Maintaining European influence across Africa has become a geostrategic priority in Europe’s capitals. Accordingly, Africa is deemed a pivotal ‘partner’ region in the context of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative. Based on interview research with Members of the European Parliament and Commission and EEAS staffers, the lecture traces the origins of the Global Gateway initiative, revealing inter- and intra-institutional controversies that have characterised its drafting process. The geopolitical and geoeconomic importance of Africa is shown to have grown in the perception of EU decision-makers and technocrats in the light of growing Chinese influence across the continent.

However, so far there has been a marked discrepancy between Brussels’ geostrategic ambitions and actual developments on the ground. Zajontz’s interview research with diplomats from the EU and its member states in Tanzania documents heightened efforts to coordinate within ‘Team Europe’ to regain EU influence in African capitals has declined as a result of Africa’s diversifying external relations and pragmatic polyalignment on the part of African governments. However, the EU also faces internal dissonance over the geopoliticisation of its ‘Africa policy’ and a structural disadvantage compared to Chinese state capitalism in that it cannot simply direct its private sector into Global Gateway endeavours. At a more fundamental level, the Global Gateway’s imperial logic which is aimed at (re)integrating Africa into Europe-centric networks of trade, finance, production and digitalisation ultimately stands in contradiction to Brussels' progressive ‘equal partnership’ rhetoric.

The rise of Chinese high-tech companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and DeepSeek has sparked concerns about China’s global influence, particularly in the Global South. Are we witnessing a new era of "data imperialism" established by China? While this perspective captures the destructive effects of dependency, it often overlooks the agency of these countries vis-à-vis China, the complex realities of Chinese engagement on the ground, and the transformative power of digital platforms. 

This talk addresses this gap by empirically and conceptually deepening our understanding of dependency in the digital age. Through case studies of Malaysia and Ethiopia, this talk will explore the limitations of China's digital power and illuminate the strategic pathway of digital development that is emerging for countries in the Global South.