Jointly organised by:
Jean Monnet Network ‘The European Union, Africa, and China in the Global Age’
Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, Belgium
Brussels Academy for China and European Studies (BACES)
EU-Asia Centre, Brussels, Belgium
University of Bradford, UK

In cooperation with:
Gulu University, Uganda
Lancaster University, UK
University of the Peloponnese, Greece
Protestant Institute for Arts & Social Sciences, Rwanda
University of Burundi, Burundi
United States International University – Africa, Kenya
Uongozi Institute for African Leadership and Sustainable Development, Tanzania
Confucius Institute, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Asia-Europe Journal, Springer Publishing, Germany
EU-Asia Institute, ESSCA School of Management, France
Centre for China and Globalization, Beijing, China
School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University
Deakin University, Australia

 

PROGRAMME

 

Thursday 3 October 2019

13:15-14:00: Registration

14:00-15:00: Plenary Remarks

Moderated by Prof Wei Shen

• Welcome by Dr Sven Biscop, Director of Europe in the World Programme, Egmont Royal Institute for International Studies, Brussels, Belgium
• Mr Gao Mingbo, Counsellor for Political Affairs, Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union
• Ambassador James Moran, Former Principal Advisor on the Middle East and North Africa at the External Action Service of the EU; Senior Advisory, EU-Asia Centre
• ‘Jean Monnet in Africa?’ Introduction to the EU-EAC Jean Monnet Network by Prof Jean-Marc Trouille, Bradford, UK

15:00-15:30:  Coffee Break

15:30-16:45: Panel 1 – Regional and Continental Integration in Africa – Roles of the European Union and China

Moderated by Bruno Hellendorff

• Ambassador Tim Clarke: How can the EU and China help African Universities promote Regional Integration in Africa
• Lynette Odondi: An Analysis of Trade Trends in Africa: The EU and China in East Africa
• Prof Jean-Marc Trouille: Speeding up African, Development – A Joint Challenge for the EU, Africa and China
• Prof Jing Men: EU-Africa-China’s trilateral relations (tbc)

16:45-18:00: Panel 2 – European Union – Africa Cooperation: Experiences and Lessons

Moderated by Prof Léonidas Ndayisaba

• Prof Asteris Huliaras: The Indirect Impact of the Chinese-African Rapprochement: How Beijing’s Africa policy has affected the foreign policy of EU, Japan, India and Russia

• Prof José Mella: Reflexions on EU-Africa Cooperation

• Julaina Obika and Moses Onyango: Democratic Overstay and the Revolting Constituency: The EU at the Crossroads in (East) Africa

• Maximilian Rech: Power & Competition along the Belt & Road Initiative – An Analysis of Competition and Cooperation among Economic Actors in Europe, Africa, and China (tbc)

 

Friday 4 October 2019

08:30-09:00: Registration

09:00-10:15: Panel 3 – China – Africa Cooperation: Experiences and Lessons

Moderated by Prof Zhiqin Shi

• Bruno Hellendorff: The Security Dimension of the China-Africa relationship
• Prof Léonidas Ndayisaba: Relations between China and Africa – The Case of Burundi
• Dr Penine Uwimbabazi: African Youth and Foreign Policy
• Prof Haiyan Zhang: China’s outward FDI in Africa: Implication for EU-China business cooperation

10:15-11:00: Keynote Speech

Moderated by Ambassador Tim Clarke

• Prof Jan De Groof: Education and African Development – What about Regional Integration?

11:00-11:30: Coffee break

11:30-12:45: Concluding Debate: Europe-Africa-China Trialogue and Cooperation: Paths and Prospects

Moderated by Prof Wei Shen, Dr Penine Uwimbabazi and Prof Jean-Marc Trouille, with:

• Ambassador Piet Steel
• Bruno Hellendorff
• Dr Yun He

 

Speakers

Ambassador Tim Clarke, former EU Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to the African Union, IGAD, Ethiopia and Djibouti and to Tanzania and the EAC; Honorary Researcher and Strategic Advisor at Confucius Institute, Lancaster University (UK)

Prof Jan de Groof, President of the “European Association for Education Law and Policy”. Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium), at the University of Tilburg (the Netherlands) and at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Government Commissioner for Universities (Belgium, Flemish Community), UNESCO Chair for the Right to Education and former UNESCO Chargé de Mission

Dr Yun He, Assistant Professor of Department of Public Administration, School of Law, Hunan University, Changsha, China Mr Mingbo Gao, Counsellor for Political Affairs of the Mission of PRC to the EU, Brussels, Belgium

Bruno Hellendorff, Joint Research Fellow at the Egmont Institute and European Policy Centre (EPC), Brussels, Belgium

Prof Asteris Huliaras, Jean Monnet Chair in EU Relations with Less Developed Countries, Professor and Head of Politics and International Relations, University of the Peloponnese, Corinth, Greece

Prof José Mella Marquez, Professor of Applied Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, and Principal Investigator of the AMENET Jean Monnet Network

Prof Jing Men, Baillet Latour Chair of European Union-China Relations and the Director of EU-China Research Centre in the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies, College of Europe, Brugges, Belgium

Ambassador James Moran, Former Principal Advisor on the Middle East and North Africa at the External Action Service of the EU; Senior Advisory, EU-Asia Centre

