For the EU and Africa to succeed, the Med needs a Marshall Plan
For her first trip abroad as the EU’s Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen chose Ethiopia - the capital of the African Union.
The messaging was right in its symbolism: Europe may finally appreciate the importance of Africa as an equal partner in driving political stability and economic prosperity for both continents.
But let us be clear: this ambition can only succeed if the Mediterranean - Europe’s frontline to Africa - is embedded in an economic plan, similar to the Marshall plan, which focuses not on development handouts to governments, but on investment, job skilling, training and governance.
The Mediterranean region lacks intra-regional trade (policy, agreements, incentives and infrastructure) access to capital - not to governments but to the private sector (which the EIB and EBRD have been exercising selectively and bureaucratically), angel investors for start-ups, de-risking of capital for SMEs, and access to markets for women-led business.
Last October, I was at the “Trade for Her” conference in Brussels, initiated and led by the former EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. I was encouraged and inspired by the EU’s senior trade officials – in their approach and commitment to alternative thinking in the way they deploy trade to enhance international collaboration, human development, creating opportunities and expanding horizons.
Recently, the EU Commission launched a review into the impact on trade of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements with six countries Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia. The MGI.online -the only real time data analysis, benchmarking and forecasting tool - can be deployed for this review as a tracker of progress. The Mediterranean is a region of 500 million people, as large as the EU, producing 10% of global GDP, but only a third of its trade is intra-regional.
The Mediterranean needs more intra-regional trade and more integration and links to Africa to transform economic potential for all.