AFRICA'S CHANGE DYNAMICS: HIGHLIGHTS IN 2013

1) Key publications on the future of Africa-EU relations included our annual ‘Challenges Paper’, which sought to situate debates concerning Africa-EU relations, and a thematic issue of ECDPM’s GREAT insights magazine on the Africa-EU partnership featuring contributions from, amongst others, AU Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. We also launched a blog dedicated to Africa-Europe relations, featuring contributions from African and European stakeholders.

2) We facilitated several meetings to promote dialogue about the future of the EU-Africa partnership. In cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) we organised a conference in Berlin, which brought together some 40 senior officials from African, ACP and EU institutions and member states with participants from think tanks and civil society organisation. Together with fellow members of the European Think-Tanks Group (ODI, DIE and FRIDE) we hosted a high-level conference in Brussels. This event included African and European stakeholders responsible for implementing various priorities in the EU-Africa partnership. 

3) The African Development Bank commissioned us to evaluate its support to governance institutions at the national and regional levels. The conclusions of the evaluation provided a basis for further reflection among the management of the Bank on its future direction.

4) We launched a reflection process in Madagascar aiming to strengthen the capacity of civil society at the local level. Our assessments looked at the different components required for a strong civil society, also identifying alternative sources of finances for local organisations.

5) In North Africa, ECDPM and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) launched a joint initiative to stimulate the use of political economy analysis in support of local and national reforms.