By PAMELLA SITTONI

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Tanzania could feature at a meeting of a top organ of the European Union in Brussels, over concerns about the country’s human-rights and democracy situation.

Relations between Tanzania and the EU have been strained, since Dutch diplomat and EU envoy Roeland Van de Geer was forced out of the country two weeks ago.

An official at the Council of the European Union told The EastAfrican, “While Tanzania is not on the agenda for the meeting, its case is likely to be raised by a member.”

The EU has since declared that it will conduct a comprehensive review of its policies towards Tanzania.

The meeting by the Foreign Affairs Council will discuss an initiative on Africa by the EU aimed at deepening economic relations and boosting investment and jobs.

Creating jobs

The Africa- Europe Alliance, proposed in September, is expected to create up to 10 million jobs in Africa in the next five years.

Under the alliance, 35,000 students and academics from Africa will benefit from Erusmus+ (EU ‘s programme to support education, youth training and sport) by 2020.

The alliance would also see some 30 million people and companies benefit from access to electricity as a result of the EU’s investment in renewable energy, which will boost capacity by 5GW.

Up to 3.2 million jobs in Africa are expected to be created under the External Investment Plan.

The meeting will be followed by another on December 10, at which the Foreign Affairs Council will discuss the EU’s relations with the African Union.

At the end of January next year, a meeting between the EU’s and Africa’s foreign ministers will be held.