European corporations and elites benefit from trade agreements with African nations through several key mechanisms that critics argue create and maintain a system of unequal exchange.

These agreements, such as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), are designed to liberalize African markets, which, while presented as a win-win, often disproportionately benefit European companies.

Market Access and Asymmetrical Liberalization

The core of the issue lies in the asymmetrical nature of these trade agreements. While African nations often gain some preferential access to European markets, the reciprocal demand for them to open their own markets is where European elites gain the most.

• Flooding African Markets: The agreements typically require African countries to significantly lower their tariffs on European imports. This influx of often subsidized and higher-quality European goods can overwhelm nascent African industries, which cannot compete on price or scale. For example, local textile industries or food producers in African countries have struggled to survive against cheaper European imports, leading to factory closures and job losses.

• Securing Export Markets: For European corporations, these agreements secure a new and growing consumer base in Africa. With a rapidly expanding middle class, the African market represents a significant opportunity. By locking in favorable terms, European companies ensure a stable outlet for their products, from manufactured goods to agricultural products, which can have significant competitive advantages over local alternatives.

Raw Material Extraction and Value Chains

A primary benefit for European corporations is guaranteed access to Africa's vast mineral, oil, and agricultural resources. This is a continuation of the historical colonial model of extraction.

• Resource Control: European elites and companies benefit from trade agreements that ensure a continuous supply of raw materials at favorable prices. These agreements rarely include provisions that would require significant local processing or value addition in African countries. This means that while African nations export valuable resources like cobalt, lithium, and cocoa, they miss out on the higher profits that come from processing these materials into finished products (e.g., batteries, chocolate).

• Favorable Investment Climate: The agreements often include provisions on investment, intellectual property rights, and competition that are tailored to the interests of European investors. They create a stable, legally predictable environment that reduces risk for European companies, encouraging them to invest in extractive industries. However, these provisions can also limit the policy space for African governments to regulate foreign investment or protect their own emerging industries.

The Illusion of "Development" and "Fair Trade"

Critics argue that the entire narrative of "development" and "partnership" surrounding these agreements serves to legitimize a neocolonial economic relationship.

• Conditional Aid: The agreements are often linked to development aid, which can be seen as a form of leverage. African nations are pressured to sign the agreements to maintain access to this aid, creating a cycle of dependency. European elites can then use this leverage to push for additional policy changes that further benefit their corporate interests.

• Non-Tariff Barriers: Beyond tariffs, European markets remain difficult to penetrate for African businesses due to a host of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). These include complex sanitary and phytosanetary standards, technical regulations, and strict rules of origin. While presented as necessary for quality control, these standards can be prohibitively expensive and difficult for African producers to meet, effectively acting as a form of protectionism for European companies.

In essence, while the agreements may offer some limited benefits to African nations, their primary function, according to critics, is to secure and expand European economic interests.

They facilitate a relationship where Africa remains a supplier of raw materials and a market for European goods, hindering its ability to industrialize and achieve genuine economic independence.