Not quite indispensable

Feted in Lisbon, African leaders left the summit frustrated by post-colonial squabbles and the lack of better trade proposals

European Development Commissioner Louis Michel eagerly handed out pamphlets entitled 'The Indispensable Alliance' at the Africa-European Union summit in Lisbon on 8-9 December. In it, he pleaded for a relationship of equals and an ambitious partnership that would close the old dossier of charitable aid and paternalism. Few of the African delegates seemed to take him or the European Union's (EU's) intentions seriously despite Portugal's opulent hosting of the summit.

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