Celebrating twenty EUISS-COAFR meetings

On 19 April 2023, Member States delegates to the Africa Working Party of the Council of the EU (COAFR) and experts from the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Chatham House and the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) discussed the ‘new geopolitics of the Horn of Africa’. This meeting marked the twentieth of a series jointly organised by EUISS and COAFR.

Starting in 2019, the meetings have facilitated knowledge sharing between Member States and EU policymakers on selected sub-regions, countries and topics, contributing to Africa-related policy planning and joint-analysis.

Sessions were moderated by EUISS Senior Analyst Giovanni Faleg and animated by leading experts from Africa and Europe providing original, thought-provoking and constructive input.

Over the years, a variety of topics have been discussed ranging from local and longer-standing security topics such as herder-farmer conflict in the Sahel, to global, novel and hybrid threats for the continent.

Explore the topics discussed below:

29 January 2019, Security and stability in West Africa: Ivory Coast and Ghana close up. With Ned Dalby (International Crisis Group).

2 April 2019, Pastoralism in the Sahel: Building a common assessment to address intercommunity violence. With Prof Mirjam de Bruijn (Leiden University).

25 June 2019, The African Great Lakes Region, Breaking the cycle of conflict. With Prof Koen Vlassenroot (Ghent University).

8 October 2019, Intra-African mobility: migration governance and security implications. With Dr Benjamin Schraven (German Development Institute).

19 November 2019, Nonviolent resistance and political transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa after Sudan. With Dr Katariina Mustasilta (EUISS).

21 January 2020, Angola: an African country to watch in 2020. With Dr Fernando Jorge Cardoso (Centro de Estudos Internacionais, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa).

4 February 2020, EU member states strategies towards sub-Saharan Africa. With Giovanni Faleg and Carlo Palleschi (EUISS).

15 October 2020, Russia in Africa. With Giovanni Faleg and Stanislav Secrieru (EUISS).

15 December 2020, Turkey in Africa. With Prof. Luigi Narbone and Dr Virginie Collombier (European University Institute, Middle East Directions Programme).

25 February 2021, Sahel Climate Conflicts. With Dr Luca Raineri, Sant’ Anna School of Advances Studies.

29 April 2021, The Future of the AfCFTA. With Jakkie Cilliers (ISS); Bernardo Venturi (IAI); Carlo Palleschi (La Sapienza University); Clara Portela (EUISS); Katariina Mustasilta (FIIA); Joachim Isacsson (UK DCDC); Melanie Robinson (UK DCDC); Paul Maximilian Bisca (World Bank); Alex Vines (Chatham House); Enrico Calandro (Research ICT); Patryk Pawlak (EUISS); Carlo Papa (ENEL Foundation); Fabrizio Tassinari (EUI); Sean Woolfrey (ECDPM).

27 May 2021, Turning the Tide: A New US Foreign Policy Towards Africa. With Judd Devermont (Center for Strategic and International Studies) and Simona Soare (EUISS).

24 June 2021, The UK Africa Policy Post-Brexit. With Dr Alex Vines (Chatham House)

16 November 2021, Cyber and Digital transition: an African way? With Dr Patryk Pawlak (EUISS)

25 January 2022, Is Africa lost in transitions? With Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi and Prof. Robert Mattes (Afrobarometer) and Dr Katariina Mustasilta (Finnish Institute of International Affairs)

23 March 2022, Rising Hybrid Threats in Africa. With Dr Giovanni Faleg and Dr Nad’a Kovalčíková (EUISS).

12 May 2022, Geopolitics of African Oceans. With Dr Alex Vines (Chatham House) and Dr Giovanni Faleg (EUISS).

26 September 2022, African Union at 20. With Prof. Mehari Maru (European University Institute) and Dr. Toni Haastrup (University of Stirling).

28 November 2022, African Food Security. With Ben Leyka (African Agri Council).

19 April 2023, New Geopolitics of the Horn of Africa. With Magnus Bellander (Folke Bernadotte Academy), Viola Dreikhausen (EUISS) and Ahmed Soliman (Chatham House).