From human development to human capital development? Critical reflections on the EU education and skills policies in Africa with a focus on the Global Gateway

The Global Gateway is considered a key instrument of EU development cooperation. Introduced in 2021, it was announced as a ‘win-win’ strategy for both, the EU’s competitiveness agenda and developing countries’ strive for sustainable development. The Global Gateway epitomises the current shifts in EU development policy from a focus on poverty reduction to infrastructure investments to boost economic development. These shifts have also affected the EU’s education sector support strategies introducing a focus on employability and aiming at an enabling role of education for economic investments. The Policy Note critically discusses some of these trends at the sub-levels of basic, vocational and higher education, as well as the potential risks attached to them, particularly in Africa.