What are the main challenges facing Africa? What role does the international community play, in particular Italy and the EU? What changes are occurring?

This text is short, so read it! Africa and progress on the SDGs, 2024

https://www.undp.org/africa/publications/2024-africa-sustainable-development-report

and then download the Executive Summary

file:///C:/Users/Pc/Downloads/english_exec_summary_-_asdr_2024_-_en.pdf

then

https://sdg.iisd.org/news/report-makes-recommendations-to-accelerate-sdgs-in-africa-agenda-2063/#:~:text=The%20UN%20Development%20Programme%20(UNDP,to%20be%20achieved%20by%202030.

and look at these:

https://acleddata.com/2024/06/10/africa-overview-may-2024/

https://acleddata.com/2024/07/05/africa-overview-june-2024/

https://acleddata.com/2024/08/12/africa-overview-july-2024/

https://acleddata.com/2024/09/06/africa-overview-august-2024/

https://acleddata.com/2024/10/04/africa-overview-september-2024/

resources – https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-01-Developing-Africas-mineral-resources.pdf

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/04/29/cf-harnessing-sub-saharan-africas-critical-mineral-wealth

Africa is a continent with rapid demographic growth and enormous economic potential but faces a series of interlinked challenges.

The challenges for Africa – the most important is poverty, which causes or worsens many of the others or limits an African country’s ability to deal with them. And then:

making a living, food insecurity, Africa’s rapid demographic growth, climate change, droughts, famines, floods, the lack of infrastructure, lack of an adequate education system (particularly for girls), health care and the disease prevention system, weak rule of law and a lack of governance, corruption, the debt burden, military coups, security, civil war ethic and religious divisions and conflict generated by armed non-state actors, migration, human trafficking, human rights abuses and atrocities, dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, a poor business environment, the need for more economic development and access to foreign investmentcapital, more trade and diversification in economic activities  e.g. more industry. And more intra-African trade.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/poorest-countries-in-africa

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/01/whats-stake-africa-2024

https://www.controlrisks.com/our-thinking/insights/africa-ten-key-issues-to-watch-in-2024?utm_referrer=https://www.google.com

https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/ten-things-to-watch-in-africa-in-2024

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/mi/research-analysis/subsaharan-africa-key-themes-in-2024.html

https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/african-union-regional-bodies/b195-eight-priorities-african-union-2024

https://apnews.com/article/africa-un-au-food-hunger-03c66d5afa6b99b2427678faaa87ec56

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/africa-population/

https://www.worldometers.info/population/countries-in-africa-by-population/#google_vignette

https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/AFR/africa/population-growth-rate#google_vignette

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/01/whats-stake-africa-2024

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/07/africa/afcfta-secretary-general-mene-interview-spc/index.html

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/business-exodus-from-africa-multinationals/

So one could argue that the challenge is often to create a stable, flexible and reliable business environment which will then foster investment and boost economic growth. However, given the levels of poverty in Africa, in order to maintain stability, this economic growth needs to be socially inclusive and not simply to the advantage of local elites and foreign (non-African) states or companies.

 You could then link this to the Mattei Plan.

The EU and Africa: the EU Partnership with Africa

https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/policies/africa-eu-partnership_en#:~:text=The%20Africa%2DEU%20Partnership%20is,actors%2C%20and%20the%20private%20sector.

https://ecdpm.org/work/trouble-paradise-eu-africa-partnership-geopolitical-context

Italy and Africa: the Mattei Plan

https://www.governo.it/it/node/24861

https://www.esteri.it/en/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/2023/05/messaggio-del-ministro-antonio-tajani-per-la-giornata-dellafrica-2023/

https://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/mattei-plan-africa-turning-point-italys-development-cooperation-policy

https://www.iai.it/it/pubblicazioni/giorgia-melonis-foreign-policy-and-mattei-plan-africa

https://www.eunews.it/2024/01/04/meloni-piano-mattei-ue-africa/

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/meloni-mattei-africa-policy-immigration/

https://www.governo.it/en/articolo/president-meloni-s-press-statement-president-republic-congo/23944

