Browsing by Author "Oluwakayode Courage AKINKAHUNSI"

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    Periodic Assessment of Relations between European Union and African Union (2017-2022)
    (Lead City University, Ibadan, 2025-12) Oluwakayode Courage AKINKAHUNSI
    This study assessed the nature, key policy issues, operational challenges, and future prospects of African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) relations between 2017 and 2022 with the objective of determining whether the relationship reflects mutual cooperation or structural asymmetry. It addressed the gap in existing literature by offering a critical and data-driven synthesis of AU–EU interactions using Dependency Theory and Neo-Gramscian Analysis to interpret how financial, diplomatic, and policy instruments reproduce historical patterns of inequality. The research adopted a qualitative descriptive design. The population comprised institutional documents, policy declarations, summits, funding records, and partnership frameworks produced by both AU and EU between 2017 and 2022. A purposive sampling technique was used to select relevant AU and EU strategic reports, continental development plans, and financial instruments including NDICI, Global Gateway, and the EUTF. Data was collected through critical documentary analysis and analyses using thematic content analysis supported by theoretical interpretation. Findings revealed that while over €50 billion was invested by the EU into Africa during the period under review, most initiatives prioritised European geostrategic concerns such as migration control and regional security. African actors were frequently positioned as policy recipients rather than co-designers, and internal fragmentation within the AU further weakened collective bargaining power. The study concluded that although AU-EU relations have matured in form, they remain imbalanced in substance. It therefore recommends a recalibration of the partnership to promote African ownership, reduced conditionality, and inclusive implementation mechanisms, anchored in continental priorities like AfCFTA and Agenda 2063. Further, the African Union should institutionalise periodic independent reviews of its engagements with the EU; to address the EU’s dominant themes and strategic interests, the AU must strengthen its internal consultation mechanisms to formulate unified continental positions in areas such as digital policy, migration, and security; to confront the recurring challenges in the partnership, the AU should invest in building autonomous continental structures. Finally, in deciding whether to continue or delink, the AU must pursue strategic diversification. Keywords: AU-EU Relations, Dependency Theory, Global Gateway, Development Partnership Word Count: 336