Bridging continents: Reflections on a RENPET seminar at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Katherine Pye is a PhD student in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research focuses on the EU’s decade long intervention in the Sahel region of West Africa.
On July 23, 2024, I organised an event the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on EU-South Africa relations, funded by RENPET, which aimed to deepen dialogue on EU foreign policy in Africa. With the help of Dr Federica Bicchi, Associate Professor at LSE, Professor Lisa Otto and Professor Annie Chikwanha at UJ, we brought together students, faculty, and an EU diplomat for an enriching discussion on pressing issues in EU-Africa relations.
With plans to spend time in Johannesburg in summer 2024, I decided to contact UJ with the help of Professor Bicchi, to explore the opportunity of possibly organising an event with the participation of the EU Delegation to South Africa while I was there. There were some challenges posed by the lag between the UJ term time/holiday cycle and that of LSE, but both UJ and the EU Delegation in South Africa enthusiastically took up our offer: they had not had the opportunity to interact before and UJ had limited funding for events.
We agreed that on 23 July the Deputy Head of EU Delegation to South Africa Mr. Fulgencio Garrido Ruiz would come to speak to students and faculty about the topic of EU-Africa relations today, with opportunity for a Q&A and catered reception afterwards. Students participated enthusiastically in organising the event and special thanks go to Mrs Rae Israel, the Departmental Secretary, and Professors Annie Chikwanha and Lisa Otto at the Department of Politics and International Relations for publicising the event among students and faculty.
EU-Africa partnership in a changing global order
In the run up to the event, the team at UJ put posters around the department with information on how to sign up and sent notices around the relevant mailing lists. There was much interest – on the day the seminar room was full, with around 30 students and faculty in attendance. Professor Bhaso Ndzendze, Vice-Dean for Internationalisation at UJ also attended and gave gifts to the speakers and organisers.
The seminar opened with remarks from Dr. Buntu Siwisa, Senior Lecturer at UJ, who highlighted the importance of student engagement in political discussions amid increasing polarisation in South Africa following elections there in May 2024. In his keynote remarks, Deputy Head of Delegation Mr Garrido Ruiz then discussed the EU’s commitment to building stronger partnerships with Africa in a more contested world order without forcing African nations into binary choices between Western and non-Western allies. He discussed demographic as well as economic challenges on the continent, the green transition and the trend of de-globalisation in world trade.
There was lively discussion from Dr. Adeoye Akinola, Head of Research and Teaching at UJ’s Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation, who expressed his delight to be engaging with this topic after having received EU funding in a previous academic position. He discussed trade and migration and questioned the extent to which it is possible to have free trade between Europe and Africa without freer movement of people. Dr. Adeoye Akinola also mentioned that there was great demand for African students to study in Europe, as well as for staff and student exchanges and joint EU-Africa research projects.
The event transitioned into a Q&A session, allowing students to engage directly with the Deputy Head of EU Delegation. Students and faculty were keen to ask questions and there was an energetic atmosphere in the room. While some questions explored the EU's approach to global governance reform and economic partnership agreements, others asked questions about how the EU was addressing the legacy of colonialism in Africa.
Dr. Adeoye Akinola discussed the implications of rising nationalism and far-right politics in Europe and their potential impact on EU policies towards Africa. His contributions emphasised the need for African perspectives in conversations traditionally dominated by Eurocentric narratives. Professor Bhaso Ndzendze, Vice-Dean for Internationalisation at UJ suggested there had been a promising shift in the EU’s engagement with Africa towards a narrative of more equitable partnership.
The event carried on into the evening with a reception in the next room with views of downtown Johannesburg. The Deputy Head of Delegation was keen to encourage students to apply for EU funding to study in Europe as South Africa was underrepresented compared to other countries in Africa. Many students were able to have one on one conversations with Mr Ruiz on topics such as green investment and peacebuilding in East Africa, given Mr Ruiz’s previous experience at the EU Delegation in Somalia.
