Resisting and reinventing
Jean Van Wetter, CEO – Delphine Moralis, Chair of the Board
These are unprecedented, pivotal and paradoxical times. While the need for international cooperation in a globalised world has never been greater, most of the countries that have traditionally funded the global solidarity system are questioning that system. Several countries cut their budgets in a way unprecedented in the history of international cooperation. The additional pressure on European countries to increase their defence budgets raises fears that the whole system could collapse if further cuts are made. In such a context, we have to both resist and reinvent ourselves.
Resist
Enabel is determined to resist the dismantling of the international solidarity system. International cooperation is essential to dialogue, stability and peace. Enabel plays a crucial role as an instrument of Belgium’s and Europe’s foreign and security policy. We cannot accept populist arguments against the system. We must stand up for our values and show our results. We are doing this, among others, through our BeGlobal global citizenship programme, and by speaking out more in various forums.
Reinvent
At the same time, we need to take account of geopolitical changes and continue the transformation we embarked on 4 years ago as part of our Act for Impact strategy. In a way, this strategy some years ago anticipated the new paradigm we are experiencing today. As a result, we have diversified our sources of funding and reinvented a narrative for international cooperation that meets today’s challenges. Such positioning enables us to get through this crisis with some degree of serenity.
But in a rapidly changing world order, we need to go even further. This is why we have also fundamentally reviewed the type of programmes we implement, taking greater account of socio-economic development issues but also of geopolitical challenges and our partners’ demands for mutually beneficial relations. One example of this transformation is our active involvement in the European Union’s Global Gateway Initiative. Enabel is a key player in 4 of the 11 strategic EU-Africa corridors: Cotonou-Niamey, Abidjan-Lagos, Abidjan-Ouagadougou and Dar es Salaam-Kigoma. These corridors will facilitate trade and mobility within Africa and between Africa and Europe. They will also support investment in sustainable, efficient and secure connections between the continents, thereby developing value chains that will benefit industries in both Africa and Europe.
Partnership with the private sector
This new paradigm calls for greater collaboration with the private sector. In 2024 we stepped up our public-private partnership strategy. In October 2024, we brought together 60 Belgian entrepreneurs, innovators and financial institutions to brainstorm on cutting-edge solutions for post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine and Gaza. These discussions led to practical ideas for sustainable reconstruction and public-private partnerships as well as new cooperation instruments.
The private sector is also at the heart of the entrepreneurial mobility projects that Enabel implements to develop sustainable partnerships between respectively entrepreneurs from Senegal and Belgium and from Côte d’Ivoire and Belgium to improve the performance of participating businesses through temporary mobility opportunities between Belgium, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
Enabel was also invited to organise a debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2025, entitled “Reimagining international cooperation: A strategic imperative for global and European competitiveness”. Discussions with a number of captains of industry focused on how public-private partnerships can and should drive strategic investment, giving concrete examples of initiatives in the energy sector, the strategic corridors of the European Global Gateway, vaccine production and critical raw materials.
Finally, we have strengthened our partnership with our sister company BIO, which specialises in equity investments and loans to companies in our partner countries. This partnership enables us to offer a complete package, combining the development of an investment-friendly ecosystem, business financing and human capacity building.
European partnerships
The paradigm shift is also encouraging us to work more in partnership with other European players (Finland, Germany, France…). In April 2025, together with the Swedish agency SIDA, Enabel takes over the presidency of the European network for international cooperation, with the ambitious agenda of further strengthening the European Union’s impact on the international stage.
We would like to conclude by congratulating the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and International Cooperation, Maxime Prévot, on his recent appointment. We look forward to working with him and his team to make Belgium a key player in reinventing the international cooperation model to tackle the global challenges.
Finally, a word to all our Enabel colleagues, who in 2024 demonstrated an unprecedented level of resilience, and who, in the face of today’s challenges, are more motivated than ever to resist, and reinvent international cooperation.
