"During the past decade, emerging countries and a number of corporate players have come to see the African continent as a frontier and a pioneering front. The lecture argues that such representations do not apply to the analysis of Africa-EU interactions over the same period. Implementation of the ambitious objectives assigned to the first Action Plan of the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (JAES) launched in 2007 has been hampered by poor involvement and weak mobilisation on the part of both African and European member-states." (Quoted from article)