Pan-African Programme

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What is the Pan-African Programme?

The Pan-African Programme provides dedicated support to the Africa-EU strategic partnership and is the first ever EU plan for development and cooperation that covers Africa as a whole. It supports projects with a trans-regional, continental or global added-value in areas of shared interest, and offers new possibilities for the EU and Africa to work together.

Established in 2014, the Pan-African Programme is one of the main EU financial instruments for the implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The programme is funded under the EU's Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) with an allocated budget of EUR 845 million for the period 2014-2020.

In the period 2014-2017, the programme committed more than EUR 400 million to build mutually beneficial projects for the EU and Africa. Aligned with the Roadmap 2014-2017, the Pan-African Programme focuses on five key areas of cooperation between the two continents, namely:

Peace and security
Democracy, good governance and human rights
Human development
Sustainable and inclusive development and growth and continental integration
Global and cross-cutting issues.

In 2018, the second phase of the Pan-African Programme was launched for the period 2018-2020 with funding of EUR 400 million. Contributing to the implementation of the strategic priorities identified at the 5th AU-EU Summit of November 2017, the programme now focuses on three key areas of cooperation between Africa and the EU:

Political dialogue and pan-African governance
Education and skills, research and technology
Continental economic integration.

The added value of the Pan-African Programme builds on three main criteria:

The cross-regional, continental or global dimension of projects and programmes in areas ranging from sustainable agriculture and environment to higher education, ICT and research;
The joint interest of Africa and the EU and as such a the clear link to the strategic partnership;
The financial complementarity with other instruments like the European Development Fund (EDF), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the Development Cooperation; Instrument (DCI) thematic programmes.

For more information:

Investing in people

Skills for youth/Higher education/Science, Technology and Innovation

Enhance young people's employability through improved job-oriented education and training and recognition of skills. Modernise higher education institutions in Africa and improve the employability of students and their mobility across the continent and with Europe.

Facts & Figures