📸 How is 'strategic procurement' under the Global Gateway - that EU-funded contracts should also advance EU interests and partnerships - playing out in practice? We convened financiers from the EIB and EBRD, European companies and member state representatives to discuss.

📣 The Ukraine Facility is doing what it was designed to do: early, strict conditionality has helped push through some initial reforms. But the hard part is only starting - judicial independence, anti‑corruption, decentralisation. Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4tOcDz0

How can global health architecture reform amidst shrinking budgets? Post-pandemic cooperation is shifting from donor models to health sovereignty We hosted an ETTG webinar to unpack this with experts from ODI Global, @iaionline.bsky.social and @ecdpm.org Stay tuned for our upcoming outputs ettg.eu

📖 What happens when Europe's domestic migration pressures collide with its international development goals? For Germany, it's a mix unlikely to satisfy anyone. Read the full comparative study 👉 bit.ly/4ttEbth [pdf]

🔵 Geopolitical competition means increased pressure to align with a specific power, particularly when funding is at stake. But credibility rests on safeguarding independence. Watch the clip 👉 youtube.com/shorts/rGyrc...

📝 Europe brings complexity while competitors bring bundled digital offers. How can European export finance keep up with the pace and politics of the global digital transformation? Read the full analysis and recommendations 👉 bit.ly/42tpSKv

[Brief] #Tech: Building a #European industrial offer on digital connectivity, by Sabine Muscat, Sasha Pearson & @chloeteevan.bsky.social | @ecdpm.org www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

🔵 We spoke to Ibrahim Mayaki, former Prime Minister of Niger and former CEO of African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, on the end of Official Development Assistance (ODA). "Why are we so poor and why didn't ODA help?"

📣 France’s Africa Forward summit in Nairobi is the latest reset of French engagement in Africa. The EU is watching whether France will advance the union’s strategy under the Global Gateway, or simply (re-)build its own political capital. Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4fmdLGq

📝 Digital sovereignty shouldn’t mean Europe pulling up the drawbridge - but having enough control to shape open, fair and secure digital ties with the rest of the world. Read the brief 👉 bit.ly/4uM7Pvb

🔵 International cooperation is not dead – but it has to change. If traditional development cooperation fell short because it was not honest about competing interests, better partnerships will start by listening.

🔵 Geopolitics is changing. Budgets are under pressure. Donor priorities are shifting. But global challenges are not going anywhere.

📸 This week, ECDPM’s Koen Dekeyser briefed the European Parliament’s DEVE committee on how the Hormuz blockades are affecting global food security. Not our war – but very much our problem. Read our recent commentary on the fertiliser crisis 👉 bit.ly/4sfNDA1

In our latest TEPSA Experts' Debrief, @sanbilal.bsky.social (@ecdpm.org) warns against letting geopolitical ambition overshadow the EU's development commitments. Read his chapter, "The Global Gateway evolution: Balancing European interests with partners’ development" 👉 tepsa.eu/policy-advic...

📝 Satellite data is crucial to anticipating crop failure, managing water stress and planning climate-resilient infrastructure - so why have past Earth Observation projects been so underwhelming? We present three archetypes for future projects. Read the full paper 👉 bit.ly/4wkspUY

🔵 As the old global order fractures, it is harder – and more important – to get very different actors around the same table.

📝 Europe is still a heavyweight in digital connectivity, but without a coherent offer to partner countries, it will continue to be passed over for China, the US and others. Find the paper and briefs here 👉 bit.ly/4w2vQ2f

📸 Yesterday, ECDPM and the IMF presented the latest economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa at the National Bank of Belgium. The effects of the Hormuz blockades are evident, with growth expected to slow to 4.3% in 2026 and the most vulnerable economies hardest hit.

🔵 This is not the first 'crisis' of development aid or Africa–Europe cooperation. As ODA collapses, we can’t just defend an old model that often stood in the way of development. We should use this moment to build something better.

🔵 ECDPM was founded in 1986, as the Cold War closed with a tectonic shift for Europe and its partners. Forty years later, we are again in an age of disruption – and Europe has to rethink how it acts on the global stage.

📝 Diluted ambitions, weakened implementation and a growing gap between rhetoric and action - are the EU's agrifood policies still compatible with its climate goals? Read the paper 👉 bit.ly/48olwYq

🌍 Digital Public Infrastructure is not only a tool for government efficiency, but also for promoting inclusive social and economic development in Africa. Our new tool explores DPI, its importance and case studies in East Africa. Try it here 👉 bit.ly/3QqHKmr

📝 The East African Community (EAC) is moving beyond Digital Public Infrastructure to pioneering 'DPI+'. We identify strengths, gaps and opportunities for the bloc and its partner states. Read the paper 👉 bit.ly/4cuIbEL

#Agrifood & #Climate: Are #EU agri-food policies #Paris compatible?, by @hannelknaepen.bsky.social | @ecdpm.org www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

📣 As development aid shifts to defence spending, it is a real loss for millions across Africa, Asia and Latin America. But it may also signal the end of a model that was already under strain. Read the commentary by Geert Laporte 👉 bit.ly/4mmvqj5

🎬 As African governments impose export bans on critical minerals to capture more local value, @poorvak.bsky.social warns National Security News that such bans do not automatically work as planned. Watch the full interview 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e0X...

