Power, roads and internet access hinge on AU-EU review

For millions of Africans, whether electricity reaches their homes, whether roads and flights are safe, and whether internet access is affordable depends on decisions made far from their daily lives. That is the practical stake behind a recent meeting in Addis Ababa, where the African Union and the European Union took stock of their cooperation on energy, transport and digital infrastructure, with both sides focused on turning joint commitments into projects people can actually see and use.

H.E. Lerato D. Mataboge, the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, met with H.E. Javier Niño Perez, Ambassador of the European Union to the African Union, at the EU Delegation in Addis Ababa. Delegations from both institutions took part. The engagement reviewed cooperation across the department’s portfolio and the follow-through on outcomes from the 7th AU-EU Summit.

Additional reference context is available at https://techreviewafrica.com/news/7568/african-union-eu-review-infrastructure-cooperation-following-7th-au-eu-summit.

Energy featured prominently, and for good reason from a citizen’s standpoint. The two sides discussed the African Single Electricity Market and the Continental Power Systems Master Plan, including work to identify the priority interconnectors needed to advance regional electricity market integration. They also addressed the continental agenda on clean cooking, green hydrogen and energy efficiency, areas with a direct bearing on household wellbeing across the continent.

Transport, the second pillar of the review, touched on matters of safety that affect travellers every day. Discussions covered the Single African Air Transport Market, aviation safety, road safety and the harmonisation of road transport regulation. Harmonised rules and safer corridors are the kind of outcomes whose value is measured not in communiqués but in journeys completed without incident.

The third pillar, digital infrastructure, speaks to access. The engagement addressed implementation of the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa and the Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy. Talks also covered EU support through the Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa and the Team Europe Initiative on Data Governance, alongside efforts to expand access to affordable connectivity across the continent. For citizens, affordable connectivity increasingly shapes access to services, information and economic opportunity.

Meanwhile, an institutional architecture underpins all of this, designed to keep investment pointed at public priorities. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa provides the pipeline for infrastructure projects, while the Global Gateway Africa-Europe Investment Package is intended to align investment behind those priorities. The AU-EU Thematic Working Group on Infrastructure serves as the platform for coordinating that alignment.

What distinguished this engagement, according to the readout, was its emphasis on identifying and delivering joint investment priorities within the current cycle, moving cooperation beyond policy frameworks towards implementation. For the publics both institutions serve, that shift from paper to projects is the measure that matters. Whether the interconnectors, safer corridors and affordable connections materialise in the current cycle will be the test citizens watch next.