About this episode

The episode discusses the evolution of EU cooperation with Africa towards genuine partnerships, featuring insights from Rui Santos on his extensive experience in international development.

What does real partnership between Europe and Africa actually look like in 2026? In this episode of the Liberal Europe Podcast, Ricardo Silvestre is joined by Rui Santos, CEO of CESO Development Consultants, a Portuguese firm celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and one of the most experienced implementers of European Commission projects across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The conversation unpacks how EU cooperation has shifted away from the old donor-beneficiary model towards genuine, shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration. They discuss the EU's strategic partnership programmes with countries like Angola, the Global Gateway initiative, and PROCULTURA PALOP-TL/UE, a cultural ecosystem-building project across Portuguese-speaking African countries and East Timor. Along the way, Rui reflects on what 35 years in international development have taught him about reputation, patience, and the long-distance run that meaningful cross-border work demands. This podcast is produced by the European Liberal Forum in collaboration with Movimento Liberal Social and Fundacja Liberté!, with the financial support of the European Parliament. Neither the European Parliament nor the European…

People in this episode

Host: Ricardo Silvestre

Guest: Rui Santos

Topics covered

• EU-Africa partnership
• international development
• collaboration
• cultural projects
• European Commission
• strategic partnerships

Keywords

• EU cooperation
• Africa
• partnership
• international development
• cultural ecosystem
• European Commission projects
• Angola
• Global Gateway
• PROCULTURA

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CESO Development Consultants, European Liberal Forum, Movimento Liberal Social, Fundacja Liberté!, European Parliament

Places: Europe, Africa, Angola, East Timor

More episodes of European Liberal Forum

• Surviving Chaos: Geopolitics When the Rules Fail with Mark Leonard · June 4, 2026 · 21 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the European Liberal Forum podcast page.