EU and Indian Ocean Island-States Deepen Economic Partnership Agreement

On 10 June 2026 in Mauritius, the EU announced that it had successfully concluded an Enhanced Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with some island-states in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) after six years of talks. The key amendments pertain to services and investments, and expand to new sectors of cooperation such as mining, blue economy, digital technologies, and renewable energy.

The ESA4 bloc includes Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. The EU was represented by EC Director-General for Trade, Dora Correia, the Head of EU Mission in Mauritius Oscar Benedikt, and France’s Ambassador Frederic Bontems. Mauritius was represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs Ritesh Ramful, the Minister of Blue Economy Arvin Boolell, and the Minister of SME Ameer Meea, while other countries sent their ambassadors.

The EU and ESA agree to offer non-discriminatory treatment to each other’s firms in the services sector. Experts from EU will be able to enter ESA states to provide professional services for up to six months.

To promote investment, Mauritius called for the establishment of a regular EU-ESA Business Forum. Other than traditional sectors such as telecommunications, tourism, and financial services, the private sector on both sides is invited to forge new partnerships in the sectors of the future.

Both sides agreed to adhere to international law and global best practices while fostering economic partnerships. In particular, both sides reiterated their commitment and respect for the Paris Climate Agreement, the International Labor Organization Standards, Gender Equality, and sustainable exploitation of natural resources. Both sides will ensure legal protection for Geographical Indications (GI) of their products.

Negotiations are ongoing with other ESA countries and Zimbabwe is likely to be the next country to sign an FTA with the EU. After Mugabe took power, Zimbabwe was blacklisted by Western countries. But, recently Zimbabwe has been making some progress and its mining resources makes it an important partner for EU’s #EnergyTransition.