Commentary
Dr Kelly Alexander, President of Meridian17, writes regularly on Africa-Europe business and investment for various international publications. The pieces below represent her published commentary on the themes that define our work: the geopolitics of trade, green regulation, investment barriers, and the evolving business relationship between Africa and Europe.
Business Day · 12 April 2026
Africa and Europe seek new partnership amid shifting alliances
As the United States retreats from its post-war role as architect of the global order, Africa and Europe are finding new reasons to look to each other. But turning geopolitical necessity into genuine partnership requires more than goodwill.
Read →Daily Maverick · 25 March 2026
Africa needs to build an economic architecture that renders it immune to US extortion
The current US tariff offensive is not just an economic shock — it is a test of African resolve. The continent’s response should be to build the kind of internal economic architecture that no external power can hold hostage.
Read →Business Day · 27 November 2024
How to benefit from American isolationism
Washington’s withdrawal from multilateral trade creates a vacuum — and vacuums, in geopolitics, are always filled. The question for African and European business is whether they are positioned to fill it.
Read →Business Day · 11 September 2024
Report card from the China-Africa Forum
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation returned a predictable set of pledges and a less predictable set of ambiguities. What did it actually deliver — and what does it mean for Africa’s other partners?
Read →Daily Maverick · 24 July 2024
Africa must learn from Europe’s backlash against Viktor Orbán’s power-play diplomacy
When Hungary used its EU Council presidency to stage an unsanctioned diplomatic offensive, the backlash was swift. African states navigating relations with larger powers have something to learn from both the play and the response.
Read →Daily Maverick · 2 June 2024
Developing economies bear the brunt of greening Europe through EU carbon taxes
Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is designed to level the playing field. For African exporters, it levels in the wrong direction — adding costs and compliance burdens to economies that contributed least to the problem CBAM is meant to solve.
Read →Financieele Dagblad · 2024 NL
Ook de Europese Unie trekt tariefmuren op, maar dan groene
Het Europese klimaatbeleid bestaat voornamelijk uit eenrichtingsverkeer — en het zijn Afrikaanse economiëen die daarvoor de prijs betalen. (English translation available below the article)
Lees / Read →Financieele Dagblad · 13 March 2024 NL
CBAM drijft Afrikaanse bedrijven in de armen van Rusland en China
Uit voorlopige onderzoeksresultaten valt op hoeveel Afrikaanse bedrijven de gedachte achter het grensheffingsmechanisme onderschrijven — maar het idee dat CBAM een gelijk speelveld creëert, gaat er bij hen niet in. (English translation available below the article)
Lees / Read →