Research
Our research starts with a simple question: what makes most sense for business? From there we work outward — into policy, investment, culture, and the conditions that determine whether the partnership delivers on its potential.
Our approach
We are not producing analysis for its own sake. Every project is designed with a clear sense of audience, a concrete output, and a dissemination plan that puts findings in front of the people who can act on them.
We combine desk research and data analysis with structured expert interviews, stakeholder roundtables, and collaborative writing with affiliated researchers. Where fieldwork or large-scale data collection is required, we pursue it only where external funding is secured.
Every topic begins from a practical barrier or opportunity identified through our network — regulatory friction, a financing gap, a misread market signal.
At minimum: a research paper, a policy brief, and one engagement format — a roundtable, a panel, a briefing for decision-makers who can act.
We do fewer things well rather than many things superficially — cost-conscious, focused, oriented towards maximum policy and business impact.
2026 – 2027 programme
The EU's flagship infrastructure and investment initiative positions Africa as a central partner. But is it delivering genuine mutual benefit in practice? We examine the gap between stated objectives and on-the-ground implementation, from both sides of the partnership.
European businesses consistently cite risk perception, high financing costs, and regulatory complexity as barriers to deeper engagement. Many of these barriers are not inherent to African markets — they reflect information gaps and outdated risk frameworks. We take a business-first approach to identifying and addressing them.
Trade and investment flows between the EU and Africa remain well below their potential, even compared with EU flows to regions with comparable economic fundamentals. We map what the data shows, compare the African corridor with others, and identify the specific drivers that explain the gap.
Policy frameworks and investment incentives can create the conditions for partnership, but they cannot generate the trust and familiarity that sustain it. People-to-people ties between Africa and Europe are thinner than they could be. This topic examines what it would take to change that.
A durable Africa-Europe partnership cannot rest on interests alone. It must be grounded in shared values and converging standards — on sustainable energy, gender equity, healthcare, youth employment, and education. We examine where alignment exists, where tensions remain, and how genuine dialogue can bridge the gap.
Overarching project
One of the persistent gaps in the policy debate around Africa-Europe economic partnership is the voice of business itself. The Beat of Business is Meridian17's annual report on the perceived barriers, opportunities, and sentiments of the African business community on doing business with Europe.
Through a questionnaire distributed to Chambers of Commerce across ten African anchor economies — followed by in-depth interviews — we build an annual picture of what is working, what is not, and where the greatest opportunities lie.
A focused research project examining how German businesses perceive and experience the South African market — its opportunities, its barriers, and its potential as an entry point to the broader African continent. Currently in development in partnership with an external funder.
EU Policy Monitor
Alongside our research programme, we track European Parliament coverage for Africa-relevant content. Press releases, committee reports, and external relations updates — filtered daily and published in one place.
Visit the EU Policy Monitor →Our publications
Everything we publish, in one place. Papers are released as they are finished — we do not run embargoes. Downloads are free and may be cited with attribution.
Why the study and support of business needs to be included in the African-European focused think tank landscape. Our founding argument for why Meridian17 exists. As a next step we are systematically mapping how the existing think tank landscape covers — and fails to cover — the themes that matter most to business.
Our full research programme for the 2026-2027 cycle, covering five priority topics, our overarching Beat of Business project, and our dissemination strategy. A single document outlining what we are working on, why, and for whom.
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