Student perspectives: Insights from the focus group
With the assistance of Professor Lisa Otto and Mrs Rae Israel, the following morning I organised a focus group with students who had attended the event. Students told me that they greatly appreciated the opportunity to engage with an EU diplomat and would relish similar opportunities in the future, particularly if there was a chance to produce policy recommendations or something similar.
There were some areas on which students said they would have liked to engage in further dialogue with EU policymakers. Some students wanted more discussion on the EU's approach to historical injustices, such as the possibility of paying reparations to victims of colonialism in Africa. They argued for a clearer, more proactive stance from the EU on this issue, linking historical injustices to contemporary economic policies. The focus group participants highlighted the need for discussions on how EU investments could better serve local economies and create sustainable development pathways, including by creating more jobs for Africans.
The topic of migration also sparked lively debate: students argued that population growth should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a challenge and they did not share the EU’s viewpoint that Africans moving to Europe was a “brain drain”, but rather a valuable exchange of knowledge which could drive development.
Impact on RENPET’s objectives: fostering dialogue and collaboration
As per its website, RENPET’s three key objectives are: first, deepen dialogue on EU foreign policy between academics and practitioners; second, to define the cutting edge of research in European Union foreign policy; and, third, to advance innovative teaching in EU foreign policy and support young scholars. RENPET also has an important sub-objective of intercontinental dialogue whereby RENPET aims to put emphasis on the outreach to global non-EU partners (particularly university students and young scholars) for exchange, fostering networks, and facilitating the incorporation of non-European views in EU foreign policy research, teaching and policy activities. The “aim is to strengthen the debate and global exchange and understanding between academic, policy makers and other key stakeholders that so far have not been offered the possibility to engage with EU foreign policy scholars in order to internationalize RENPET outreach, promote interest for EU perspective, and disseminate RENPET outputs more widely.”
This event contributed to all these objectives, expanding RENPET’s impact outside of the European continent. First, it brought a senior European practitioner together with South African academics and students to have an open exchange on the direction of EU-Africa relations. Around 30 students attended the event, and the seminar room was full, which is a testament to the high level of interest at UJ. The Politics and International Relations department told me they rarely receive funding for such exchanges and were delighted to host the event.
Second, regarding defining the cutting edge of research in EU foreign policy, interactions such as these are central to decolonising European studies through identifying topics that resonate with Global South students and scholars: from migration to reparations, green investment and employment. Students did not shy away from thorny or controversial topics such as global inequality, Europe’s visa regimes and the legacy of European colonialism.
Third, now that the Deputy Head of EU Delegation and his team are in contact with the faculty and administrative staff at UJ they have a launching point, facilitated by RENPET, to collaborate in the future. The Deputy Ambassador followed up via email to keep in touch with UJ and to send further information over regarding study in Europe and the Erasmus programme. The seminar created a link between the EU Delegation in Pretoria and UJ which will hopefully continue in coming years.
The event also advanced RENPET’s crucial inter-continental dialogue objective, providing both the EU Delegation in South Africa and students and faculty from UJ the chance to exchange ideas on EU foreign policy with each other. There is a real interest from South African students to study in Europe and they were well-informed, engaged and eloquent. The students seemed to get a lot out of direct exchanges of this nature with policymakers. The event was hopefully a useful opportunity for the Deputy Head of EU Delegation to hear these viewpoints and respond to them. Since Africa is a ‘young’ continent with a high youth population, listening to the perspectives of young people is key to successful diplomacy and policymaking. The responses in the focus group the following day show that students wanted more detailed engagement on certain topics.
Overall, the event at UJ served as a valuable platform for debate and the exchange of knowledge and ideas on EU-Africa relations. The event is proof that both groups greatly benefit from engaging with each other in the future, particularly if support from bodies such as RENPET is available, as the EU and Africa rework their partnership in a changing world.