🎙️ Europe, Africa and partners face a fertiliser crisis, and therefore food crisis, with limited options in the short term. But long term, collaborating on green fertiliser production will limit exposure to the blockades of unstable actors. Listen 👉 lnkd.in/ef5EMpsR Watch 👉 lnkd.in/eaV9B8Yu

📸 The African Continental Free Trade Area could reshape Africa's economic trajectory, but must be successfully implemented first. With UNDP Brussels, we gathered the AfCFTA Secretariat, African ambassadors, EU member state representatives and DG INTPA to discuss the AfCFTA’s digital trade agenda.

🎙️ The Iran crisis shows Europe a familiar, painful lesson: over-reliance on a single partner is a strategic liability. As the blockade chokes oil and fertilizer flows, the EU moves from one insecure fossil fuel dependency to another. Listen 👉 lnkd.in/ef5EMpsR Watch 👉 lnkd.in/eaV9B8Yu

📝 FFD4 delivered a rare success for multilateralism: a consensus “Sevilla Commitment” and a concrete Platform for Action to close a $4.2 trillion SDG financing gap, but the real work starts now. Read the full brief 👉 bit.ly/3NQj2eh

📣 Africa holds around 30% of the world’s reserves of critical minerals central to the global clean energy transition. Yet the continent still captures less than 1% of the value generated from clean energy manufacturing. Read the full analysis 👉 bit.ly/4dJLBVi

ODA numbers for 2025: a decrease of 23.1%, the largest single-year drop in history. Unsurprising perhaps, but still relevant. Can this cut lead to "a break from structural dependency and construct interest-driven partnerships that truly deliver mutual benefits"? @ecdpm.org @oecd-ocde.bsky.social

#IranWar & #Agrifood: The #Iran war and the fertiliser crisis: what #Europe and #Africa can do, by Dr Koen Dekeyser & Alfonso Medinilla | @ecdpm.org www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

📣 2026 marks a clear shift from development aid to defence spending. For millions across Africa, Asia and Latin America, it is a real loss - especially where aid still finances basic services. But it may also signal the end of a model that was already under strain 👉 bit.ly/4mmvqj5

📉 The numbers are out: international aid has fallen by 23% this year - the second consecutive year of large Official Development Assistance (ODA) cuts and the largest drop ever.

🔔 MEPs have adopted their first report on the Global Gateway, heavily criticising Chinese involvement in Global Gateway projects. Our research shows a Chinese-avoidance strategy is neither realistic nor desirable, and will weaken Europe's offer to partner countries 👉 bit.ly/4urfVtv

🔔 Our project to boost investments on food and climate along key African infrastructure corridors is now backed by the heads of state declaration of the AU Summit 2026. Read about the project 👉 bit.ly/4rDs38T

📣 Global crises demand more capital flows to emerging markets. Yet poor coordination between export credit agencies and development finance institutions leads to duplication, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities. Read the analysis 👉 bit.ly/3PU3O8J

📸 ECDPM director San Bilal moderated a panel at the Africa Political Outlook 2026, a rare chance to address African finance in Brussels from an African rather than Eurocentric perspective. This comes at a key time, as the WTO breaks down, new alliances are needed 👉 bit.ly/47Fjd2F

📣 EU-India trade talks could redefine middle-power cooperation, with clean tech cooperation taking centre stage. Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4vdBy15

📣 The Strait of Hormuz closure has triggered a nitrogen fertiliser crisis, disrupting supplies critical to European agriculture and African food security. This moment demands strategic industrial collaboration between both continents. Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4sfNDA1

📣 €300 billion in commitments is not the same as impact on the ground. Turning the EU’s Global Gateway into a pipeline of truly transformational projects remains slow and complex, especially in challenging contexts. Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4m0dACg

#Trade & #GlobalEurope - Global Gateway: From narrative to non-delivery, by Philippe Van Damme | @ecdpm.org www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

📚 The Global Gateway is the EU's most expensive mystery. Almost five years after its launch, the suspicion from partners remains: what is it really trying to achieve? Explore the page 👉 bit.ly/3LcmIoM

From Brazil to the world: Open digital infrastructure for climate cooperation A 🆕 study by @ecdpm.org argues that anchoring collaboration in shared, collectively governed digital infrastructure holds great potential for addressing the climate crisis. Find the paper 👉 link.europa.eu/m6CB9w

I moderated a very constructive discussion y’day on EU-India clean-tech co-organised by @ecdpm.org and Embassy of India. Beyond celebrating the FTA - a beacon of hope in current truly precarious times - we discussed nitty-gritty aspects: technical, regulatory, institutional, financial.

🎙️ As the EU shapes its next long-term budget (MFF), the role of the Global Gateway remains unclear. Is it a development tool? A competitiveness strategy? A geopolitical instrument? Watch 👉 youtu.be/Ntsoz2CzSIA Listen 👉 bit.ly/4cZJyfp Webpage 👉 bit.ly/3P9OKnb

📢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 | We are looking for an intern with an interest in 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 to work with our African Economies and Climate Action team. For information and applications 👉 bit.ly/4b84ZYY

📝 For Europe's subsea cables, physical sabotage is the least of their concerns when ownership is dominated by US hyperscalers. Read the brief 👉 bit.ly/3P9NIaK

📆 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸! | Join us on 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟭𝟬:𝟬𝟬 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀 for a strategic dialogue on EU–India cooperation in clean technologies. Register 👉 bit.ly/3Pu4Esp