The European economy has been hit harder than most by the coronavirus pandemic.

Initially, Europe’s vaccine distribution was undermined by disorganised storage and delivery strategies, lethargic negotiations with drugmakers, and knee-jerk delays from regulatory agencies.

Now, however, Europe’s vaccine drive appears to be improving as the continent opens up and the possibility of travelling within the EU for summer holidays becomes more real.

The initial inaction and ineptitude have had a very real cost across Europe. Approximately 20,000 Europeans were dying with Covid-19 every week. The corresponding economic costs are similarly severe. Unemployment in the euro area currently stands at 8.3pc as of February 2021.

With more than 16 million people unemployed, Europe’s virus-stricken economy has struggled to recover from a sustained decline in labour force participation.

Even with a successful vaccination roll-out, Europe still faces a bumpy road to economic recovery.

The unemployment numbers alone impose a hefty economic cost due to rising fiscal deficits and skyrocketing levels of public debt. What’s even worse is that unemployment numbers could get worse if the eurozone doesn’t do something to reduce spiking corporate debt.

In the first half of 2020, enterprise debt ballooned to €400bn due to strict lockdowns and other draconian measures. Now that businesses are starting to reopen, many will have to work tirelessly to pay off debts – after relying on eurozone governments to save them from defaulting on massive bank loans and bond issuances.

Fortunately, despite a steep drop off in productivity, European trade is finally retracing pre-pandemic levels.

If this trend persists and Europe manages to pull together a coherent mass vaccination strategy, the continental economy may be able to emerge at least temporarily from its Covid-induced slump.

As Europe’s vaccination programmes prove successful, the next priority must be to rebuild a new eurozone economy, one capable of simultaneously resisting and confronting the challenges of the 21st century.

The first step in this mission should be the establishment of a renewed relationship with Africa. However, unlike previous partnerships, a new relationship must be founded upon European recognition that Africa is an equal economic partner.

But why Africa?

Well, for starters, there is already a deep network of co-operation embedded between the European Union and Africa in the form of the EU-Africa Partnership, a formal channel of communication regarding shared economic, security, and governance issues.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has shown the bounds of the current EU-Africa Partnership. Implemented through multi-annual forum meetings and keystone summits, the EU-Africa Partnership has always been fixated on the symbolism of co-operation, dialogue, and roadmaps.

Given the scale of contemporary challenges, both Europe and Africa need a more active and more efficient vehicle for growth and development.

In March, a plenary session of the European Parliament voted to adopt a new landmark strategy for engagement and co-operation with Africa.

In the introduced proposal, Members of the European Parliament specifically called for a strategy that would “move beyond the donor-recipient relationship” with Africa.

As well as shoring up regional public health measures and information-sharing, a new partnership would also speed up regional recovery.

From revamped import/export markets to more frictionless access to skilled and unskilled foreign labour pools, this partnership will drive investment and innovation across a range of sectors.

In particular, if the right steps are taken, the renewal of EU-Africa economic relations could have a transformative impact on the fight against climate change. Although it bears a lighter responsibility for the excess of carbon in the atmosphere, Africa is still lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to green energy and decarbonisation.

As a global leader in renewable technology and innovative policy implementation, Europe is well-placed to overhaul Africa’s archaic approach to environmental protection and energy generation.

From the European perspective, Africa’s energy, transportation, and agriculture industries have long been criticised for their fragile design, unsustainable land management practices, and poorly regulated emission and pollutant frameworks.

By contracting these reforms to established European engineering firms and technologists, Africa will benefit from world-class design and compliance expertise.

Europe in turn will benefit from new capital inflows, an expanded global presence, and attractive investment opportunities in the fastest urbanising region in the world.

Finally, as the EU cultivates a more substantive network of public and private relationships across Africa, the ensuing economic growth and job opportunities may help curtail the thorny issue of illegal and often dangerous migration to Europe from sub-Saharan and Central Africa.

In the short run, a renewed partnership could help Europe rebuild its shattered labour market and recover from a black hole of fiscal shortfalls and public debt.

The downstream benefits are even more profound. By 2050, Africa will be home to some 2.2 billion people.

If Europe can beat China to become Africa’s de facto trade and investment partner, it could spell the start of a shift in the global poles of economic power.

 

Miriam Asante is a political and economic analyst based in Ghana.