Deputy Speaker, Kalu Meets EU Parliament Vice President, Ştefănuță, Pushes for Stronger Africa-Europe Ties

By Chidinma Obiakor

Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD, CFR on Friday held a diplomatic meeting with European Parliament Vice President Nicolae Ştefănuță to advocate deeper cooperation between Africa and the European Union.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 152nd General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Istanbul, Turkey at the request of the European Parliament delegation.

Kalu’s meeting with Ştefănuță is the latest in a series of high-level exchanges.

It will recalled that in July 2025, the Deputy Speaker was a guest of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he spent a week with parliamentarians from across Europe discussing Nigeria-Africa-EU relations.

The visit was later to be followed by two reciprocal visits from EU Parliament delegations to Abuja in late 2025 and March 2026, both focused on implementing Kalu’s “extensive and far-reaching recommendations” on partnership.

Essentially, Friday’s meeting aimed at deepening that relationship and extracting further insight on Kalu’s proposals.

At the meeting, Kalu expanded on his call for “near-shoring” as a practical response to Africa’s migration challenge facing many European countries.

He urged the EU to leverage its industrial, technological, and innovation strength to establish industries in Africa, where human and material resources are abundant.

“Africa’s teeming young population can be harnessed to meet European manpower needs. But the industrial and technical resources should be deployed on African soil to create the opportunities young Africans seek abroad”, he said.

The Deputy Speaker called for a shift from aid-based relations to genuine partnership built on “co-communication.”

Both parties at the end of the meeting agreed to maintain regular engagement at various levels to advance issues of mutual interest and cooperation.

While Kalu’s delegation included his Chief of Staff, Sam Hart; Special Adviser on Interparliamentary Affairs, Dr. Salome Ossia; and Special Assistant on Administration, Ms. Vivian Okorie, Vice President Ştefănuță was accompanied to the meeting by Ms. Sanna Lepola, Director General for International Partnerships at the European Parliament; Adriana Buchiu, Policy Advisor, Directorate General for External Policies; and Ms. Iarina Badea, Head of Office of the Vice President.