Speech by Commissioner Urpilainen at “Latvia and countries in Africa” seminar in Riga

“Latvia and countries in Africa” seminar in Riga

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Since I took office as European Commissioner for International Partnerships in 2019, I made Africa and education the two cornerstones of my mandate.

There cannot be a sustainable future without Africa, and especially without African youth. The median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one third of the global population aged between 15 and 24 will be from Africa.

As I often say, there is no better investment than investing in youth.

Therefore, I would like to first commend the African Union for choosing education as its theme for 2024.

And I would like to sincerely thank Latvia for putting education at the center of this two-day discussion.

Today I would like to highlight three points.

First, in 2022, the global community came together to commit to putting SDG4 back on track at the Transforming Education Summit.

As a global education champion, the EU, together with its Member States are walking the talk when it comes to education. Together, we are the largest contributors to education worldwide.

As Team Europe, we made education and research one of the pillars of our Global Gateway strategy – the EU's positive offer to partner countries and our contribution to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and advance the fair green and digital transitions.

The EU set an example by increasing financial support for education from 7% to 13% of our international partnerships budget for 2021-2027.

We work with over 40 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through bilateral or regional programmes to support education systems, focusing on (1) quality – by investing in teachers; (2) equity – by promoting girls' education and the inclusion of those left behind; and (3) skills for the next generation jobs.

We showcased the impact of our leadership on education at the recent Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

Secondly, higher education. The EU is the biggest provider of cooperation on higher education with major EU programmes such as Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, and through scholarships and staff mobility at EU Member State level.

The figures speak for themselves. The EU is the top destination for tertiary studies globally, with well over 1 million foreign students enrolled in universities across the 27 EU Member States. About 15% of them are from Africa.

I am happy to see that Latvian higher education institutions are increasingly cooperating with African partners from North [Egypt] to South [South Africa] and East [Kenya] to West [Ghana] under Erasmus+.

In addition, Latvian higher education institutions are working together with African partners on capacity building projects such as the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters.

Beside promoting intercontinental higher education cooperation between Europe and Africa, the EU has been working together with the African Union to promote intra-African mobility.

The EU flagship “Youth Mobility for Africa”, with a budget of EUR 756 million between 2021 and 2027, showcases our extensive commitment and continues to offer valuable opportunities for numerous young people in Africa.

And we are also supporting the development of new curricula at African Universities. As part of the Team Europe Initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa, Team Europe supported the set-up of a Master and PhD programme in Rwanda in the sector of vaccines and health products manufacturing.

Thirdly, I want to emphasise the importance of skills.

Equipping youth with the right skills is key for succeeding in today's job market and a key driver of our first-ever Youth Action Plan in EU external action. This is why, as mentioned earlier, developing skills for the jobs of the future is one of our three priorities in the education sector.

Let me highlight two innovative initiatives aimed at advancing skills development in Africa.

The Team Europe Opportunity Driven Skills and Vocational Education and Training in Africa, will focus on investing in market-oriented vocational training, identifying real job opportunities, and developing the necessary skills. It will be launched this year in 11 African countries and builds on the experiences of the VET Toolbox, a programme implemented in several African countries to meet investment needs.

The EU is also rehabilitating and constructing TVET institutions. For example, in Angola where we are modernising TVET centres by upgrading infrastructure, updating curricula and aligning them with market needs.

The Regional Teacher Initiative for Africa aims to equip teachers and ultimately students with critical skills for the fair twin transitions. This initiative leverages bilateral investments across Africa by the EU, France, Belgium, and Finland.

In parallel, for example, we are strengthening digital ecosystems and enhancing digital literacy and skills for youth and particularly for girls in Mozambique.

Dear Friends,

Together, the European and African partners can jointly address the full spectrum of educational needs and make progress on the priorities of the African Union Year of Education.

The EU has taken great pride in leading the effort to achieve SDG 4 and is committed to continue rallying the international community behind investing more and investing better, as we head towards the UN Summit of the Future.

I look forward to continuing to collaborate in each of these areas.