The federal government has unveiled its long-delayed Africa strategy, promising to bolster its trade and diplomacy across the African continent, but it faces criticism for the absence of any new money in the strategy.
The strategy includes the creation of an Africa Trade Hub, a plan for a trade mission to the region, stronger support for a recent continental free-trade agreement, and greater production of critical minerals from African mines.
Canada is “competing for influence” in Africa at a time of fierce rivalry among other countries that seek power in the region, the strategy says.
“In an increasingly contested world, global and regional powers are vying for African alignment on key issues,” it says. “With great power competition rising across the continent – including increasing populism and authoritarianism coupled with an erosion of respect for human rights and democracy in certain regions – there is the threat of a rollback on hard-fought gains.”
In contrast with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which was launched with $2.3-billion in dedicated funding in 2022, there is no mention of any new money in the 19-page document that details the Africa strategy.
The government began planning its Africa strategy more than three years ago, but the drafting of the blueprint was repeatedly delayed. Last August, during a South African visit, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said she hoped to launch the strategy by the end of last year. But it was further delayed.
When the strategy was finally announced on Thursday, it was posted quietly on the Global Affairs Canada website, with an accompanying press release. The announcement was overshadowed by the latest developments in Canada’s tariff battles with the Trump administration in the United States.
Ms. Joly, diverted by the tariff issues, did not launch the Africa Strategy herself. Instead, it was unveiled by her parliamentary secretary, Rob Oliphant, in a speech in Toronto.
“Given that it was the first time that Canada has developed an Africa strategy, I think the diplomatic message would have been much stronger if the Prime Minister or the Minister of Foreign Affairs had launched it,” said Edward Ansah Akuffo, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley who has studied Canada’s policies toward Africa.
Prof. Akuffo said the new strategy is a “significant milestone” that signals Ottawa’s seriousness in engaging with Africa in a more systematic and coherent way. But the lack of any new financial commitments in the strategy is a disappointment, he told The Globe and Mail.
“Not backing this novel strategy with new financial muscle is a missed opportunity in my opinion,” he said. “It speaks of a half-hearted approach to the continent in a time of intensive geopolitical competition.”
Chris Roberts, an Africa expert at the University of Calgary, said the announcement of the Africa strategy is “better late than never.” He praised its stronger emphasis on trade, investment and economic co-operation, and he described the planned Africa Trade Hub as a promising concept.
But the biggest missing element in the strategy, he said, is the absence of any action on visa issues. “There isn’t one specific mention of the long-standing visa problem facing Africans travelling to Canada, whether for business, professional events, conferences or education,” he told The Globe.
David Hornsby, a Carleton University professor who has written extensively on Canada-Africa relations, said the new federal strategy will be important in helping Canada to cultivate much-needed allies in Africa. But the government needs to recognize that the strategy will require financial and diplomatic resources, he said.
Thomas Kwasi Tieku, a professor of international relations at the University of Western Ontario, said the Africa strategy is a good start. He said he is encouraged that the government seems to be moving beyond “firefighting” in humanitarian crises and is acknowledging that “Canada needs Africa as much as Africa needs Canada.”