Next Generation Africa: Economic Impact and Mutual Benefits from a Strategic EU-Africa Partnership

Olimpia Fontana

February 2022

This paper contributes from an economic point of view to the idea of a Next Generation Africa financed by the EU’s allocation of SDRs. The first part considers the macroeconomic framework for African countries at an aggregate level, especially after the outbreak of the pandemic. The second part provides an approximate estimate of the impact of Next Generation Africa on aggregate economic growth and on the financing needs of the African continent’s basic infrastructure. Other long-term dimensions of a strategic partnership with Africa are also discussed. The paper strongly confirms the need and opportunity, on both sides of the partnership, for Next Generation Africa.

Keywords: Africa, Europe, Special Drawing Rights, Development, Fiscal Multiplier

Olimpia Fontana is Mario Albertini Fellow at the Centro Studi sul Federalismo

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Paper prepared within the initiatives of the project “For a European Union - African Union Plan on the New Allocation of the IMF’s SDRs”, coordinated by the Centro Studi sul Federalismo (CSF) with the Robert Triffin International Foundation (RTI) and the Centre Studies on European and Global Governance (CesUE), admitted to the funding by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.