Eurafrica

Eurafrica, also known as Eurafrique or Eurafrika (both portmanteaus of "Europe" and "Africa" in French and German), refers to the idea of strategic partnership between Africa and Europe. In the decades before World War II, supporters of European integration advocated a merger of African colonies as a first step towards a federal Europe. As a genuine political project, it played a crucial role in the early development of the European Union but was largely forgotten afterwards. In the context of a renewed EU Strategy for Africa, and controversies about a Euromediterranean Partnership, the term went through a sort of revival in the last years.

Overview

The term was already coined in the high imperial period of the nineteenth century. It played a role in some technocratical fantasies, e.g. the Atlantropa vision in the 1920s and 30s (compare the recently failed Desertec project). It then aimed to integrate African colonies providing raw materials with Europe.Erich Obst was one of the propagators during World War II.