Engagement and Partnership with Africa’s Great Lakes Region: A Strategic Priority for the EU?

Enhancing peace and security cooperation is a key pillar of the EU-Africa partnership, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025. In the second address of the 2025 Development Matters lecture series, which is kindly supported by Irish Aid, Mr Johan Borgstam, EU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, presents his assessment of the situation in the region based on his recent visits and focus on the EU's engagement in support of peace, stability, and security in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr Borgstam is a Swedish diplomat with extensive national and EU experience, which includes serving as the Head of the EU Delegation to Ethiopia and ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Greece. He was appointed the EUSR for the Great Lakes Region on 1 September 2024. In this role, he supports the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs in implementing the EU’s foreign policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region. His mission is to contribute to building a stronger, more comprehensive, and more strategic partnership with the countries in the region, maintaining close contact with key regional organisations and fora, such as the African Union and the East African Community, as well as the United Nations, the International Financial Institutions, and non-state actors when relevant. It is the second lecture of the 2025 Development Matters series, which is kindly sponsored by Irish Aid.