Prof Léonidas Ndayisaba, UNESCO Chair, Director of CERFOPAX, Université du Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi

Julaina Obika, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

Lynette Odondi, Lecturer and PhD candidate, researcher in United States International University-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

Maximilian Rech, Academic Director of ESSCA School of Management (Shanghai Campus), Angers, France

Prof Wei Shen, Jean Monnet Chair in EU-China Relations, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (International Relations), Deakin University, Australia; Vice-President, EU-Asia Centre, Brussels; Research Professor, ESSCA EU-Asia Institute, France; Editor-in-Chief, Asia-Europe Journal (Springer) and General Editor for Routeledge Handbook Series on ‘EU in the World’

Prof Zhiqin Shi, Professor of International Relations and Director of Belt and Road Initiative Research Centre, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Ambassador Piet Steel, Chairman, EU-Asia Centre; President, Special Olympics Belgium; Former Belgian diplomat including Chief Negotiator during the multilateral trade negotiations of the Uruguay Round in Geneva, Belgium; First Ambassador to Vietnam and Consul General of Hong Kong; former Vice-President of External Affairs of Toyota Motor Europe

Prof Jean-Marc Trouille, Jean Monnet Chair, Principal Investigator of the EU-EAC Jean Monnet Network (Europe-Africa-China), Bradford, UK; Independent academic expert for EU projects

Dr Penine Uwimbabazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of Protestant Institute Arts and Social Sciences, Huye, Rwanda

Prof Haiyan Zhang, Associate Professor at NEOMA Business School and University of Antwerp and Director of the NEOMA Confucius Institute for Business-Rouen, France

 

The EU-EAC Jean Monnet Network

This international event, jointly organised with Egmont Royal Institute of International Relations, is part of the activities of the Jean Monnet Network ‘The European Union, Africa and China in the Global Age – Sustainable Development through Tripartite Cooperation and Regional Integration: The Case of the East African Community (EU-EAC)’. This is a sustainability project supported by the EU Commission’s Jean Monnet Programme. Issues of integration and cooperation are at the core of its action. This event-intensive research and training project has organised activities across three continents and eight countries to bring together academics, policy makers, diplomats, think tanks and international organisations from Africa, China and Europe. It promotes regional integration ‘on the ground’ and runs Training & Dialogue Sessions for the EAC and its member states. Its aim is to contribute to building sustainable societies in Africa in coordination with the European Union and China and advocates a trialogue between the European Union, Africa and China to boost African development in a coordinated fashion. In the EU-EAC acronym ‘EAC’ refers to the two core agendas of the project: to the East African Community as an example of regional economic integration; and to the broader context of ‘Europe, Africa and China’.

 

Member Organisations

University of Bradford School of Management, UK (Lead institution)
Lancaster University Management School, UK
University of the Peloponnese, Greece
United States American University – Africa (USIU-A), Nairobi, Kenya
Centre de Recherche et de Formation pour la Paix (CERFOPAX), University of Burundi
Uongozi Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Gulu University, Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, Gulu, Uganda
Protestant Institute for Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS), Department of Development Studies, Kigali, Rwanda

 

Previous events

April 2017, Nairobi (Kenya): Inaugural event: International Research Workshop on Regional Integration

June 2017, Arusha (Tanzania): Visit to the Headquarters of the East African Community (EAC), Arusha

Sept 2017, Arusha (Tanzania): Training & Dialogue Session at EAC Headquarters International Research Workshop on Regional Integration in East Africa

February 2018, Kampala (Uganda): Training & Dialogue Session at Ministry of East African Community Affairs

March 2018, Gulu University (Uganda): International Conference on Regional Integration in East Africa

September 2018: Jean Monnet Eurafrican Conversations – Rwanda: Training & Dialogue Session at Ministry of East African Affairs Roundtable Debates on Regional Integration at University of Kigali Second International Conference on Regional Integration in Huye

May 2019, UN International Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: First EU-Africa-China Conference on Trilateral Cooperation for African Development

July 2019, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Shanghai: Second EU-Africa-China Conference on Trilateral Cooperation for African Development

August 2019, EU Delegation to the People’s Republic of China, Beijing: Jean Monnet Rountable on Promoting an EU-China-Africa Trialogue

 

Forthcoming events:

January 2020, Bujumbura, Burundi: Conference on Regional Integration at the Université du Burundi

February 2020, Nairobi, Kenya: Training & Dialogue Session for the Kenyan Ministry of East African Affairs

 

Honorary members:

H.E. Prof Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang Agbor, African Union Commission, Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology.

Ambassador Tim Clarke, former Ambassador / Head of EU Delegation posted to Addis Ababa where he was responsible for relations with the African Union, IGAD, Ethiopia and Djibouti, then Dar Es Salaam where he was responsible for relations with Tanzania and the EAC.

Dr Frannie Léautier, former Vice-President of the World Bank, Head of the World Bank Institute, former Partner and CEO of Mkoba Private Equity of African Capacity Building Foundation, former Senior Vice-President of the African Development Bank Group in Abidjan. Currently Dr Léautier is COO and Executive Director of Asset Management at the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB). She was recently listed among the 100 most influential people in Africa.

Ambassador Libérat Mfumukeko, is the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) in Arusha,Tanzania.