The Global Gateway Investment Package in Africa
Source: Here.
Introduction: The Global Gateway
The Global Gateway is Europe’s offer for connecting the world with investments and partnerships. Countries need an environment to create jobs, skills and better living conditions for people. Europe will provide a positive choice for countries who need that investment. It is a project which will mobilize up to 300 billion euros in investments in global infrastructure between 2021 and 2027.
The EU has a long track record as a trusted partner to deliver sustainable and high-quality projects taking into account the needs of our partner countries and ensure lasting benefits for local communities as well as the strategic interests of the European Union.
The key principles of the Global Gateway are:
Democratic values and high standards: the global gateway is a value based model, this means, investments in line with the rule of law, human rights and international norms;
Good governance and transparency: the global gateway is going to deliver transparency and sustainability of projects.
Equal partnerships: the global-gateway project will be developed with partners; they will meet their needs and opportunities as well as EU’s strategic interests;
Green and clean: global gateway is a strategy to support partner countries speed up their green transition and move to a circular economy;
Security focused: the global-gateway projects will be safe and resilient to natural or man-made disasters, cyber and hybrid threats;
Catalyze private sector: the global gateway will attract investment involving Europe’s leading industry, private sector knowledge and investment capacity.
There are 5 investment priorities:
Digital: the EU will support open and secure internet;
Climate and energy: the EU will support investments and rules paving the way to clean energy transition;
Transport: the EU will support all modes of green, smart and safe transport;
Health: the EU will help strengthen supply chains and local vaccines production;
Education and research: the EU will invest in high quality education with a special focus on girls and women and vulnerable groups.
EU-Africa: Global Gateway
The aims of this program are to support Africa for a strong and inclusive, green and digital recovery and transformation by:
Accelerating the green transition;
Accelerating the digital transition;
Accelerating sustainable growth and decent job creation;
Strengthening health systems;
Improving education and training.
Green transition
The EU works with Africa to maximize the benefits of the green transition and minimize threats to the environment in full compliance with the Paris agreement.
Across the Africa continent, massive deployment of renewable energy and clean hydrogen production would contribute to having at least 40GigaWatts of capacity by 2030. It would also help develop the renewable hydrogen sector by unlocking business opportunities in both the supply and demand side for energy intensive industries.
The investment Package will allow to increase renewable energy and hydrogen and share in the energy mix, access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy as well as support market integration and sector reforms. Initiatives undertaken under the Investment Package will promote sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity protection and nature-based solutions as the basis of a green recovery, including support to the protection of landscapes and ecosystems.
The investment package will support more sustainable African agri-food systems and to a greater extent by creating a conducive and transparent policy environment for sustainable private investments, enhancing investments in support to agri-food and fish-processing, facilitating innovation and boosting improved nutrition.
Africa is particularly vulnerable to extreme impacts of climate change, which threatens to undo decades of economic progress and development. The Investment Package will contribute to building resilience by supporting disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction and strengthening governance to manage disaster risk.
Digital transition
Tackling the global digital divide at all levels and strengthening secure digital connections between Europe and Africa, but also across Africa, is a common priority. In the post-Covid-19 world, strong digital connections have become even more essential. The investments will facilitate projects in submarine and terrestrial fiber-optic cables, as well as cloud and data infrastructures. It will support regulatory frameworks promoting a digital transition that put people at the center and the principle of trusted connectivity, such as data protection.
The ambition by 2030 is to accelerate universal access for all in Africa to reliable internet networks safely and securely wherever they live.
Sustainable growth and decent job creation
The Investment Package will allow substantially increased investments to boost regional and continental economic integration, growth and decent job creation. It will facilitate mobility and trade within Africa and between Africa and Europe through strategic corridors, by developing multi-country transport infrastructure, supporting investment in sustainable, efficient and safe connectivity between both continents and updating and harmonizing regulatory frameworks.
The EU is a longstanding partner of Africa’s economic integration process. It will strengthen Africa’s regional and continental economic integration towards the Africa Single Market, including by supporting the African vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area as a single continental trade and investment system that is stable, solid and based on clear regulatory frameworks.
The EU is also committed to step up cooperation with partner countries to improve capacities in science, technology and innovation, upgrade research and innovation facilities, strengthen innovation ecosystems, and increase research collaboration.
Health system
Resilient health systems and successful vaccination campaigns are key to mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on public health and providing better healthcare in the future. Team Europe is supporting Africa’s efforts in vaccine deployment, infrastructure and production capacities, skills development, regulatory frameworks and universal health coverage.
The ambition is to improve vaccination coverage, strengthening the African pharmaceutical system with regional manufacturing capacities to meet local needs and demand.
The team Europe initiative Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies aims to support African partners in strengthening local pharmaceutical systems and manufacturing capacity. At regional level, EU funding is mobilized for regulatory strengthening and the African Medicines Agency, the WHO technology transfer hub, and the secretariat of the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing, hosted by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At national level, the focus is on increasing production capacity and manufacturing plants and on creating the right ecosystem for investment.
Education and training
Investing in education is an investment in the world’s future. With 1.6 billion children out of school at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented learning disruption has been created, which we collectively need to address.
The EU is committed to supporting its African partners in providing modern, quality education and training for all children and youth, it is also committed to providing training that corresponds to the opportunities available on the labor market, facilitating youth mobility, and fostering innovative solutions to enhance teachers’ competences and skills.
The Team Europe Initiative on Youth Mobility for Africa will promote youth exchanges and mobility in Africa and between Africa and Europe. Under its umbrella, it will gather all relevant EU programs such as Erasmus+ and offer a critical mass of scholarships and internships. By helping to strengthen Africa’s higher education space and promoting the continent as a study destination for African students, it will support African continental integration.
Conclusions
The Global Gateway Investment Package is an ambitious project that the EU is going to apply in the next years in order to strengthen the partnership with Africa, but also to help the communities that were more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results of the Investment Package will be visible by us Europeans just in the next few years, but we can hope that this strategy is going to help us also in creating a more variegated and open community.
