Geopolitical shifts and human mobility: Rethinking EU-Africa migration cooperation

As the EU and the AU prepare for their third Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting on 21 May 2025 in Brussels, migration remains a pivotal topic. This meeting, on the 25th anniversary of the inaugural Africa-EU summit, offers a chance to reassess and enhance the partnership on migration. The EU and AU must navigate a complex landscape to promote safe, legal and mutually beneficial migration. This requires recalibrating the cooperation between the EU and African countries to focus on opportunities for labour mobility in green and digital transitions and skills development.

Reflecting on the past

The EU and AU engage in multi-faceted cooperation on migration, including facilitating legal migration and mobility, return and reintegration, protection and asylum, diaspora and remittances. However, the EU’s migration cooperation with African countries has historically focused on curbing irregular migration through border controls, border management, return agreements and anti-smuggling initiatives. While these measures have achieved specific objectives – reducing irregular border crossings into the EU – they often overshadow the broader developmental context of migration.

African countries have consistently emphasised the need to link migration governance with development outcomes, including poverty, education and job opportunities. African policymakers have expressed concerns that the EU’s emphasis on border security and return policies neglects the complex realities about migration and its effects and the potential benefits of legal mobility pathways. Hence, there is a need to rethink the complexities of migration and the realities of migration policies and propose pathways for a mutually beneficial EU-Africa partnership.

Evolving dynamics in EU-Africa migration cooperation

EU-Africa migration cooperation is evolving under the combined influence of geopolitical shifts and domestic political pressures in Europe. The EU’s focus on migration through the action plans for the Mediterranean routes, Team Europe initiatives, and Frontex partnerships aims to manage migration flows in key regions. Its objectives remain to reduce irregular migration, enhance border control and increase returns.

Broader EU priorities are increasingly framed around security, global competitiveness and strategic autonomy. This shift is reflected in flagship initiatives like the Global Gateway strategy, which emphasises investments in infrastructure in partner countries, often sidelining migration. While such investments may indirectly address some structural drivers of migration, the strategy does not list migration among its core priorities, and its direct contributions to the migration-development nexus remain unclear. Also, changes in African governments are altering the cooperation between the EU and African countries.

Meanwhile, domestic political pressures within EU member states – such as rising nationalism, security concerns and labour market anxieties – are promoting restrictive migration policies over mobility and inclusion.

Continued support in bridging the skills gap, education and youth engagement

Amidst these evolving dynamics, the EU and African countries should focus on strengthening their collaboration in areas such as education, skills improvement and youth engagement in a way that addresses both migration and development objectives.

Education and vocational training are foundational to effective migration cooperation. Africa’s youth population is projected to grow by 180% by 2100. In contrast, Europe’s youth population is expected to decline by 20%. To harness Africa’s demographic advantage, sustained investment in education, vocational training and youth empowerment is crucial. Recognising this, the AU and EU have undertaken several initiatives, including the African Union’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-25, supported by the EU, to bridge the skills gap, promote employment and reduce the pressure for irregular migration.

Youth engagement must remain at the heart of EU-Africa cooperation. However, it requires navigating the complexities of a politically sensitive partnership. This is more the case as recent government changes and rising anti-Western sentiment in the Sahel and Horn of Africa have complicated Europe’s engagement. Programmes like the Youth Mobility for Africa and the AU-EU Youth Lab demonstrate the transformative potential of young people in shaping inclusive and forward-looking policies. By amplifying youth voices and promoting their participation in policymaking, the partnership can evolve into one grounded in mutual respect and shared priorities, including job creation, education, and sustainable development.

Unlocking labour mobility through cooperation in green and digital transitions

Africa’s youthful population – with a median age of 20 – offers a demographic advantage that sharply contrasts with Europe’s ageing population, whose median age is 44.5 years. As Europe faces a projected labour deficit of 95 million workers by 2050, Africa’s growing, increasingly educated labour force presents an opportunity for both continents. However, current barriers, including skills mismatch, complex migration policies and non-recognition of qualifications, hinder effective labour mobility.

EU-Africa cooperation has begun addressing these challenges through programmes supporting legal migration campaigns, enhanced academic mobility through Erasmus+ and labour migration governance in North Africa. Talent partnerships between African and European countries aim to create pathways for skilled African workers. Member states like Germany and Spain support circular migration initiatives, aligning labour mobility with EU goals and creating economic opportunities for Africa’s youth.

Importantly, the EU’s green and digital transitions – core to the Global Gateway strategy – create new demand for skilled workers in emerging sectors. This presents an opportunity to link labour mobility with the skills needed for these transitions. The partnership provides an opportunity to promote investment in developing and expanding avenues for labour migration, particularly in green and digitalskills. Africa can better position its youth to meet Europe’s evolving labour needs while advancing its economic development through targeted skills creation and mobility pathways.

Looking ahead

The upcoming EU-AU ministerial meeting offers a crucial opportunity to recalibrate migration cooperation between the two continents, emphasising shared responsibility and mutual benefits. It is essential to avoid yet another missed opportunity to address persistent gaps in migration governance and inclusive discussions on migration governance. A more holistic, future-oriented approach is needed. One that balances the societal concerns of both Europe and Africa, with development objectives and promoting legal mobility pathways for mobility. Reframing migration as a shared opportunity for sustainable development can foster greater alignment between European and African interests. Both unions need a partnership that respects the rights of migrants, promotes sustainable development and contributes to the prosperity of both continents. By strategically leveraging Africa’s expanding youthful workforce to help meet Europe’s growing labour needs, the EU and AU can build a reciprocal partnership that benefits economies, societies and individuals.

In a world where traditional partnerships are under strain and nations are seeking new, strategic alliances, it is essential that migration becomes a point of collaboration rather than a source of friction.

About the Author

Amanda Bisong is a senior policy analyst in ECDPM’s migration and mobility and AU-EU relations teams.

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