Africa largely sidelined at G7 summit, despite multiple wars and massive aid cuts

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When his flight touched down in Calgary on Sunday afternoon, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa found himself a lonely figure: the only African leader to be invited as a guest to the G7 summit this year.

For more than two decades, Canada made sure to invite several African leaders whenever it was the host of the Group of Seven, or the earlier version known as the G8. And it often promoted Africa as a central theme of the summits, pushing for billions of dollars in foreign aid for the continent. But not this time.

This year, the official agenda for the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., makes no mention of Africa. It says nothing about the horrific wars that still rage in Sudan, Congo, the Sahel and elsewhere even though those wars have killed more civilians than the latest Middle East and Ukraine conflicts. And the agenda makes no mention of the massive foreign-aid cuts that are hurting Africa more than anyone.

This stands in stark contrast to the last summit in Kananaskis, in 2002, when Canada spearheaded the drafting of an Africa Action Plan with a detailed blueprint for helping the continent on peacekeeping, security, development aid and economic growth, with billions of dollars mobilized for the plan.

Federal governments, both Conservative and Liberal, made similar efforts in 2010 and 2018 when Canada again was host of the global summit. They supported major health and education initiatives and climate plans in which Africa would be among the biggest beneficiaries.

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Canada invited four African leaders to the 2002 summit, seven in 2010, and five in 2018. But this year it cut back the African guest list drastically. It says the summit must focus on other priorities: critical minerals, energy security, artificial intelligence, trade and investment, the Ukraine conflict and the threat of wildfires.

“It is disappointing that Africa is not on the agenda of this year’s G7 summit, especially when it’s being hosted in Kananaskis,” said Kate Higgins, chief executive officer of Cooperation Canada, which represents more than 100 of the country’s international humanitarian and development organizations.

“As other G7 countries turn inward, Canada − this year’s G7 president − has a critical opportunity to lead,” she told The Globe and Mail.

“In Sudan, Congo, the Sahel and beyond, people are enduring unthinkable violence. The absence of these conflicts from the G7 agenda is deeply concerning.”

Mr. Ramaphosa, as the sole African leader at the summit, said he will use his presence to “highlight the concerns of developing countries” and push for “continued global attention for equitable distribution of resources.” But when he met Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday night, their conversation was focused more on Canadian priorities such as wildfires and critical minerals, according to a summary from Mr. Carney’s office.

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David Black, a professor of international development studies at Dalhousie University, said the agenda of the latest G7 summit is “a striking departure” from Canadian-hosted summits since 2002. “The run-up to the summit raises important questions about how the Carney government will approach the new Africa Strategy it inherited from its predecessor,” he told The Globe.

Foreign aid would normally be a major issue at the G7 summit – but this time, many of the G7 members have severely cut back on their aid to the developing world, and they don’t seem eager to talk about it.

The aid cuts were led by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has dismantled USAID, his country’s main agency for development assistance. But significant cuts have also been announced by Britain, Germany and France. And Canada itself is likely to cut its foreign aid by as much as 20 per cent this year, analysts predict.

The humanitarian group Oxfam says the G7 countries will slash their aid spending by a total of 28 per cent over the next two years, compared with last year’s levels. It will be the biggest cut in foreign aid since 1960, and it will push millions of Africans into extreme poverty, Oxfam said.

“It sends a shameful message to the Global South: that G7 ideals of collaboration mean nothing,” Helen Stawski of Oxfam said in a statement.

The aid cuts have forced the United Nations into a dramatic overhaul of its latest funding appeal. The UN had sought US$44-billion from donor governments for humanitarian programs this year, but it has raised less than 13 per cent of that amount so far. Now it has chopped its funding target to just US$29-billion, scaling back to what it calls a “hyper-prioritized” list of goals.

“Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices,” UN relief co-ordinator Tom Fletcher said Monday. “We have been forced into a triage of human survival. The math is cruel, and the consequences are heartbreaking.”

He said the UN appeal is seeking just 1 per cent of what the world spent on wars last year.