What is the current situation of migration partnerships and governance and how has it evolved? The perceived rise in migratory movement of African migrants towards Europe created legal and policy chain reactions in Europe focused on stemming irregular migration. These changes include the establishment and externalisation of an EU-led migration governance in Africa and increased EU–African political engagement through migration dialogue and partnerships. This study investigates the state of play of EU–Africa migration partnerships to unpack lessons learned on transnational migration governance, using Nigeria as an example (The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.).