09.10.2026 - "Ten years of the trade agreement with Southern Africa show: Open markets and reliable rules pay off. Since the start of the agreement, bilateral trade has grown by 37 percent. For the German economy, this is an important contribution to broadening supply chains, opening up markets, and securing access to critical raw materials, especially in geopolitically uncertain times."

So far, Europe has not fully tapped into the potential of trade agreements with African partners. The agreement with Southern Africa has not yet been ratified by all EU member states. Moreover, Angola has not yet joined this circle of privileged trading partners. Negotiations and the implementation of further trade agreements with key African partners, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Senegal, have been stalled for years. The trade agenda with Africa urgently needs new political momentum. The EU and the German government should launch a real trade offensive here—not with ever-new declarations of intent, but with concrete agreements that make market access easier for companies on both sides and make investments more reliable.

The long-term goal should be a comprehensive trade agreement between the EU and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Europe and Africa have much to gain together: larger markets, resilient supply chains, and more investments for the development and expansion of value creation and employment. To achieve this, trade and development policies must work together even better—for example, through Global Gateway and the recently concluded Clean Trade and Investment Partnership (CTIP). The now ten-year trade agreement with Southern Africa shows that it can work. Now is the time to build on this."

Background: The Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Southern African Development Community (EU-SADC EPA) was signed in June 2016 with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini (then Swaziland) and has been provisionally applied since October 10, 2016. Angola completed negotiations on joining the agreement in 2024. Several EU member states—including France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Poland—have yet to ratify the agreement. Negotiations or the implementation of trade agreements with numerous other African countries have been ongoing or stalled for years.