György Hölvényi MEP tells Mace’s Themistoklis Asthenidis about his expectations for a new partnership deal between the European Union and the African Union covering five major pillars: green transition and energy access, digital transformation, sustainable growth and jobs, peace and governance, and migration and mobility.  Themistoklis Asthenidis: You’ve advocated for a change in European-African policy following “a centre-right, Christian-Democratic position”.   Can you outline your political priorities when it comes to your party (the European People’s Party or EPP) view on African policy? György Hölvényi: In previous deals, trade, economics and education have typically come low on the agenda. Fighting poverty has dominated the discourse. But there’s actually no need to separate these issues. We need a holistic, people-centred approach and we must engage in dialogue with our partners. This is the approach our group, the EPP of the European Parliament, has had in the past. An example was the Windhoek Dialogue, an initiative to provide a platform for political dialogue with African counterparts as equal partners. We must listen to our African partners instead of lecturing them; we can only achieve sustainable development in areas where they also want change. Development must be led by Africa.  We also need to recognise that the EU of today is radically different to the EU 20 years ago. With the accession of new member states in 2004, a whole new group joined the union - countries without a colonial past and a new approach to Africa. Our countries’ transition from dictatorship to democracy is also an important lesson to be shared with our partners. In the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to visit 14 African countries and there is clearly great openness in these countries. For instance the countries of the Visegrád Group are taking steps to set up their own specialised humanitarian and development agencies. From the discussions I’ve had with different partners across the African continent, it’s clear that security is one key starting point. Africa needs security and stability, otherwise any economic growth will be unsustainable. To tackle growing poverty in Africa we need jobs on the continent. 10 to 12 million youth enter the workforce each year but only 3.1 million jobs are created in Africa. This gap must be closed but it can only be done if young people get access to the necessary skills. The EU needs to support African partners to increase access to quality education and to invest in vocational training. Public-private partnership is crucial in this context. Education and training must take into account the needs of the labour market. For Christian Democrats this is our cornerstone. TA: As a member of the European Parliament’s Development Committee and as development coordinator for the European People’s Party you have been actively involved in the drafting of your group’s position paper on Africa policy, especially when it comes to development cooperation. What are the key themes and priorities of the paper and how do you envisage the paper influencing your group’s Africa policy in the coming years? GyH: As I have outlined, security, education, job creation and private investments are key pillars for our group. We believe that these areas are all interlinked and will empower Africa’s development itself. Another burning challenge is the impact of climate change. We need to invest more to assist African countries to increase resilience. Innovation in agriculture and water management are vital in this context. This leads us directly to the issue of food security and investments in agriculture, which cannot be divided from the issue of job creation. 70% of Africans make their living through agriculture.  We need to approach development cooperation from a holistic perspective and we need to put more emphasis on the synergies and coherence of different policy areas. This is also a question of efficiency. The EU is the biggest donor in the world but in terms of efficiency falters. This puts the credibility of the EU’s development policy at risk. Addressing corruption, supporting good governance and tackling the consequences of Covid-19 are also topics linked to the above-mentioned challenges and which require action from our side. TA: How does your position paper intend to promote research and innovation that can help us end hunger in a continent that is the world's fastest growing continent, and also home to more than half of the world's population facing food insecurity? GyH: Sub-Saharan Africa has a quarter of the world's arable land but only produces 10 per cent of its agricultural output. The African continent has the ability for self-reliance in food production, if the right conditions are given. Of course, different countries and regions are facing with different challenges. However, in general the low productivity of staple crops makes African agriculture uncompetitive. We must empower African f...