African and European leaders ended a summit in Luanda on Tuesday with new cooperation pledges on trade, minerals and migration but acknowledged that the two-day gathering produced no major breakthroughs.
The summit brought together 80 delegations for negotiations on trade, minerals, migration and security. The final communiqué listed commitments to strengthen commercial ties, expand cooperation on strategic minerals and curb irregular migration while improving legal mobility.
It also set out a pledge to support a rules-based international order.
European Council President Antonio Costa warned that letting states undermine recognised borders risked wider instability.
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“When we allow a state, whichever it may be, to flout the serenity and internationally recognised borders of another country, we authorise all of them to do the same,” Costa said.
“That is why there is no alternative to the multilateral and international order based on rules.” He added that the partnership rested on “shared values.”
A European Commission statement released during the meeting detailed new EU investment packages for energy, digital networks, infrastructure and businesses in African countries.
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Trade and minerals
Trade and strategic minerals featured heavily in the talks. African representatives pressed for more processing to take place on the continent.
Angola’s foreign minister Tete Antonio said Africa wanted a shift in how its resources were exported. “We need to be able to export cobalt, but also vehicle batteries,” he said.
Antonio gave a broader view of what leaders discussed.
“We talked about peace, security and governance but above all, we recalled that we will have to work in such a way that prosperity is shared and that the values of solidarity, cooperation and dialogue are preserved,” Antonio said.
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Conflicts and crises
The talks also focused on Sudan and eastern DR Congo. Leaders condemned killings by the Rapid Support Forces in El-Fasher and backed UN resolution 2773.
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They also backed efforts in Washington and Doha aimed at reducing tensions in eastern DR Congo.
Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévost said the EU needed to reassess its approach to Congo sanctions.
“The European Union may have been too quick to be satisfied with having taken sanctions in February or March, without then worrying sufficiently about how the situation evolved,” said Prévost.
“And today, I am not sure that new sanctions would be appropriate, at the risk that they be instrumentalised to justify the derailment of ongoing mediation processes.”
Migration was another major theme. The communiqué said the aim was to curb irregular migration while improving mobility for citizens of both blocs.