Writing, research, and the occasional strong opinion.

As the United States retreats from its post-war role as architect of the global order, Africa and Europe are finding new reasons to look to each other. But turning geopolitical necessity into genuine partnership requires more than goodwill.

The current US tariff offensive is not just an economic shock — it is a test of African resolve. The continent’s response should be to build the kind of internal economic architecture that no external power can hold hostage.

Washington’s withdrawal from multilateral trade creates a vacuum — and vacuums, in geopolitics, are always filled. The question for African and European business is whether they are positioned to fill it.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation returned a predictable set of pledges and a less predictable set of ambiguities. What did it actually deliver — and what does it mean for Africa’s other partners?

When Hungary used its EU Council presidency to stage an unsanctioned diplomatic offensive, the backlash was swift. African states navigating relations with larger powers have something to learn from both the play and the response.

Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is designed to level the playing field. For African exporters, it levels in the wrong direction — adding costs and compliance burdens to economies that contributed least to the problem CBAM is meant to solve.

Het Europese klimaatbeleid bestaat voornamelijk uit eenrichtingsverkeer — en het zijn Afrikaanse economiëen die daarvoor de prijs betalen. (English translation included)

Uit voorlopige onderzoeksresultaten valt op hoeveel Afrikaanse bedrijven de gedachte achter het grensheffingsmechanisme onderschrijven — maar het idee dat CBAM een gelijk speelveld creëert, gaat er bij hen niet in. (English translation included)

A critical examination of how just transition frameworks developed in European contexts translate — and fail to translate — into Southern African energy and labour realities.

A TIGC policy brief mapping structural gaps in healthcare access across sub-Saharan African markets, with implications for private sector and development finance actors.