Much Ado About Nothing? Europe, Africa and the (in)significance of the Samoa Agreement

The Samoa Agreement has been heralded as a bold opportunity for a rejuvenated partnership between the EU and African partners south of the Sahara. The European Commission has explained the need for the rapid implementation of the treaty in terms of securing Europe’s long-standing relationship with African former colonies in the face of assertive rivals, including Russia and China. A close assessment of the content of the Samoa framework, however, demonstrates why almost half of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) failed to sign the document at the official ceremony in November 2023. OACPS countries had relatively few ‘offensive’ interests to fight for in the negotiation process compared to earlier frameworks, including Lome and Cotonou. This owed to the European Commission’s side-parking of trade and aid arrangements as something largely separate from the treaty. What few concessions were won by OACPS states - for example on remittances - have since been undermined by the European Commission’s ambivalent attitude to regular migration. Europe’s own normative agenda, meanwhile - in terms of human rights and peace and security objectives - has now been severely undermined by evidence of the Commission’s racialised ambivalence to countless deaths of refugees transiting North African countries toward European shores, and to countless deaths of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza conflict. Given these factors - the absence of trade and aid components within the treaty’s de facto purview - combined to Europe's diminished normative power - the treaty is unlikely to bolster Europe's geopolitical position vis-a-vis emerging powers amid a ‘new scramble’ for African resources.