News item | 5/31/2023 | 08:00
The Netherlands is sharpening its efforts in Africa by investing more, more specifically and more sustainably in the continent and its relationship with African countries. The aim of the strategy is to position the Netherlands and the EU as attractive partners for African countries. With this, the Netherlands, together with African partners, wants to tackle cross-border challenges in the areas of migration, trade, the energy transition, safety and food security. That is what Minister Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Minister Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs write to the House of Representatives.
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Geopolitical and geoeconomic competition
The Africa Strategy sets out the Dutch commitment to the African continent for the next ten years. The Netherlands has good relations with many of the 54 African countries and cooperates closely in the fields of politics, trade and development cooperation.
At the same time, the Netherlands and the EU on the African continent face geopolitical challenges and competition from other countries that are further expanding their influence on the continent. This concerns large-scale investments by China in infrastructure and critical raw materials, the disruptive efforts of Russia and the growing role of other players such as the Gulf states. These developments call for increased Dutch involvement, together with the EU and other European countries.
Common interests
The interests of African countries and Europe are closely linked: politically, economically and in the field of security. Like the Netherlands and the EU, African countries have an interest in combating and curbing conflict, violent extremism and terrorism. The EU is the main trading partner and investor in Africa and a major donor of development and humanitarian aid. The African continent has large reserves of critical raw materials lithium, cobalt and rare earth metals that are important for the energy transition. Many of these raw materials now go from Africa to other countries for processing before they end up in the EU. African countries also benefit from processing the raw materials themselves.
Instability and lack of prosperity directly affect the daily lives and future prospects of Africans and lead some Africans to seek safety or build a livelihood outside the continent. Attention to the prevention of irregular migration therefore remains an important part of the Dutch and European efforts in African countries.
Integrated approach
The Africa Strategy is the first Dutch integrated strategy for the entire African continent. Part of it is an action-oriented agenda that translates vision and commitment into actions in the short, medium and long term. The central starting point is the importance of understanding each other’s position and the willingness to support each other on issues that are important to the other.
The Africa strategy was developed on the basis of broad consultations and in-depth discussions with social partners, knowledge institutions, companies, diaspora, international organizations and governments, in the Netherlands, in Europe and, above all, in Africa itself.