On 12 September 2018, on the occasion of his State of the Union Address, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EC, proposed a new 'Africa – Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs' to focus investment where it matters most: in skills and job creation. To achieve this, a more effective governance model and greater collaboration between multilateral and national development actors in Europe is needed. The European Commission is thus today setting out a number of ways to address the investment challenges and opportunities in Africa, the EU's Neighbourhood and the wider world. These include calls for joint initiatives between multilateral and national development actors and a reinforced European financial architecture able to meet the ambition of the newly proposed Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument.