor or intermediary to achieve more effective and efficient delivery of EU support, not only in the field of local private sector development, but also in other areas of EU development cooperation such as sustainable energy, sustainable agriculture and agribusiness (...)
• p.7: European companies can contribute to enterprise development in partner countries by integrating local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises into their supply chains, especially in the agriculture and agro-food sectors, as well as through transfer of technology including eco-innovations or renewable energy solutions.
• p.10:  Mainstreaming private sector development and engagement in EU development cooperation: ACTION 7