Dear newsletter subscriber,
The countries of the Global South and the EU have been confronted with the same question in recent months: How should we handle the geopolitical and trade turbulence that has characterised the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term? How should we respond to the power displays – tariffs on the part of the US, export controls on the part of China – of the world’s economic heavyweights?
One promising strategy is to put one’s eggs in more than one basket. In January, India and the EU concluded a long-negotiated, wide-ranging free trade agreement; another agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) has been signed, but not yet ratified by the EU. Both agreements offer all participants an opportunity to reduce their dependence on the USA and China, entirely in keeping with the clear speech by Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Carney called on “middle powers” to act together in order to avoid being crushed between “great powers”.
The question remains: What about Africa? A similarly bold agreement with the EU is nowhere in sight, as Moses Vilakati, Mathias Mogge and Debisi Araba lament in their current opinion piece. Yet there are certainly opportunities for mutual complementarity, they argue, for instance with regard to Africa’s growing food markets and Europe’s interest in sustainable value chains.
A potential African protagonist of a deeper partnership could be the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Though it comprises a total of 54 countries, it is not currently fulfilling its potential: too much bureaucracy, a lack of infrastructure and insufficient cooperation are hampering intra-African trade. But that can change. Ultimately, the search for viable alliances, whether between states or trade blocs, remains the order of the day. Especially in turbulent times like these.
We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter. Please feel free to share your opinions, criticisms and suggestions by emailing us at euz.editor@dandc.eu.
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Kind regards,
Jörg Döbereiner
managing editor at D+C |
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© picture alliance/Zoonar/Nando Lardi
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Africa and Europe should put trade at the centre of their relations
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© picture alliance / Xinhua News Agency / Wang Guansen
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Africa does not flinch before Trump
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© picture-alliance/Xinhua News Agency/Martin Mbangweta |
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Why Zambia needs the AfCFTA
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© David Amen, original artwork enhanced with AI. Original publication: rioonwatch.org/?p=63779 |
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Our latest Digital Monthly:
Liveable cities |
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That’s how long it took for the wealthiest one percent of the global population to exhaust their CO2 budget for the entire year. In order to meet the 1.5 °C target, the United Nations states that no more than 2.1 tonnes of CO2 per capita may be emitted annually – a limit that, according to Oxfam's calculations, the super-rich had already exceeded by 10 January.
The calculations not only include private lifestyles but also the emissions caused by companies in which the super-rich invest. In addition to stronger taxation of emissions-intensive luxury goods, Oxfam therefore calls for a global tax on the profits of oil, gas and coal companies. This tax could generate up to $ 400 billion annually, thus compensating for at least part of the economic damages caused by climate change.
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For the next chapter of the energy transition, days without sun should not be a problem: Filipino student Carvey Ehren Maigue has developed a material that can harness solar energy even on cloudy days.
Conventional solar panels require direct sunlight. “AuREUS” works differently: the material converts ultraviolet (UV) radiation into visible light, which is then transformed into electricity. Compared to conventional solar cells, this allows energy to be generated over a significantly longer period of time. Since UV radiation also penetrates clouds, AuREUS does not need to be directly aligned with the sun. By the way: the material consists mainly of vegetable waste.
Speaking of solar energy: Nigerian monarch Olowu of Owu is showing how solar distribution can be done as well. His palace runs entirely on solar energy, and surplus electricity is set to be distributed to the general public to power street lighting or health centres. The king is also innovative in other areas: 3D-printed cowry shell tokens shall ensure that over 5000 schoolchildren receive their meals – transparently trackable via cloud technology. |
| What has also caught our interest |
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| Africans trapped in Laos scam factories |
What do you get when you answer a Telegram job ad for an “IT job in Asia”? If you’re unlucky: a one-way ticket to forced scamming for an international cybercrime syndicate. A gripping Al Jazeera piece follows Khobby from Ghana and Jojo from Uganda, who flew out for the promise of a well-paid online gig – and instead landed in a jungle scam factory in Laos’ notorious Golden Triangle. “Data entry” turned out to mean non-stop fraud, the “office environment” featured surveillance cameras and fellow “prisoners” from around the globe, and the only “team-building” was beatings when targets weren’t hit. The text shows how the “digital transformation” is opening a new chapter in human trafficking. |
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| New video game lets players reclaim Africa’s stolen artifacts |
The internet isn’t just about scams, as a glance at Johannesburg shows. That’s where a long-overdue game genre comes from: the museum heist. In “Relooted”, players form a team of programmers, scientists and MMA fighters to plan original raids to finally bring African art treasures back home – and in doing so answer a crucial question: Is it actually theft if you take back what was stolen? The setting is not only quite stylish, but also highly topical politically. After all, according to UNESCO, around 90 % of African artworks are still stored in European or American museum depots. Unlike the real colonial looters, the team in the game is not allowed to use violence against anyone.
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| What the Sudanese war is actually about |
Nesrine Malik explains in The Guardian what really lies behind the war that, according to the UN, has triggered the world’s worst displacement crisis: two competing pasts, a long narrative (marginalisation of regions such as Darfur, preservation of power by elites) and a short one (the 2019 revolution and failed hopes for civilian rule).
In doing so, she also dispels some gross misunderstandings: no, this is not a classic civil war (no one asked the population if they wanted to participate), and the conflict has certainly not been forgotten – rather, it has been mercilessly ignored or even tolerated. The whole story is also a personal account: Malik describes how her family’s house in Khartoum was gutted by the RSF.
In our March issue, we take a look at the situation in Sudan from Chad, the desperately poor neighbouring country to which hundreds of thousands have fled.
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The German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) invites applications for the MGG Academy 2026, an international training and dialogue programme for early- to mid-career professionals from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Europe. The full-time programme will take place from 11 September to 29 November 2026 in Bonn, Germany, and combines academic learning, leadership development and collaborative work on global sustainability issues.
Application deadline: 9 March |
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DW Academy is calling for applications for the fall intake of its master’s programme in International Media Studies, a joint project with the University of Bonn and Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. As the application process can be demanding, an application guideline is available to support prospective candidates.
Application deadline: 15 March
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Imprint
Publisher information: ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL gGmbH Service für Entwicklungsinitiativen
Publisher: Fazit Communication GmbH, Pariser Strasse 1, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)69 7591-3110 | Email: euz.editor@dandc.eu
Website: www.fazit.de | Managing Directors: Jonas Grashey, Hannes Ludwig |
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