By Gloria Ikibah
Members of the Council of European Union’s Africa Working Party (COAFR) have arrived Abuja, Nigeria, for a four-day working visit from 26-29 February 2024, to the country.
In a statement by the EU, during the visit the COAFR members will engage with Nigerian authorities, government agencies, civil society groups, regional and international organisations and private sector actors in Abuja and Lagos.
The statement reads: “The Africa Working Party (COAFR) is mandated with the supervision and management of EU external policy towards the 46 countries of the sub-Saharan Africa, African Union and other sub-regional organisations, including the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS).
“The Africa Working Party (COAFR) is composed of representatives of all 27 EU Member States, chaired by a permanent member of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and assisted by representatives of the Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council. It works under the auspices of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), itself composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and/or development of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
“The visiting COAFR members is expected to meet with key Federal Government ministries and agencies in Abuja starting from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, among others.
“There will also be an interactive session with the ECOWAS Commission on regional developments and integration processes”.
The statement also stated that while in Lagos, the COAFR team will meet with the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Consuls General of EU Member States, and leadership of the European Business Chamber (EuroCham) Nigeria.
“They will also visit several EU-funded projects in the state featuring digital and innovation, critical infrastructure and connectivity and migration. Deliberations during the meetings will centre on further boosting EU-Nigeria partnership.
“The Africa Working Party’s (COAFR) visits to African countries aim at promoting direct contact, mutual information exchange and feedback between the political and foreign policy organs of the European Union and their African counterparts”.
Naijablitznews.com reports that the group plays an important role on taking stock of state and non-state actors views, perspectives, aspirations and expectations regarding their partnership with the European Union, its closest neighbour and its sister continent.
The team will also commence a similar visit to the neighbouring Republic of Benin at the end of its current mission in Nigeria.
This is the group’s first-ever working visit to Nigeria. In addition to the representatives of 17 EU Member States also officials from EU institutions, are expected to be in the team.
Naijablitznews.com reports that this year’s working visit will be the eleventh visit of the COAFR to the African continent, and the third visit to West Africa – following earlier visits to Senegal and Burkina Faso (2015) and Ivory Coast and Ghana (2019).
“More than ever before, several top EU officials have visited Nigeria in recent years and months, underlining the importance the EU accords its partnership with the country.
“Last October, the EU’s Commissioner for International Partnership, Ms. Jutta Urpilainen, her counterpart for Energy, Ms. Kadri Simson, led other top officials to participate in the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue Meeting held Abuja. The Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helena Konig, and the Managing Director, Africa at the EEAS, Ms. Rita Laranjinha, were also in the country shortly before then, following the visits in 2022 of European Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager in February 2022, EU and Member States Maritime Security Coordinators in April 2022 and senior officials of the European Commission in charge of Energy and Home Affairs”, the EU added.