Members of the Council of European Union Africa Working Party (COAFR) have arrived in Abuja to begin a four-day working visit to the country, where they are expected to engage with Nigerian authorities, government agencies, civil society groups, regional and international organisations and private sector actors in Abuja and in Lagos.
Specifically, during the visit, taking place from February 26 to 29, 2024, the COAFR members, according to a statement on Sunday, will also have sessions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, among others.
COAFR is mandated with the supervision and management of EU’s external policy towards the 46 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union (AU) and other sub-regional organisations.
It is composed of representatives of all 27 EU member states, chaired by a permanent member of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and assisted by representatives of the commission and the general secretariat of the council.
In Lagos, the COAFR is expected to meet with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Consuls General of EU Member States, and the leadership of the European Business Chamber (EuroCham) Nigeria.
They will also visit several EU-funded projects in the state featuring digital and innovation, critical infrastructure and connectivity and migration. Deliberations during the meetings will centre on further boosting EU-Nigeria partnership.
COAFR’s visits to African countries aim at promoting direct contact, mutual information exchange and feedback between the political and foreign policy organs of the EU and their African counterparts.
They play an important role in taking stock of state and non-state actors’ views, perspectives, aspirations and expectations regarding their partnership with the EU, its closest neighbour and its sister continent.
The team will commence a similar visit to the neighbouring Republic of Benin at the end of its current mission in Nigeria.
According to the statement, this is the group’s first ever working visit to Nigeria, noting that in addition to the representatives of 17 EU member states, officials from EU institutions are expected to be in the team.
The statement further revealed that this year’s working visit will be the eleventh visit of the COAFR to the African continent, and the third visit to West Africa – following earlier visits to Senegal and Burkina Faso (2015) and Ivory Coast and Ghana (2019).
It said more than ever before, several top EU officials have visited Nigeria in recent years and months, underlining the importance the EU accords its partnership with the country.
Last October, the EU’s Commissioner for International Partnership, Ms. Jutta Urpilainen and her counterpart for Energy, Ms. Kadri Simson, led other top officials to participate in the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue Meeting held in Abuja.
Also, the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helena Konig, and the Managing Director, Africa at the EEAS, Ms. Rita Laranjinha, were in the country shortly before then.
This followed the visits in 2022 of EU’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager in February 2022, EU and Member States Maritime Security Coordinators in April 2022 and senior officials of the European Commission in charge of Energy and Home Affairs.
Michael Olugbode
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