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Africa

Africa leaders must unite against EPA agreements
25-Apr-2008 Statesman
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Rob Davies, has called on African leaders to ignore the Economic Partnership Agreement proposed by the European Commission since the continent is presently not ready for it.
Civil Society Vows to Stop EPA
29-Mar-2008
As the recently initialled interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) continues to take centre stage, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Africa have vowed to step up their stop-EPA campaign saying the pact has contentious issues.
Kenya: How country’s economy survived the EPA threat
24-Mar-2008
Kenya signed an interim trade pact with the European Union in mid November to save its domestic and foreign investors who would have preferred to relocate to lowly ranked neighbouring states in the region, a senior official has disclosed.
Lobbyists meet in Uganda to press for ’just’ EPAs
24-Mar-2008
Ahead of another round of negotiations to conclude the economic partnership agreements with the European Union, civil society from East and Southern Africa meet in Kampala this week to take a common position on the remaining issues — services, agriculture, investment, competition and government procurement.
EPAs - Groups decry perceived EU imposition
19-Mar-2008
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including farmers, workers, women, faith-based and students groups and organisations drawn from across Africa, have decried the negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Europe and the continent as another form of re-colonisation.
Stop ’re-colonising’ Africa, civil society tells EU
6-Mar-2008 AllAfrica.com
Nine civil society organisations in southern Africa have called on the European Union and its Trade Commission to align its economic partnership proposals with Africa’s economic integration plans.
AU ambassadors endorse AU stance on EPAs
28-Feb-2008
African group of ambassadors who on Friday met in Brussels expressed satisfaction at declaration of the AU assembly of heads of state and government on EPA negotiations.
EU aims to rope in African states resisting EPAs
27-Feb-2008 IPS
The European Union is determined to get those African countries on board which have so far kicked against the economic partnership agreements. A two-part article from Aileen Kwa.
Call to action against Europe’s aggressive economic agenda in Africa
27-Feb-2008
Declaration of civil society organisations at the meeting of the Africa Trade Network, Cape Town, South Africa, 22 February 2008
Trade-EU: Deals with Africa a ’PR disaster’
27-Feb-2008 IPS
Trade talks between the European Union and African countries have been a public relations "disaster" for the Brussels bureaucracy, a high-ranking official confessed Feb. 26.
EU Warns Continent Over Sluggish Pace of New Trade Deal Talks
26-Feb-2008
The European Union has raised concerns about the speed at which African countries are moving towards negotiating for a comprehensive trade deal with Europe, which is expected to fast-track economic integration in the region ahead of the December deadline.
’EPAs Are Not About Partnership’
26-Feb-2008
The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between Europe and its former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions are not about equal partnerships but about enabling "big giant Europe to gain better access to African markets".
African Liberal Parties Want Benefits From Partnerships
26-Feb-2008
African Liberal parties, meeting in a General Assembly, that closed in Maputo on Saturday, have demanded that partnership agreements with the European Union should bring real advantages to Africa.
Africa: Mass protests against EU-enforced neo-liberalism
11-Feb-2008 Socialist Youth
A part of the mass movement against the EU EPAs is drawing the conclusion that they have to find other partners in the fight against neo-liberalism. The coalition we need is an international one, of the working people and poor, that struggles against capitalism.
Analysis: China beats West in Africa
2-Feb-2008 UPI
By offering itself to former colonies as a more attractive and respectful trading partner, China initiated Africa’s refusal to put up with the EU’s demanding policies.
EPA means economic enslavement
18-Jan-2008 Pambazuka News
Many free trade agreements have been signed and enacted into law by capitalist governments at the back of the working people. This is because the working people in Africa and other third world countries do not have political platform of their own.
Africa united against EU arrogance
19-Dec-2007 AllAfrica.com
The recent summit between African heads of states and the EU has shown that Europe has failed to move beyond their colonial-era past-times of economic and political bullying.
China outwits the EU in Africa
13-Dec-2007 Asia Times
During the past several years, an increasing number of differences have arisen in the strategic partnership forged between China and the European Union. Among the many critical issues clouding the mutual agenda are differing policy approaches towards Africa.
Africa leaders reject EU trade deal
10-Dec-2007 Al Jazeera
Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal’s president, said at the closing of the Africa-Europe Summit: "It was said several times during the plenary session and it was said again this morning: African states reject the EPAs."
Trade row casts shadow over EU-Africa summit
7-Dec-2007 IC
A row over new trade rules risks souring the mood at this weekend’s EU-Africa summit and underlines the problems Europe faces in forging new relations with its former colonies, according to analysts.