AU–EU Cooperation in Education, Training and Employment

Introduction

According to data from the European Commission, the EU is Africa's leading trading partner and by far its largest export market, ahead of China, India and the United States.

The EU remains Africa's top overall trading partner, with trade estimated at €467.2 billion in 2023, of which €366.4 billion in goods and €100.8 billion in services.

Moreover, Africa is the European Union's 4th largest trading partner after the United States, China and the United Kingdom.

With such quality of cooperation and exchange for at least half a century already (taking the Lomé Conventions of 1975 as a reference point), this cooperation cannot be limited to the economic sector, as the synergy and knock-on effects on the social front, notably in education, training and employment, represent a considerable potential that deserves to be developed and exploited more and more.

In this analysis, we will first look at the institutional and political framework defining this cooperation, the sectors considered priorities and some major instruments of this cooperation, then finish with a brief overview of practices observed in the field and the challenges and prospects of this cooperation.

I – The institutional framework and its evolution over time

A – The institutional framework of AU–EU relations

The current framework is characterised by 3 reference points, namely:

• The AU–EU Summit (Abidjan 2017, Brussels 2022): education features there as a priority, linked to youth employment, mobility and innovation.
• The AU's Agenda 2063 and the UN's Agenda 2030: the convergence between the African vision and the SDGs is supported by the EU.
• The Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) of 2007: includes a strand "Investing in people through education, science, technology and skills".

B – Its evolution

The main milestones of this cooperation were set in 1975 with the Lomé Conventions, followed by the Cotonou Agreement in 2000 linking the EU to the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific), which were in turn followed by the institutionalisation of Africa–EU Summits, the very first of which was held in 2000 in Cairo, Egypt. In 2007, the Africa–EU summit was held in Lisbon and the JAES (Joint Africa–EU Strategy) was born as the first long-term strategy defining the relationship between the two entities.

Today, EU–Africa summits continue to be held, the latest being that of Brussels in 2022, preceded by that of Abidjan in 2017.

Since the 2010s, we have been in a post-Cotonou phase of reshaping. After a series of negotiations, a gradual replacement of the Cotonou Agreement by a "post-Cotonou" agreement (OACPS–EU) was politically finalised around 2020–2021, OACPS being the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.

In parallel, the EU is launching recent initiatives (e.g. the Africa-Europe Alliance / Global Gateway). (Source: International Partnerships).

II – Sectors considered priorities by AU–EU cooperation and its major instruments

A – Priority sectors

Priorities have evolved, but today the key sectors are:

• Infrastructure and energy (green transition): major energy, transport and port projects (Global Gateway, investments by the EIB – European Investment Bank).
• Digital and connectivity: digital transformation, cables, networks, digital training.
• Health and health systems: post-COVID strengthening (vaccination, resilience).
• Education and vocational training: apprenticeships, entry into employment (links with the Africa–Europe Alliance for investment and jobs)
• Migration and border management: funding and cooperation for the management of migration flows.
• Peace and security / governance: support for regional capacities, CSDP missions (Common Security and Defence Policy) / AU support.
• Trade / investment: support for regional integration and industrialisation (Aid for Trade, support for SMEs).

B – The major instruments of cooperation

We have a diversity of instruments that can be grouped by type: financial instruments, programmes, partnerships, technical assistance, capacity building.

NB: TVET = Technical and Vocational Education and Training

III – Some examples of concrete projects

• Regional Teachers' Initiative (2023): targeted funding for initial and continuing training, aimed at professionalising the teaching career (e.g. strengthening teacher training institutes, developing national curricula compatible with CESA). Expected impact: better learning quality and reduced school dropout.
• Erasmus+ / capacity building projects: African–European university partnerships to modernise curricula, develop joint master's degrees in public health, engineering or education, and offer mobility scholarships. These projects create high-level training programmes in Africa and joint research networks.
• TVET programmes in West Africa: EU-funded projects to adapt programmes to local needs (e.g. training in industrial maintenance, renewable energy, ICT), often in partnership with public/private companies for professional integration.

IV – Challenges and prospects

A – Challenges

• Training–employment mismatch: often, the skills acquired do not match the needs of the African market.
• Inequalities of access: women, young people in rural areas and persons with disabilities remain marginalised.
• Complex coordination: a multiplicity of donors, projects and funding that sometimes causes institutional fatigue.
• Unbalanced mobility: brain drain towards Europe, instead of circular mobility beneficial to both continents.

B – Prospects

• Digital education: develop AU–EU virtual campuses and hybrid learning platforms.
• Mutual recognition of qualifications: facilitate professional mobility.
• Green and digital jobs: invest in the sectors of the future (ecological transition, digital economy, AI)
• Balanced partnership: move from a logic of aid to one of co-construction and mutual investment.

V – Methods that work and recommendations

A – Methods that work

• Programmatic approach + private/public co-financing: projects that bring together local schools/companies and EU funding achieve better integration rates.
• Projects focused on teacher quality: targeted investments in teacher training (e.g. the Regional Teachers' Initiative) have a multiplier effect on learning.
• Lasting university partnerships (Erasmus+, capacity building): the creation of joint master's degrees and research networks fosters the upgrading of local skills.

B – Recommendations

1. Align investments with local needs and apply CESA (the Continental Education Strategy for Africa)
2. Strengthen the "learning → employment" logic: co-design TVET curricula with the private sector, include workplace learning, and track integration pathways (monitoring and evaluation).
3. Promote circular mobility: incentives for two-way programmes (internships, double degrees) to avoid the permanent loss of skills.
4. Support digital education while reducing the divide: fund not only platforms but also data access/connectivity and digital training for teachers. The Global Gateway approach provides for this, but scaling up requires a certain coordination.
5. Target women and marginalised groups
6. Set up indicators (KPIs) and track them:

Graduate employment rate (6–12 months after training), number of teachers trained and made permanent via regional initiatives, incoming/outgoing academic mobility and graduate return rate (circular mobility), percentage of Global Gateway investments actually allocated to education/TVET versus other sectors.

Conclusion

Throughout history we see that AU–EU cooperation is unavoidable for both blocs.

Despite major and qualitative progress, the road ahead is still long on a very young continent whose youth needs well-designed strategies to reach the objectives.

Indeed, funding alone cannot suffice; we also need coordination mechanisms among the different stakeholders to allow evaluation and adjustments, qualitative data that reflect the situation on the ground, and a well-equipped, youth-focused communication that allows young people to truly understand the needs of the market in order to cooperate with the initiatives put in place.

But how can such communication be set up? That is the question.