Trade, investment and finance

In Europe and Africa, a transition to sustainable economies is essential to prevent issues linked to poverty and environmental degradation from escalating, and to ward off major crises in the future. The trade, investment and finance team of the Economic and Agricultural Transformation programme wants to contribute to shaping policies that are sustainable, resilient and take into account the needs of the most vulnerable.

The buy-in of governments, trade actors and financial institutions is pivotal to the creation of trade, investment and financing policies that are truly geared towards sustainability. They are among the key players that can create an environment in which the economy becomes a means to ensure the prosperity of people and the planet. But global efforts to reduce poverty and move towards sustainability have suffered a major setback due to COVID-19. Despite the challenges that this brings, the situation also offers an opportunity to build back better, greener, more inclusive and sustainable economies.

What we do

• We support efforts to boost sustainable finance to better respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
• We look at EU trade policy and trade integration dynamics in Africa, and at how these can be supported by trade relations between Africa and Europe.
• We look at Europe’s financial architecture for development.
• We work on blended finance, financial governance and investment facilitation.
• We work on climate finance, agri-finance and agri-investment, and on the sustainability and gender dimensions of trade and investment.

Throughout our work we focus on gender, climate change, sustainability and inclusivity. We engage with African and European policymakers, development finance institutions, development banks and think tanks, as well as international institutions.

For more information about our recent activities and projects, have a look at our 2021 work plan or our 2019 annual report.

Get in touch

Do you want to know more about our work or are you interested in partnering with us? Get in touch with one of our team members.

About the Economic and Agricultural Transformation programme

Economic and agricultural transformation is central to many African and European development strategies. It can create more and better jobs, stimulate sustainable economic growth and tackle inequality. We want to help accomplish these goals. Our three programme teams focus on finance, trade and investment, the private sector and sustainable food systems.

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