The level of attendance will be high on the European side. Representation at the level of Head of State or Government is expected on the part of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, while the participation of the United Kingdom, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ireland, Slovenia will be at a ministerial or State secretary level.
Observers taking part in the summit include the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres; the Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde; the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, and representatives of some observer States (the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, India, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Brazil and South Korea). Including these observer States, plus the 55 African Union delegations and the 28 European Union delegations, the total number of delegations amounts to some 110.
The central issue will be young people ("Investments in Young People for Sustainable Development"), given the demographic trends on the continent. The population of Africa is close to 1.2 billion people (15% of the world's population), which is forecast to rise, according to UN estimations, to 2.4 billion by the year 2050 (26% of the world's population); and which, by the year 2100, will represent 39%. Close to 70% of its population is under the age of 30 and more than 20% between the ages of 15 and 24. During the period 2010-2015, while the global fertility rate stood at 2.51 children per woman, this stood at 5.1 in Africa. In some countries, in general the poorest, demographic growth is exponential: it is calculated that in Niger, for example, the population is doubling every 14 years.
Development of the Summit
The Summit will be inaugurated on 29 November between 1:30 pm and 2 pm. The following speakers will appear in this order: the President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara; the President of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, from Chad; President Tusk; President Juncker; the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres; and the President of the African Assembly of Heads of State and Government, and President of Guinea Conakry, Alpha Conde. They will be followed, as guest speakers, by the Speaker of the Pan-African Parliament, Roger Nkodo Dan (from Cameroon), President Tajani and a representative of African and European youth; followed by a group photo.
A closed session will then be held from 2:30 pm to 3 pm, during which the working programme will be adopted.
Subsequently, successive thematic speeches will be given, each of which will be initiated by a keynote speech; the President of the Government will be the keynote speaker at the second session on "Migration and mobility".
The keynote speeches - one from a European leader and another from an African leader - must be used to introduce the debates that will subsequently be held. Following these speeches, an open debate will be held at which those participants that wish can take the floor for three minutes.
The President of the Government will open the second session given over to migration and mobility, scheduled to take place between 5 pm and 6:15 pm on Wednesday, 29 November as the keynote speaker. He will be followed by H.M. King Mohammed VI. Other European speakers at this session include the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, the Hungarian minister, Péter Szijjártó and the British minister, Boris Johnson.
Relations between the EU and Africa
Relations between the EU and Africa are very close.
According to figures from the European Commission, the EU, including its Member States, is the leading donor (with 21 billion euros in 2015, half of all global development cooperation for Africa), the leading trading partner (36% of its total trade in 2015, including both exports and imports); the leading investor (with a total investment stock of 254 billion euros in 2015); and the leading provider of remittances (36% of the total in 2015 at 21 billion euros).
Since the year 2000, the EU has taken part in 129 election missions to Africa.
Of the 33 EU missions of a civilian or military nature, 19 have been deployed on the African continent. In total, almost 17,000 African servicemen and more than 10,000 African police officers have been trained by the EU since 2010. The number of servicemen deployed by Spain on missions to Africa are: 135 in Mali (EUTM Mali), 29 in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA), 15 in Somalia (EUTM Somalia), 44 in Gabon (support for Operation Barkhane - a French mission to fight terrorism in the Sahel), 59 in Senegal (support for Operation Barkhane).
Spain is one of the leading contributors to EU missions in Africa.
Economic content
One of the fundamental aims of this summit, from an economic point of view, is to boost investment in Africa, particularly aimed at young people, as a way to foster economic growth, job creation and economic development on the continent.
To that end, the EU will present the European External Investment Plan (EEIP), approved in September. This plan includes the creation of the European Sustainable Development Fund. This fund will use 4.1 billion euros from the EU Budget to finance guarantees through which it will facilitate the concession of loans for investment operations. Actions will also be financed for technical assistance and cooperation will be stepped up with African countries to design actions to improve governance and the business climate on the continent. Furthermore, and in parallel to the summit, the sixth EU-Africa business forum will be held.
The EU is Africa's leading trading partner. Exports to Africa from the EU in 2016 amounted to 144.17 billion euros; while imports amounted to 116.42 billion. Spain has a significant weighting in this trade. We are the leading EU importer of African goods (20.03 billion euros, or 17% of the total in 2016; with a very significant weighting in the hydrocarbon sector - 53% of the total) and the fourth ranked exporter (16.24 billion euros in 2016, accounting for 11% of the total).
In recent years, the institutional framework for economic relations between the EU and Africa has been stepped up. The EU has partnership agreements in force with all the countries in North Africa except Libya, which has led to a very high level of trade liberalisation. In 2011, negotiations began for the signing of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt (although negotiations with Morocco were suspended in April 2014). Economic Partnership Agreements were signed with Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 (representing a progressive and asymmetric opening up of markets) with a large number of countries, which are currently at different stages of ratification and approval.
Visit to patrol vessel "Infanta Cristina"
The President of the Government will visit the patrol vessel "Infanta Cristina", moored in the port of Abidjan on 30 November.
The patrol vessel "Infanta Cristina" set sail on 16 August from its base in Cartagena to take part in various cooperation activities until 16 December 2017 with countries on the west coast of the African continent, which the Ministry of Defence and the Navy are carrying out within the framework of the Defence Diplomacy Plan. Its activities include developing the naval capabilities of countries with a shoreline in the Gulf of Guinea, with the aim of boosting confidence and mutual trust, contributing to regional maritime security and consequently enhancing the security of Spain.
Non official translation
Pool Moncloa/Archivo