With a Trump induced rethink of strategic alliances in throw, should Europe (including the UK) turn to Africa for a long-term economic partnership? The RENEW group in the European Parliament have been working on this idea for 2 years now through RENEWPAC, it’s engagement project with the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) allied political groups. The third such congress took place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire last month, the second I have attended on behalf of Liberal International, and the enthusiasm for a deep economic partnership was heightened by the unstable geopolitics of the moment. It was hosted generously by the Ivorian government and in particular Fisheries minister Sidi Touré, my fellow Vice President of Liberal International.

The basic theory is that Europe has shortages of labour and natural resources alongside an inward migration challenge, largely across the Mediterranean, but is relatively rich and well placed with investment resources. Africa conversely has an excess of available labour and copious natural resources, but a severe shortage of capital for investment. The African perspective is that Europe is a far better fit for economic partnership than China, as China also has excess labour and is more interested in importing African raw materials than the possibility of adding value in Africa. Europe is also much closer geographically and culturally. The Africans all stress that they do not want to replace Chinese investment, but to more than match it with investment from Europe.

It is reasonable to point out that the Africans involved are the ones most favourably disposed towards such a partnership, being liberal government and opposition parties, largely from the British Commonwealth and Francophone West Africa. However, this is a significant caucus which has raised the idea within the African Union, but may have to take the idea to fruition through an internal trade alliance.

The level of consensus in Abidjan was remarkable, but tinged with frustration, as RENEW have already pushed this at a European level and received some support from the EPP, but concrete progress is slow to non-existent.

It is important that we keep a broad spectrum of solutions to the instability now pressing us. Our potential African partners are as worried as ourselves about the chaos spread by Trump and the existential use of power by Russia and China. They believe that they have solutions to offer for some of our long-term problems as well as their own. Notably aid was hardly mentioned; and trade only in the terms of “partnership”. Solidarity with Europe over the Russian invasion of Ukraine was strongly expressed in the political declaration agreed at the conference. Africa was affected profoundly by the surge in grain and fertiliser prices which resulted from the invasion.

It is my view that the time for cementing such a partnership has come and we should not be deflected from turning this consensus for action into a reality. Africa and Europe have much to offer each other and will be stronger working together in an increasingly dog eat dog international environment.

* Phil Bennion is Vice President of Liberal International and former MEP for the West Midlands.