TULIP launches study on EU Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreements at the European Parliament

On 29 September 2026, TULIP Consulting launched its new study, Leveraging EU Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreements (SIFAs): Opportunities for Partner Countries. The case of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, at the European Parliament in Brussels. The study was commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group at the initiative of MEP Catarina Vieira. The event brought together representatives of EU institutions, partner-country missions, civil society, and the research community.

SIFAs are a new EU instrument aimed at improving the investment climate in partner countries and attracting sustainable investment. The launch came at a timely moment, as the SIFA portfolio is expanding quickly. The EU has concluded SIFAs with Angola and Ecuador, negotiations with Côte d’Ivoire opened in July 2026, and Ghana has been named as a possible future partner. The Pact for the Mediterranean also signals further agreements in the Southern Neighbourhood.

The study looks at what SIFAs could mean for West Africa, with a focus on the cocoa sector and the broader value addition agendas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Drawing on lessons from the agreements concluded to date, it sets out recommendations to inform ongoing and upcoming SIFA negotiations.

TULIP’s Colette van der Ven and Cláudia Azevedo presented the study’s findings, followed by a panel discussion with Jorge Vitorino (European Commission, DG Trade and Economic Security), Yao Adingra (Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire in Belgium), Virginia Miranda Enssle (Fair Trade Advocacy Office) and Martin Dietrich Brauch (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment).

The panel unpacked SIFAs from the perspectives of the EU, partner countries, civil society and the research community, looking at what the instrument can deliver in practice. Discussions covered the agreement’s sustainability commitments and enforceability mechanisms, how to strengthen civil society participation, and how to ensure that SIFAs complement regional and multilateral initiatives, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ECOWAS and the WTO Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement.

We are grateful to MEP Catarina Vieira and the Greens/EFA Group for their support, and to the panellists and participants for a rich exchange!

Download the full study here.