Europolis: The Global Europe Podcast by ECDPM

The Lobito Corridor has been sold as the flagship of Western efforts to compete with China in Africa: a multi-billion-dollar railway carrying critical minerals from the heart of the continent to the Atlantic. The reality is smaller, stranger and far more revealing. This episode is as much about propaganda and perception as it is about rail and minerals.

In this episode of Europolis: the global Europe podcast, host Poorva Karkare sits down with Lee Jones (Professor of Political Economy and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London) and Shahar Hameiri (Professor of International Politics, University of Queensland) to separate what the Lobito Corridor actually is from the story that has been told about it, and ask how African governments are exercising their own agency in the process.

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The steel sector alone accounts for roughly 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions. If the world is serious about hitting climate targets, emissions from this heavy industry must fall by at least 50% by 2050. But the path forward is as much about geopolitics and trade as it is about technology.

In this episode of Europolis: The Global Europe Podcast, host Poora Karkare sits down with international trade lawyer and Tulip Consulting director Colette van der Ven to explore why the roadmap to green steel runs directly through India—and why the EU's current regulatory approach might be missing the bigger picture.

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Five weeks after the United States and Israel began their unilateral bombardment of Iran – with Israel also resuming aerial attacks on Lebanon – the conflict is already reshaping Europe’s external environment. Iran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for around 20% of global oil flows, is driving up energy prices and tightening fertilizer markets worldwide.

In this episode of Europolis: The Global Europe Podcast, host Chloé Teevan speaks with ECDPM colleagues Sophie Desmidt, Alfonso Medinilla and Koen Dekeyser about what the war reveals for Europe’s security, energy and food systems, and its partnerships with countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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In this episode of Europolis: the Global Europe podcast, Sophie Desmidt interviews Gustavo de Carvalho, senior researcher at SAIIA, on whether Europe and Africa can move beyond old donor-recipient dynamics to become the "adults in the room": stabilising forces that champion multilateralism as others step back.

The conversation dives into how the partnership is shifting from aid to investment, the test for the EU’s Global Gateway, and why a true partnership means discussing global security, not just African conflicts.

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Chloe Teevan talks to Melody Musoni to explore how African innovators, researchers, and policymakers are shaping an AI ecosystem that responds to local realities. It highlights a shift from being consumers of technology to producers of homegrown solutions that are already transforming sectors like agriculture, health, and education.

The discussion tackles the two sides of the AI debate in Africa: the pessimists, who worry about risks like data bias and the push from Big Tech for profit , and the optimists, who see a chance to tackle long-standing challenges. A central theme is that African countries are determined not to be left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution as they were in the past.

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The EU's green and digital ambitions depend on a stable supply of critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt and graphite. With growing concerns over value chain security and dependence on single countries like China, the EU has launched the Critical Raw Materials Act to build more resilient supply chains. But how can Europe build new partnerships, particularly in Africa, to achieve this?

In this episode of Europolis, Chloe Teevan is joined by ECDPM's Poorva Karkare, senior policy analyst and expert on industrialisation and regional integration in Africa. They discuss the complexities of the EU's strategy, the role of partner countries in Africa, the much-discussed Lobito Corridor project, and the unavoidable influence of China. Poorva argues that true strategic autonomy for the EU may require innovative partnerships that leverage, rather than exclude, Chinese capabilities in African countries.

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