BEYOND AID, TOWARDS EQUITY: Charumbira Pressures EU to Revise Sanctions and Champion Africa’s UN Permanent Seat
By Tendai Keith Guvamombe
MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA – On the sidelines of the Sixth Ordinary Session at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Headquarters, President H.E. Senator Chief Fortune Charumbira delivered candid remarks on the Africa-European Union (EU) Partnership, urging a shift toward genuinely mutual benefit and respect.
Speaking 25 years after the first Africa-Euro Summit, Charumbira stressed that the future of the alliance must be anchored firmly in the African Union’s own development blueprint, Agenda 2063.
The President acknowledged that cooperation on critical issues like peace and security, sustainable development, and climate change is “progressing very well.”
However, he signaled a clear need for policy revision on matters of economic and global governance.
Charumbira highlighted that the current focus is on strengthening trade and industrialization.
He insisted that trade relations must deliver “mutual benefits” that flow in “both directions,” moving away from historical models that primarily one side.
He emphasized the continent’s commitment to ensuring African citizens benefit directly from engagements involving its vast mineral resources through a genuine “win-win situation.”
A key point of contention raised by Charumbira was the need for global governance reform.
He pointedly referenced the injustice of smaller, non-African nations holding permanent seats on the UN Security Council while the entire continent remains excluded.
“EU has to assist Africa to be in there,” he stated, making the issue a central yardstick for the partnership’s value.
Furthermore, Charumbira called for a revision of practices such as the imposition of EU sanctions on AU Member States, framing the issue in personal terms: “If you want to be a team respect other people’s emotions, that way a marriage can last.”
The PAP President concluded by confirming that the two parliamentary bodies are now beginning to craft discussion issues ahead of the upcoming EU-Africa Summit in Rwanda at the end of November.
The goal is to prepare substantive agendas for Heads of State, ensuring the summit derives real “value” and secures necessary EU assistance for Africa’s youth and women—the continent’s most vital investment areas.
