MSM participates in the AU–EU Summit and Business Forum in Luanda, Angola
MSM Director a.i. Dr. Diederik de Boer participated and represented the Netherlands in the skills and business education working group at the African Union–European Union Summit (AU–EU) in Luanda, Angola on the 24th and 25th of November. The mission took place within the broader framework of MSM’s engagement in skills development, entrepreneurship, and sustainable business education, and aligned with the EU’s Global Gateway Africa–Europe Investment Package.
The Forum and Summit gathered more than forty African Heads of State and twenty European leaders, including the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. Delegations from government, private sector, financial institutions and academia convened to discuss joint priorities in green energy, transport, digital transformation, agriculture, health, and the skills required to drive sustainable growth.
Throughout the event, MSM engaged with high-level representatives from all over the world. Participation in the working group on skills and business education provided an opportunity to highlight MSM’s track record in entrepreneurship development, sustainable value-chain strengthening and executive education. The mission was undertaken jointly with SHE Collaborates of Maastricht University, which contributed expertise in capacity building for health and human development systems. Together, the institutions presented complementary perspectives linking private-sector development with human-capital strengthening an approach increasingly recognised as essential to EU–AU cooperation.
Discussions during the Business Forum ranged from a high-level roundtable on transition minerals, to sessions on African trade, competitiveness and market access, as well as exchanges on the development of Global Gateway economic corridors, including the Lobito Corridor connecting Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The final declaration of the Summit emphasised advancing towards a Euro–African free-trade bloc aligned with the AfCFTA, strengthening private-sector engagement in Global Gateway initiatives, and improving Africa’s attractiveness for sustainable and mutually beneficial investment. These priorities provide an important framework for MSM’s future work on employability and capacity building.
In this context, MSM will further assess its contribution to the development of a food-security ecosystem linked to the EU’s 360-degree approach within the Lobito Corridor. The visit also opened opportunities for exploring cooperation with universities, as part of MSM’s ongoing efforts to strengthen institutional partnerships across the continent.
The mission concluded with agreement to continue follow-up conversations initiated in Luanda, supporting deeper academic, economic and policy collaboration between European and African partners.
