Africa’s prominence as the main development partner of Finland and the European Union is becoming ever more evident. Within the past five months, both the Government of Finland and the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, have announced that they will start drafting respective new Africa strategies. With the importance of Africa and financing for sustainable development on the rise we want to ask: Is there a shared vision between the EU, Finland and Africa on development financing? Where is the geographic and sectoral added value of Finland’s and EU’s development financing in Africa? How can we ensure that the financing strengthens democratic principles and respects human rights? Where private sector financing can and should be leveraged? What is the role of civil society organizations in this puzzle? How to effectively bridge development research and the new policy initiatives?