Being an Open Letter to the Honourable Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and Belgium – on the Occasion of the 3rd EU-AU Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers which opened in Brussels, Belgium on 21 May 2025.

Your Excellencies

The 3rd European Union–African Union Ministerial Meeting convenes today in Brussels.  It has the commendable goal of advancing a 25-year-old partnership for the benefit of both continents.

I write to you therefore, not only as a Nigerian Diaspora leader and a Belgian of Nigerian roots, but as a bridge between two continents that share more than history, but a destiny.

The themes of today’s deliberations: peace, security, multilateralism, prosperity, and migration, are not merely policy points.

They are lived realities for the millions of Africans in Europe and Europeans engaged in Africa. They speak to our aspirations. They equally touch on our anxieties.

A Personal and Collective Stake

I have lived the confluence of African resilience and European opportunity.

I see the immense potential in the collaboration between Nigeria and Belgium.

This potential exists both bilaterally and through the broader EU-AU frameworks. Yet, it is equally important to speak candidly about missed opportunities. This is particularly true in the realm of Economic Diplomacy.

Much of the rhetoric has not translated into meaningful and inclusive outcomes.

Missed Opportunities

There has been goodwill on both sides. A leap forward occurred in the past three years.

However, economic engagement between Nigeria and Belgium has still been far below its potential. Trade volumes fluctuate without a long-term strategic framework. Investment flows are lopsided.

Dialogues around innovation, technology transfer, and capacity building often stall at pilot phases.

Diaspora capital and expertise are underutilized assets in bilateral cooperation.

They remain on the margins of structured economic diplomacy.

Belgium, with its expertise in green technologies, port logistics, and smart infrastructure, has much to offer a transitioning Nigerian economy.

Nigeria, with its youthful population, creative industries, and vast market, is a gateway to Africa’s future.

Yet our nations have not unlocked this constructive collaboration.

A Call for Bold, Pragmatic Collaboration

As Foreign Ministers, you hold the keys to fostering a new diplomatic architecture, one where trade and talent move together.

An architecture where diaspora communities are institutional partners, and where prosperity is co-created, not simply negotiated.

A Two-Point Recommendation

1. Establish a Nigeria–Belgium Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Council:

This should be a structured, high-level platform. It should involve governments, the private sector, and diaspora stakeholders.

It would move beyond trade fairs. This initiative would focus on sustained joint ventures and policy alignment.

It would strategically target sectors like clean energy, agri-tech, and the digital economy.

1. Create a Diaspora Innovation and Investment Window: 

Through embassies and missions, Nigeria and Belgium should jointly design programmes.

These programmes should incentivize diaspora-led startups, skills transfer, and remittances.

These remittances should be channeled into productive sectors. This is not charity. It is smart economics.

Excellencies, this is a moment to lead not from tradition, but from transformation. The EU-AU partnership must not only show a shared past.

It must project a shared future. Nigerians in Belgium and Europe and Belgians in Africa are part of this future.

Our governments should be partners in progress, not prisoners of protocol.

As you deliberate on policies that will shape both continents, I urge you to also listen to the Nigerian diaspora.

They are the voices of those who straddle both. We live the consequences of your decisions and embody the potential of your vision.

Respectfully yours,

Collins Nweke, Senior Consultant Nigeria Belgium Luxembourg Business Forum and 

Advocate for Equitable EU-Africa Economic Relations

About the Author

The author, Collins Nweke is a former Green Councillor at Ostend City Council, Belgium, where he served three consecutive terms until December 2024.

He is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Public Management of Nigeria and the Institute of Management Consultants.

He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators, where he serves on its Governing Council. He writes from Brussels, Belgium. X: @Collins E: admin@collinsnweke.eu W: www.collinsnweke.eu

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