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Since 2000, EU relations with Africa have been undergoing dynamic institutional and organizational changes. Periodic EU-Africa summits have offered an opportunity for their leaders to gather in a more political forum. The Joint Africa-EU Strategy, launched in 2007, aims to address the power imbalance so that the partnership is more equal and reflects increasing African agency. Today, the EU-Africa partnership spans a wide variety of fields, notably development, peace and security, migration, climate, energy, trade, sustainable investment and employment, education, youth, democracy, and human rights. Through the African Union, the EU is also building up its partnership with regional economic communities like the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in the Horn of Africa.
Although the EU has created multiple pathways for engagement in Africa, it confronts China at every turn because the PRC’s influence has skyrocketed across the continent. Through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the PRC has created a new parallel regional architecture for independent and direct dialogue with its African partners. These developments have worried the EU. Nonetheless, joint EU-China engagement with African partners could help reduce growing tensions over access, as well as influence and solidify the goals of ecological diplomacy. The EU and China have already initiated a sectoral dialogue on Africa as part of their own collaborative efforts. EU-China coordination on Africa is a core part of the first of the three-pronged EU-China Summit topics of engagement under the High-Level Strategic dialogue. Moreover, the 2006 European Commission document EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities highlights sustainable development and aid coordination in Africa as areas for collaboration, as well as the desired outcomes for the continent.
Since 2000, the EU's relationship with Africa has evolved, with summits and a Joint Africa-EU Strategy. However, China's influence in Africa poses a challenge. Both the EU and China are engaging with African partners, aiming to address sustainable development and aid coordination on the continent.