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  • #RoadtoLuanda25

The Road from MONDIACULT 2025 to the 7th AU-EU Summit in Luanda

  • The Africa-Europe Foundation

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At AEF, we are proud to have co-hosted with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), we convened a high-level dinner dialogue during MONDIACULT 2025, preceded by a technical workshop, both dedicated to fostering cooperation in the cultural and creative economy between Africa and Europe.

Many thanks to all the partners, leaders, and key stakeholders who engaged in this strategic gathering to discuss pathways for collaboration and leverage the momentum towards the next AU-EU Summit in Luanda in November 2025.

Our focus is now on the follow-up. Leveraging the momentum from these discussions to drive key outcomes and solidify commitments on the Road to the pivotal African Union-European Union Summit in Luanda in November 2025.

Five Key Takeaways from the AEF High-Level Dinner on Cultural Cooperation:

Focusing on Untapped Potential

The African creative sector is a proven economic powerhouse, not just a cultural asset. With the global creative economy valued at €2.3 trillion (2022) and accounting for 6% of global jobs, African CCIs are a significant and growing part of this landscape. Exports of creative goods from developing economies, including Africa, saw earnings soar from US$87 billion to US$272 billion between 2003 and 2012. This quantifiable growth, driven by vibrant talent and digital innovation, underscores a strategic opportunity for the AU-EU partnership that can no longer be overlooked.

Forging Strategic Partnerships.

Collaboration must move beyond dialogue to co-investment. The discussion highlighted the critical role of innovative financing mechanisms like the EU's Cultural and Creative Industries Financing Initiative (CreatiFI), which is designed to de-risk lending to creative entrepreneurs. The path forward is to build on such models and scale them into a joint AU-EU Creative Investment Compact, leveraging African institutional capital and European technical expertise to fund tangible creative infrastructure and enterprises.

Enabling the Environment

Systemic barriers—from limited funding and fragile governance to overregulation—continue to hinder growth. The solution requires a dual approach: increasing sector-specific financial capital through targeted instruments and boosting professionalization and capacity building. Programs like "Creative Tandems" demonstrate the value of direct funding and skill-sharing for African organizations, a model that must be expanded to build a resilient and professionalized creative ecosystem across the continent.

Translating Dialogue into Action

The upcoming AU-EU Summit in Luanda (November 2025) is the pivotal moment to convert these insights into binding commitments. The "Road to Luanda 25" campaign must culminate in concrete action on key pillars: enhancing access to finance, advancing policy dialogue to treat creativity as a core industry, and fostering digital transformation. This is the platform to launch ambitious joint initiatives, such as a Creators' Rights Code and streamlined mobility protocols, turning strategy into implementation.

Investing in Intercultural Exchange

Continuous cross-continental dialogue is the bedrock of mutual understanding and a sustainable partnership. Initiatives like the "Création Africa" forum and the "Africa Xchange Summit" are vital platforms for co-creation. These exchanges, which connect African and European professionals across domains like visual arts, design, and film, are essential for building the people-to-people trust and shared narratives that underpin a truly transformative political and economic relationship.

We look forward to taking this all forward together, from Barcelona to Luanda.