European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen was in Côte d’Ivoire on Wednesday, after Niger and before Ghana. This visit is a logical follow-up to the EU-AU summit last February, after which Europe pledged to invest 150 billion euros in Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, Europe is investing in peace and security, low-carbon transition and sustainable cocoa.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Peter Pinto
When Europe and Côte d’Ivoire talk, it’s often about cocoa. For a year, the European Union has been working on legislation that aims to exclude from its market products linked to deforestation or child labor. This sometimes gives rise to friction with Abidjan, as a month ago, at the EU-AU summit in Brussels, when Alassane Ouattara denounced the lesson givers » Westerners.
” If Europeans do not want to buy our cocoa, there are others who will buy it “had launched the Ivorian president in an interview with RFI and F24. ” Europe cannot do without the largest cocoa producer and Côte d’Ivoire cannot do without the world’s largest market “, tempers today a diplomat familiar with the file.
Along with security and the low-carbon transition, sustainable cocoa is also at the heart of the priorities of EU member countries working with Abidjan.
The visit of the European Commissioner also comes on the day of the adoption by Côte d’Ivoire of a new strategy for sustainable cocoa farming which aims to improve the living conditions of producers, fight against deforestation and eradicate work children by 2025.
Jutta Urpilainen came with an envelope of 58 million euros for the transformation of the cocoa sector, safety, climate in particular. But also with 228 million euros over 3 years to support the priorities of the Ivorian government.
In addition, the European commissioner also thanked Alassane Ouattara for the vote of Côte d’Ivoire in favor of the UN resolution against the war in Ukraine.