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Switching from an off-budget EDF to a unique EU instrument (NDICI-Global Europe) has some technical implications for the EU and for partner countries, which in turn may bring some political consequences to the relationships between them. The NDICI-Global Europe brings in simplicity, flexibility, agility, and reactivity - all crucial to making the EU a more geopolitical player. To understand how the changes land in reality, ex-EU ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon, Philippe van Damme, describes what limitations and potential of the EU’s new approach have been revealed in practice and how the EU has learned, or not learned, from previous approaches. 

The definition of mutual interests is a good occasion to ask how development objectives are integrated in the Global gateway strategy and the NDICI-Global Europe. Moreover, the programming phase of the NDICI-Global Europe allowed the EU not only to define its cooperation activities, but primarily to set its interests and priorities for each partner country, and then seek where and how these could match with the partner country’s priorities. As Botswana’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and permanent representative to the EU, H.E. Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba reveals how Botswana has negotiated its mutual interests with the EU, how this affects its partnership and the asymmetry of this relationship.

Broadening the partnerships has been one of the significant shifts of the EU development cooperation’s recent evolution. On paper, the EU aims at engaging in a more meaningful manner with civil society, and at supporting them in a more effective way. But in reality, how has the relationship between the EU and civil society in partner countries changed with the EU’s new approach to development? Moses Isooba is the executive director of the Uganda National NGO Platform (UNNGOP), an organisation uniting national and international NGOs in the country, and stresses the importance of engaging with civil society to enhance the participation, legitimacy and influence of its projects.

In this podcast series, Amandine Sabourin interviews key partners in EU development policy to understand how the EU’s increasingly transactional approach is experienced by partner countries. From EU ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon Philippe van Damme to ambassador Masire-Mwamba of Botswana to the Kingdom of Belgium and Uganda civil society leader Moses Isooba, the series explores how rulings designed in Brussels are actually playing out on the ground, their effect on the EU’s relationship with its partners, and vital lessons for the EU if it wants to achieve its development ambitions.

Critical raw materials are vital for the EU's green transition and offer African countries a path to green industrialisation. Both however face policy dilemmas: Africa must efficiently use resources within, and share them between, countries, while the EU seeks to derisk from China and maintain industrial leadership. In this podcast, Poorva and Géraud discuss how these different moving parts fit together.

In Tanzania, gender equality remain a policy priority, but progress is slow. Enter the award-winning Her Initiative, a game-changer that is helping to close the gender gap. This initiative promotes financial resilience and digital inclusion for girls and young women, empowering them to escape poverty and seize more opportunities. Without such innovative efforts, achieving full gender parity could take decades.In this episode of Minding the gap: Conversations on gender, we listen to real-life stories of girls' empowerment from Tanzania. Joining Hanne Knaepen is Lydia Charles Moyo, founder and executive director of the Her Initiative. Lydia talks about the injustice she faced among her peers in school, which led her to set up an award-winning non-profit organisation that aims to achieve financial independence among girls and women.