Milestones and previous activities

High-level engagement of the AEEP since its establishment

From the 2007 AU-EU Lisbon Summit to its ten-year anniversary in 2017, the Africa-EU Energy Partnership has grown into one of the most active partnerships under the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. Since its establishment, the AEEP has ensured commitment at the highest political level: its High-Level Meetings in Vienna in 2010 and in Addis Ababa in 2014 – each bringing together more than 300 participants – are milestones of the African-European political dialogue on energy.

Energy – key topic in international policy discourse

As an agenda-setter, the AEEP has helped highlight the role of sustainable energy in Africa, actively engaging in key fora such as the UNFCCC COPs, G7, and G20 summits. The last decade has seen energy climb to the top of the political agenda, with initiatives such as the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) growing out of the UNFCCC climate processes, SEforALL, and the adoption of SDG7. Since 2007, the AEEP has given a boost to such joint initiatives and to a common agenda. The AEEP Communiqué, endorsed at the G7 Energy Ministerial Meeting in Rome, Italy, in 2017, can certainly be counted as one of the most notable accomplishments.

Platform for High-level African and European collaboration on energy

Besides helping international debates and joint initiatives flourish, the Partnership has also acknowledged the importance of coordinating and aligning efforts. Since 2007 the Africa-EU Energy Partnership has convened numerous high-level events with African and European stakeholders, brought together key stakeholders to engage in the issues surrounding energy in Africa, supported the participation of key stakeholders in important dialogues, enabled exchange and learning, and established new goals and knowledge products to help inform African-European energy cooperation.