Esteemed representatives of the UNDP, OHCHR, UNICEF, representatives of the African Union, its Member States, and the Government of Kenya,

Honourable delegates from the private sector, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, and academia,

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great privilege and honour to address this opening ceremony of the 3^rd African Business and Human Rights forum in Nairobi. In my capacity as EU Special Representative for Human Rights it is indeed of great importance to join you here in person on this occasion and address these matters of universal relevance. And in this regard I want to extend my high appreciations precisely to our hosts from Kenya, and to underline the symbolic importance of the fact that this year’s Forum takes place in the country, which was the first African state to adopt its own National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. I hope that many other African states will adopt their own NAPs and I hope that the African Union will soon adopt its Policy Framework on Business and Human Rights. 

Today, we find ourselves in a very difficult juncture in human history. Every crisis we face - economic, health, climate or conflict related - needs a collective effort to mitigate and resolve. And almost every crisis has underlying roots in the denial of human rights. While of course the State has the primary responsibility to protect the rights of its people, other actors, including the private sector, are critical to advance human development, human rights and to ensure practical inovative solutions to the complex challenges we face. The promotion and protection of human rights, in law and practice, needs strategic investment by business in order to be effective and sustainable. We need to move from “do no harm” to actively promote the rights and dignity of people and protect the planet.

We firmly believe that societies respecting and upholding human rights are more resilient and better prepared to respond to the new trials of our time, which also include environmental challenges and risks emerging from new digital technologies.

As Africa's economy continues to grow, supported by a young, entrepreneurial population striving for opportunities, freedoms, and democracy, development, trade and investment, the role of businesses also grows in importance. Especially larger corporation find themselves under increasing scrutiny for their impact on and respect for human rights. And that is how it should be.

This yearly Forum is a welcome opportunity to take stock, share experiences and explore practical actions on the ground to harness the growing momentum around business and human rights. And there are many areas where the EU and Africa can cooperate. 

Things are moving. Since the last African BHR Forum in September 2023, one particularly important piece of legislation entered into force in the EU, which will also have implication for Africa: The Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence entered into force on 25 July 2024 providing a horizontal framework for human rights, labour rights, and environmental due diligence along large companies’ value chains, for both goods and services.

The Directive provides a balanced and effective legal framework for large companies to identify, prevent, mitigate and bring to an end adverse impacts on human rights and the environment in their own operations, those of their subsidiaries, and those of business partners. The due diligence obligation will apply both to large European companies and to non-European companies with significant turnover in the EU. It is designed to foster continuous engagement with value chain partners as opposed to disengagement.

I want to make it plainly clear, this legislation is not targeted against any specific states, nor it aims to close the European market, or for companies to disinvest from African markets. They are specifically tailor-made to help businesses and states adapt to the higher human rights standards that are required in the current age, and aim to bring benefits to local communities and people. 

Specifically in Africa, on top of several bilateral projects led by EU Delegations, I am informed that the European Commission is in the final stages of designing a new, pan-African Responsible Business Conduct and Business and Human Rights programme to be implemented as of 2025. The new programme will support companies, civil society, labour unions and other stakeholders in Africa to respond and adjust to due diligence expectations of their European business partners, as well as other expectations and requirements applicable to products and services sold in the EU.

All of these complement other pieces of legislation relevant to business and human rights that were adopted in the EU in the last few years: the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting, the Deforestation-free products Regulation, and the Battery Regulation, which obliges companies to exercise due diligence obligations and verify the source of raw materials, including those from Africa. In this regard, let me specifically highlight the particular importance we attach to ensuring the respect of human rights in the extractive industry sector, which I know is of particular interest to African countries, and where the EU has taken specific legislative measures by adopting the Conflict minerals regulation and the Regulation for a Critical Raw Materials Act to ensure that no product that has been extracted in unlawful manner will be allow to enter the European market. These pieces of legislation are also aimed at stopping the fundamental threats that come from corruption, which causes immeasurable damage to the social and economic rights of the people and undermines the social contact between the state and the citizens. 

A Forced labour product ban Regulation should also be adopted at the end of 2024, to further address this particularly heinous human rights violation.

Besides legislation, the EU is streamlining human rights in its external actions. In the area of trade and investment, the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) concluded between several African countries and regions and the EU exemplify this value-based approach, where business and investment opportunities are connected with the key principles of our sustainability agenda. As in the recent case of our EPA with Kenya, the trade and sustainable development chapter contains strong, enforceable sustainability commitments on core labour and environmental standards, gender equality, women’s empowerment and a strengthened role for civil society. It is in the same spirit that the EU and Angola concluded a Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFAs) that will facilitate administrative rules to attract Foreign Direct Investments and at the same time promote sustainable and responsible investments.

In addition to that, our Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), through which countries like Cabo Verde had benefited, provides special incentives to third countries by allowing them to trade with the EU without tariffs on two thirds of all products, while it at the same time encourages them to effectively implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, environment and climate, and good governance.

Advancing human rights, democratic values and good governance are among the main pillars of the EU Global Gateway strategy, which aims to mobilize up to €300 billion in investments to support value-based development of partner countries with projects in both hard and soft infrastructure, capacity building, skills, regulatory environment, etc., to boost and leverage private sector investments.

But Africa has not been left only with private sector. We have in parallel stepped up also our governmental and official efforts in safeguarding economic and social rights and supporting sustainable development with the primary objective to address the root causes of fragility and support the basic needs and livelihoods of populations. The EU and its Member States remain the leading provider of Official Development Assistance globally, and we have contributed to a range of global funds on health, education, and climate. We have set it as our goal to move away from the donor-recipient model towards equal partnerships, built on mutually beneficial cooperation that will address the common challenges we face and will reinforce our joint resilience. Exactly with this objective in mind, we have signed in 2023 the new Samoa agreement – for cooperation with African, Caribbean, and Pacific partners, and we look forward to further enhancing our mutually beneficial and equal partnership under this framework.

We have come a very long way in terms of adopting an ambitious legislative framework for sustainability and respect for human rights. The focus now is on its implementation in order to deliver concrete outcomes, for people, and planet. EU legislation will have important effects on EU value chains, many of which span across Africa.  We want to work closely with you and other partners, to maximise their expected benefits, and anticipate and address any unintended negative effects.

Africa’s potential for growth is enormous. Economic progress must not be at the expense of human rights, but rather the opposite. Economic and social rights go hand in hand with civic and political rights.

I wish you well in your discussions and hope that we can build on the momentum that we have, both in Europe and in Africa, to find practical multi-stakeholders solutions which guarantee equality, justice, inclusion, prosperity and dignity for all. 

ENDS