About Meridian17

A think and do tank for the business of
Africa-Europe partnership. Deliberately lean, deliberately focused.

We are a young organisation with a clear focus: putting business at the centre of the conversation about Africa-Europe cooperation. Building our research programme and our network in parallel.

17° — the meridian connecting both continents Est. 2025 · Utrecht · Johannesburg

01 / Why we exist

Why we exist

There is a missing middle in how we think about Africa-Europe cooperation.

The think tank landscape on Africa-Europe cooperation is well populated at the extremes. At one end, organisations focused on high-level geopolitical and strategic policy. At the other, organisations working on social and community development.

What is largely missing is business — the space where policy either works or doesn't, where investment decisions are made, where the partnership between both continents becomes real or remains theoretical.

02 / The missing middle

Our thesis

Meridian17 exists to fill the Missing Middle.

We call it the Missing Middle: the intersection of business reality, market conditions, and policy frameworks that determines whether Africa-Europe cooperation delivers on its promise. It is where GDP is made, where employment is generated, where investment flows or doesn't.

We are not a development organisation, and we are not a pure policy shop. We start with business — its needs, its barriers, its opportunities — and work outward from there. That is what makes us different, and it is what makes the work we do complementary to, rather than duplicative of, the organisations already in this space.

03 / How we work

How we work

Think and do — what that means in practice.

We combine the rigour of academic research with a commitment to real-world outcomes. Every piece of work we produce is designed with a clear sense of who it is for and what it is intended to change.

Four practices, one thesis.

Research01

Applied, business-centred research that fills knowledge gaps.

We draw on a network of affiliated academic researchers and business experts, keeping our own team lean and our outputs focused.

Tools02

Practical resources built directly from our research.

Like the EU-Africa Business Navigator, which helps African businesses understand the European regulatory landscape and identify the right entry points for partnership.

Dissemination03

Research that reaches the people who can act on it.

Our podcast series, events, and policy briefs are designed to put findings in front of the decision-makers and business leaders who can act on them.

Coalition building04

Connecting the actors our research brings together.

Businesses, policymakers, academics, civil society — because sustained change requires networks, not just publications.

Lean by design

We do fewer things well rather than many things superficially.

Networked, not staffed

A core team and a distributed network of affiliated researchers.

Business at the centre

We start with the business reality and work outward to policy.

05 / Why Meridian17

Why the name

A line that links both continents, running in both directions.

The 17th meridian is a line connecting the European and African continents. It runs from the Arctic through Europe, across the Mediterranean, and down through the length of Africa to the Southern Ocean.

For us it is more than a geographic fact — it is a symbol of the connection we are working to strengthen.

06 / Board of advisors

Board of advisors

A growing body of advisors, each an expert in their field.

Meridian17 is fortunate to rely on the advice of a growing body of advisors. We aim to grow our Board of Advisors to encompass globally recognised experts from our key focus areas: investment facilitation, inclusive development, media, and climate finance.

Dr Kelly Alexander

President, Meridian17

A social scientist who analyses geopolitical shifts and integrates sustainability into economic development. She lectures on Strategy & Sustainability at GIBS Business School and holds a PhD in Management & Organisation Studies from Tilburg University.

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Dr Edem Adzogenu

Investment facilitation & government affairs

Investment facilitation and government affairs specialist who has advised African Heads of State, Fortune 500 companies, G7 countries, and African regional institutions. Under his leadership, AfroChampions has become a leading public-private partnership platform working alongside the African Union.

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Prof Marleen Dekker

Inclusive Development in Africa, Leiden University

Professor of Inclusive Development in Africa at Leiden University and Director of the African Studies Centre Leiden. A human geographer with a PhD in Development Economics, she studies how social norms and networks shape market access and local socio-economic development.

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Georja Calvin-Smith

Journalist & broadcaster, France 24

A Paris-based journalist, event moderator and TV news presenter with over two decades in international current affairs broadcasting. She currently produces and anchors the daily Eye on Africa bulletin at France 24 and presents the weekly Across Africa magazine show.

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Dr Olufunso Somorin

African Development Bank

Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank, leading climate change, green growth, and carbon markets initiatives in Eastern Africa. He has overseen 300+ development projects worth over USD 20 billion and serves on the UN Secretary General's Taskforce Expert Group on Net Zero Policy.

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5 advisors — growing through 2026. See our full network of experts →