Africa

Cooperation on home affairs is an integral part of the EU-Africa partnership. The EU has been running an intense and broad dialogue with Africa on migration and mobility at a bilateral, regional and continental level.

The dialogue intensified over the years. Enhanced cooperation in the framework of comprehensive and tailor-made partnerships with North African and Sub-Saharan African countries, as well as regional and continental level cooperation remain a priority under the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The EU-Africa Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment

The EU-Africa Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment was launched during the 2nd Africa-EU Summit of Heads of State and Government in December 2007 in Lisbon, where the Joint EU-Africa Strategy and the First Action Plan were also adopted.

At the 5th African Union – European Union Summit held in Abidjan in 2017, it was agreed to deepen cooperation and dialogue on migration and mobility by developing a joint framework for a strengthened continental dialogue on migration and mobility.

Since 2017, the African Union-European Union cooperation on migration takes places within the Africa-EU Migration and Mobility Dialogue. The focus areas are:

• remittances and diaspora investment,
• information and intelligence sharing to strengthen the fight against trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling
• sustainable reintegration of migrants.

The 6th AU–EU Summit took place in Brussels in 2022, where leaders reaffirmed cooperation under a “Joint Vision for 2030”. This cooperation aims to:

• prevent irregular migration
• enhance cooperation against smuggling and trafficking in human beings
• support strengthened border management and achieve effective improvements on return, readmission and reintegration
• enhance migration dialogues between the two continents.

Achievements and progress

The African Union and the EU are working towards deepening cooperation on migration and mobility, through different actions and programmes that complement the existing bilateral and regional initiatives.

One if them is the Regional Operational Centre (ROCK) that was etablished.in 2017. It supports the African countries in their fight against human trafficking and people smuggling, through the collection, exchange and analysis of information. The centre also supports joint investigations and enhances the coherence of national and regional legal frameworks.

Founded in 2018, the African Institute on Remittances helps to better leverage financial flows and monitor the flows of labour and remittances and oversee policies to make them easier, cheaper, safer, and more productive.

Bilateral Dialogues between the EU and Sub-Saharan African Countries

The EU engages also on bilateral level with certain Sub-Saharan African countries on migration.

Cape Verde

In 2008, Cape Verde and the EU signed a joint declaration on a Mobility Partnership, the first cooperation of this kind between the EU and an African state and, for the time being, the only Mobility Partnership concluded with a Sub-Saharan state.

Five EU countries (Portugal, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain) participate in this partnership and develop several initiatives covering the different objectives embodied in the political declaration.

In 2012 and 2013, two flagship agreements, one on visa facilitation and the other on readmission, were concluded by Cape Verde and the EU. Both entered into force in December 2014. The visa facilitation agreement was amended to include further mobility facilitations. The amended agreement entered into force on 1 July 2022.

EU Delegation in Cape Verde

Nigeria

In 2009, Nigeria and the EU decided to strengthen their cooperation through Nigeria EU Joint Way Forward. Since then, several political dialogues on migration have taken place.

Nigeria and the EU have a comprehensive cooperation on migration management, legal migration and mobility schemes, protection and asylum, readmission and reintegration, the fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

EU Delegation in Nigeria

Mauritania

The EU and Mauritania have a long-standing cooperation in migration management, addressing particularly irregular migration and saving lives, protecting migrants, as well as the fight against migrant smuggling, creating job opportunities for the youth, protecting and supporting refugees and host communities.

On 7 March 2024, former Commissioner Johansson and the Mauritanian Minister of Interior and decentralisation, Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine, signed the Joint Declaration launching a migration partnership and dialogue between the EU and Mauritania, bringing cooperation on migration a step a further.

The partnership covers all migration areas, from addressing irregular migration, asylum and protection to legal migration and mobility, job creation and economic opportunities. It will also strengthen Mauritanian and EU joint efforts to fight against migrant smuggling in the context of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, launched by the Commission in 2023, while strengthening maritime and land border management, ensuring the respect and the promotion of human rights of migrants and refugees.

The migration partnership is part of a wider engagement with Mauritania covering many sectors, including security, sustainable economic development, stability, green and inclusive growth, as reiterated during President von der Leyen’s visit to the country in February 2024.

EU Delegation in Mauritania

Senegal

Political dialogue with the EU on migration started in 2016. The EU and Senegal have a long-standing cooperation on migration management, covering all subareas, including the creation of job opportunities for the youth, migration governance and management, legal and labour migration, addressing irregular migration, fighting against smuggling of migrants and trafficking of human beings.

EU Delegation to Senegal

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the EU’s key partner for the Horn of Africa for migration, regional peace and security, economic development, and political stability. The Strategic Engagement between the EU and Ethiopia, signed in 2016, frames bilateral relations in six sectoral dialogues, including migration. In the context of migration, Ethiopia is a country of origin, transit and destination. Ethiopia is also a major host country for refuges in Africa.

EU Delegation in Ethiopia