The UN

https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/africa#:~:text=The%20United%20Nations%20played%20a,the%20development%20of%20political%20institutions

Other actors

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/nonstate-armed-actors-in-2024-the-middle-east-and-africa/

https://www.orfonline.org/research/russias-low-risk-high-reward-strategy-for-its-return-to-africa

https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2024/04/01/china-africa-economic-bulletin-2024-edition/

https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/02/07/infrastructure-diplomacy-the-key-to-chinas-influence-in-africa/

for more on China’s role in Africa, see also the post on China on the blog

https://africacenter.org/spotlight/africa-india-cooperation-benchmark-partnership/

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/turkey-influence-africa/

https://gfmag.com/economics-policy-regulation/africa-china-trade-debt-loans/

In an essay with this title, you might want to make a distinction between North Africa (the Maghreb and Egypt), the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, explaining that the challenges are similar and interconnected but often on a different scale in different areas. Then you could focus on one of them. Most of the material above is focused on sub-Saharan Africa.

North Africa – high levels of youth unemployment and a widespread demand for political and social change (expressed through the events of the Arab Spring) while economic problems, including food prices, are less severe at the moment. However, with the military regime in Egypt, and authoritarian regimes in other North African countries and post-regime faction-fighting in Libya, long-term stability in this region may be fragile. The economic situation is expected to return to low growth like that prior to Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism is slowly recovery in Egypt. Oil exports from Libya should gradually grow.

https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/mena-economic-update-april-2024-conflict-and-debt-middle-east-and-north-africa-enar#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20report%2C%20MENA,increase%20from%201.9%25%20in%202023.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypt-sees-tourism-numbers-picking-up-despite-shadow-gaza-war-2024-03-07/

https://www.fitchsolutions.com/bmi/country-risk/libyan-growth-cool-2024-remain-robust-rising-oil-output-05-02-2024

https://en.majalla.com/node/309166/business-economy/north-africa-race-against-time-growth-and-development

The Sahel and the Horn of Africa

Countries in the Sahel (comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger), along with neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) are facing a range of development challenges. Escalating insecurity, political instability including military takeovers, climate change, and overlapping economic shocks are making it even harder to achieve sustainable and inclusive development in one of the poorest parts of the world. The central Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — all of which are now ruled by military juntas — are engulfed in a decade-long regional jihadist insurgency driven by al-Qaeda’s Sahelian branch Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel).

https://acleddata.com/conflict-watchlist-2024/sahel/

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/11/16/cf-the-sahel-car-face-complex-challenges-to-sustainable-development

In the Greater Horn of Africa countries face a convergence of increasingly recurring and intensifying climate crises, mainly drought and flooding, conflicts, human rights abues and atrocities, disease outbreaks, and economic shocks.

https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/greater-horn-africa-humanitarian-key-messages-february-2024

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/11/horn-africa-impunity-fueling-abuses

https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/news-stories/news/eu-provides-initial-eu171-million-humanitarian-aid-greater-horn-africa-region-2024-02-27_en

file:///C:/Users/Pc/Downloads/AFI-Special-Report-Development-prospects-for-the-Horn-of-Africa-countries-to-2040-Poverty-and-income-inequality.pdf

In dealing with sub-Saharan Africa, if you wanted to take one country as an example of the challenges facing other countries in the region, Zambia might be interesting. It is peaceful and should attract investment but remains poor. So it poses some basic questions about how to lauch an African country on a virtuous  development path.

https://diggers.news/local/2024/02/28/undp-regional-boss-wonders-why-zambia-is-poor-despite-being-peaceful/

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zambia/overview#:~:text=Zambia%20ranks%20among%20the%20countries,creation%20and%20declining%20labor%20earnings.

https://www.afdb.org/en/documents/zambia-study-economic-diversification-and-productivity-improvement

https://cepa.org/article/confronting-the-china-challenge-in-africa-the-lobito-corridor/

https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/ZMB

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/zambia-infrastructure-development

https://healingwaters.org/zambia-water-crisis/

https://www.fao.org/3/AC428E/AC428E02.htm#:~:text=Zambia%20is%20a%20landlocked%20country,%2C%20Namibia%2C%20Botswana%20and%20Angola.

https://issafrica.org/iss-today/blue-economies-could-take-zambia-from-landlocked-to-land-linked#:~:text=Zambia's%20recent%20validation%20of%20a,of%20these%20vast%20freshwater%20resources.

