The European Union (EU) has announced numerous multimillion dollar deals at its Global Gateway Forum, an initiative bringing together representatives of governments from the European Union and from around the world with the private sector, civil society, leading thinkers, financing institutions, and international organisations. The Forum’s partnership plan that is seen as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The first Global Gateway Forum took place in Brussels on October 25 and featured 90 government representatives from over 20 countries, including heads of state from Armenia, Comoros, Namibia, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, Albania, Bangladesh, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco, Rwanda, and Serbia.
The EU announced that Global Gateway already had €66bn in deals at the opening of the summit and proceeded to sign an additional €3bn worth of new agreements with governments across Europe, Asia, and Africa during the forum to support projects related to critical raw minerals, green energy, and transport corridors. Announced projects included deals on critical raw materials with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, as well as cooperation on clean energy with Bangladesh, Cape Verde, Namibia, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
The Global Gateway strategy was set up as a European de-risking agenda to compete with Chinese global infrastructure investments through its Belt and Road initiative. Development funds are used to guarantee maximum profits for corporations and asset managers from social infrastructure and public goods. However, there have been criticisms, as the Global Gateway Business Advisory Group, containing 60 of the largest companies in Europe, opens the door to corporate lobby influence.
Launched in late 2021 and championed by von der Leyen, Global Gateway has earmarked €300bn in a bid to streamline the EU’s investment and development cooperation across the globe. Officials say the program will prioritise projects focused on renewable energy, digital transitions, and sustainability as Brussels looks to mobilise investment from member states and the private sector. It remains unclear where this money will come from and over what period, although von der Leyen has stressed previously that this will be private sector funded.
