The summit meeting of European and African heads of government actually begins this Thursday in Brussels.

At a meeting in Dakar a few days ago, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Senegalese President Macky Sall, the current President of the African Union, both stated eloquently that they were pulling in the same direction.

Claudia Bröll

Freelance Africa correspondent based in Cape Town.

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"Europe and Africa have an interest in working together," Sall said.

He hopes for a "renewed, modernized and more active partnership".

His European counterpart spoke of "the common vision of creating an area of ​​stability and prosperity." To confirm this, von der Leyen announced an investment package worth 150 billion euros for the expansion of infrastructure in Africa.

Europe is "Africa's most reliable and by far the most important investment partner".

Prepare the continent for future pandemics

The charm offensive has good reasons.

Aside from diplomatic statements, relations between the two neighboring continents have recently suffered.

Political observers have described it as a "signal" that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will reportedly not be present in Brussels in person.

The presidents of Kenya and Nigeria are also likely to stay away.

Vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries early in the coronavirus pandemic, and the abrupt travel restrictions imposed by several European countries after South African scientists identified the omicron variant, has sparked much anger in Africa.

With rare clarity, Ramaphosa vented his anger in December when he spoke of "vaccine apartheid" and accused European countries of "condescending behavior".

Furthermore, both sides have not yet approached each other on the sensitive issue of patent protection for Covid vaccines.

While African countries are insisting on a temporary waiver so that vaccines in Africa are not just filled and packaged, some European countries are resisting a relaxation.

Even the latest promises to donate millions of vaccines to Africa will probably only meet with a weary shrug of the shoulders there.

Currently, the lack of vaccines is no longer an issue.

During a visit by the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to Cape Town last week, it was said that the task now was to prepare the continent for future pandemics.

There are also differences in climate policy.

Even before the summit, Senegal's President reminded them to keep an eye on Africa's development goals.

"We should not injustice to Africa by stopping extraction of fossil fuels, because that would be a big problem for African countries." Together with Europe, a "climate-friendly strategy" must be found that at the same time takes into account the needs of the continent. Senegal and others African countries are currently pursuing large natural gas projects to boost industrialization and bring electricity to more people Less than half of Africa's population was connected to an electricity grid as of 2019, according to the World Bank.

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"The EU-AU summit will highlight how much the pandemic has strained EU-Africa relations," says Aleix Montana of the Verisk Maplecroft analysis institute.

Anger at Europe's handling of the pandemic is likely to overshadow announcements on investment, debt financing, migration, energy transition and security initiatives.

The absence of key African politicians would undermine the credibility of the summit.