EU missions and operations in Africa are listed with other EU missions on this page. Click on the links.  https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/missions-and-operations_en

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/euam-rca_en

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eubam-libya_en

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eucap-sahel-mali_en

https://www.eucap-sahel.eu/

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eucap-som/about-eucap-somalia_en?s=332

https://eunavfor.eu/

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eu-racc-sahel/about-eu-regional-advisory-and-coordination-cell-sahel-racc_en

https://eutmmali.eu/aboutus/

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eutm-mozambique/about-european-union-training-mission-mozambique_en?s=4411

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eutm-rca_en

https://www.eutm-somalia.eu/

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eu-sdi-gulf-guinea_en

UN Peacekeeping Operations in Africa

https://www.unmissions.org/

UN aid programs in Africa

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/section/humanitarian-aid

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Africa

https://www.undp.org/africa

Education and gender equality

https://www.unicef.org/media/106691/file/Transforming%20Education

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/topic/education

https://unsdg.un.org/latest/blog/building-forward-better-agenda-africa-cannot-succeed-without-gender-equality#:~:text=Despite%20this%20progress%20and%20constitutional,51%20of%2054%20African%20countries.

https://www.uneca.org/gender-equality-and-empowerment-women

Missioni italiane

‘Con le nuove missioni in Niger e Burkina Faso, il contingente italiano supporterà le forze di sicurezza locali nella lotta ai gruppi armati. Con la neo-istituita EU Military Partnership Mission in Niger (EUMPM Niger), Roma contribuirà – tra le altre cose – alla creazione di un Centro per la formazione dei tecnici delle forze armate nigerine. La EUMPM Niger si aggiunge alla Missione Italiana Bilaterale di Supporto nella Repubblica del Niger (MISIN) dove – per usare le parole del Comandante del Comando Operativo Interforze Figliuolo, che da poco ha fatto visita alla base – i militari italiani sono impegnati a “contrastare la minaccia alla stabilità e alla convivenza civile”.

Anche in Libia, con la nuova missione europea, l’Italia rafforza la propria presenza. La EU Border Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya), che mira a facilitare la transizione del Paese verso democrazia e stabilità, si somma infatti alla Missione bilaterale di assistenza e supporto in Libia (MIASIT). Quest’ultima è stata spesso criticata con riferimento ai flussi migratori di persone che cercano di arrivare in Europa e che si trovano costrette in centri di detenzione dove sono sottoposte a pratiche inumane. Il tema è aperto dal 2017, quando l’allora Governo Gentiloni sottoscrisse un Memorandum con Tripoli, recentemente rinnovato dall’attuale esecutivo.’ https://www.affarinternazionali.it/missioni-internazionali-italiane-non-solo-mediterraneo/   2023

‘In Africa si vedono invece numerose missioni bilaterali – come in Nord Africa, Sahel, nel Golfo di Guinea e nel Corno d’Africa – e ancora la volontà di mantenere una forte presenza navale. Tra le prime si ricordano: la Missione bilaterale di supporto nella Repubblica del Niger (500 unità) – Paese molto importante dal punto di vista energetico –,la Missione bilaterale di assistenza e supporto in Libia (200 unità) e quella di addestramento delle forze somale, gibutiane e yemenite (115 unità). Anche se con contingenti più ridotti, l’Italia partecipa inoltre a diverse missioni UE nel continente africano come EUTM Somalia (171 unità) ed EUTM Mozambico (15 unità).’ https://www.affarinternazionali.it/le-missioni-internazionali-2024-quanti-e-dove-sono-i-militari-italiani/     2024