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Politico (27 February 2020)

Simon Marks

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The African Union had a clear message for Brussels: We appreciate your interest, but we can solve our own problems, thanks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the Ethiopian capital Thursday with a large delegation from Brussels, including 20 commissioners, hoping to forge a new strategic partnership with the 55-country African Union. More concretely, they wanted to use their meetings with their AU counterparts to take a crucial step forward in drafting a new Africa strategy that Brussels is hastily putting together to debut next week.

Unlike a similar strategy launched by the U.S. in 2018, which concentrated more on how Washington can counter the rising influence of China and Russia in Africa, Brussels wants to convince its neighbors to the south that Europe’s strategy will take Africa’s interests to heart.

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