President of the African Union calls for more industrial partnerships

African Union President Azali Assoumani has called for more partnerships between European and African industry. These could make an important contribution to the continent’s socio-economic development, Assoumani said Thursday at the closing event of the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels. The EU infrastructure initiative is to be seen as an alternative to China’s New Silk Road. The Global Gateway framework is complex, involving national banks and the private sector in addition to EU agencies and lending institutions.