About the Ambassador

Dear Visitor,

Welcome to the website of the Delegation of the European Union to Burundi.

It is a pleasure to welcome you and to share with you an insight into the partnership between the European Union and Burundi, a beautiful country at the heart of Africa, whose warm hospitality, green hills, and majestic Lake Tanganyika have already deeply touched me.

The European Union is proud to be a longstanding and trusted partner of Burundi. Our relationship is founded on mutual respect, shared values, and a common commitment to building a more peaceful, prosperous, and inclusive future. Working closely with the EU Member States as Team Europe, and increasingly with the European private sector, we support Burundi’s development priorities and long-term ambitions through dialogue, cooperation, and investment.

Our partnership extends across many areas, including peace and security, governance, human rights, migration, education, and economic development. We also recognise Burundi’s important role in the region and the contribution it can continue to make in addressing shared challenges and creating new opportunities.

At the heart of our work are values that matter deeply to both our peoples: human dignity, the rule of law, gender equality, and democratic governance. We are also strongly committed to investing in people, especially young people, by supporting education, skills, innovation, and opportunity. Burundi’s youth are a source of energy, talent, and hope, and they will play a vital role in shaping the country’s future.

Through the EU Global Gateway strategy, we are also deepening our engagement in areas such as the green economy, agri-food systems, energy, transport, and health, with the aim of fostering sustainable investments and growth, stronger local value chains, and quality jobs.

I am proud to lead an excellent dedicated team working every day with public institutions, civil society, the private sector, and communities across Burundi in a spirit of partnership, respect, and shared ambition.

About the Ambassador

I have worked for the European Union for more than twenty-five years in external relations, both at Headquarters and in EU Delegations. Over the years, I have worked on multilateral and bilateral cooperation, diplomatic engagement, crisis response, and policy dialogue across different regions, with a particular focus on Africa and the Great Lakes region.

I come to Burundi with a strong sense of commitment and with great interest in this partnership. I look forward to working together to build on what has already been achieved and to support a bright future for Burundi.

H.E. Mr. Alessandro Villa, Ambassador of the European Union to Burundi.