Africa is at the center of all attention around the world except… in Canada. Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his fourth tour there in three years, while his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, completed his eleventh visit in as many years. Sunday January 28 and Monday January 29, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, received around thirty African leaders in Rome for a first Italy-Africa summit. And what about South Korea, which is launching a major charm offensive? What about Russia, Turkey, India, Germany and many others?
Each of these powers has particular reasons for being interested in the African continent. For Europeans, the priority is controlling migratory flows. These continue to increase and fuel the rise of populist and far-right parties. The Americans and French are concerned about the expansion of jihadism in the Sahel and are trying to maintain their economic and military positions in the face of Russian and Chinese offensives.
For China, India, Russia, Italy and Turkey, the challenge is to prepare for the future. Africa will see its current population of 1.2 billion increase to 2.5 billion in 2050. The continent is made up of creative and dynamic societies, as the series demonstrated Tomorrow Africa hosted by Raed Hammoud for TV5. Twelve of the twenty fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. This immense market arouses desire, and those who have cultivated their relationships with the people and governments of the continent will be the first to reap the benefits.
Diplomatic issue
Africa is also a major diplomatic issue. With 54 states, it has the largest number of votes in the United Nations and international organizations. No country can be elected to the Security Council if the Africans shun it, as was the case for Canada in June 2020. Thanks to the war between Russia and Ukraine, this bloc of countries is the object of a major battle for influence between the great powers, hence the incessant visits of the American, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers.
The business is paying off, but not for Ukraine. To date, half of African countries have refused to condemn the invasion, abstained or were absent during votes in the General Assembly. This behavior has nothing to do with any form of contempt towards Ukraine, on the contrary. Africans are very keen on respecting borders inherited from colonialism and are attached to the rules of the international order. But, for them, this war is not theirs. There are others on their continent who are more important to them.
On the other hand, Africans, like people in many Asian and Latin American countries, are angered by the sudden insistence of Westerners that they take a stand in favor of Ukraine in the name of morals and values humanitarians. They no longer like this kind of tactic, especially from countries that do not hesitate to violate these values to defend their interests, and now prefer to indulge in the joys of multi-alignment, which consists of choosing their military partners. and economic according to their own interests.
It turns out that Russia, China and India, who pay little attention to the internal situation of States, are increasingly their partners of choice. Even the Italians, an African diplomat recently told the newspaper The world, “have understood that we have changed times, they are no longer giving lessons. Its an asset. » As such, Blinken, who came to Africa to counter Beijing and Moscow, may well be disappointed.
Radio silence in Ottawa
Six of the seven G7 members are deepening their relations with Africa. Canada is the only one left behind. However, in the fall of 2021, Rob Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, received the mandate to “develop a strategy for Africa” in order to establish a map of the Canadian diplomatic presence on this continent and determine precise objectives to be achieved in economic, military, social and political matters. The model to follow is the one that made it possible to produce the Indo-Pacific strategy published in 2022.
Since then, there has been almost radio silence in Ottawa. Liberal politicians indeed engaged for several months in a theological debate to decide whether the government would produce a “strategy” or “framework” for Africa. For ordinary people, this is undoubtedly the same thing, but as the words mean something, the two do not have the same meaning and do not mobilize the same resources. Finally, Mme Joly opted for the frame.
The independent senator for Quebec, Amina Gerba, of Cameroonian origin, did not appreciate it. For her, this name change does not bode well for Canada to benefit from the new trade bloc which currently extends over most of the African continent. Furthermore, as she points out, the term strategy is more “comprehensive” and more “engaging” for Canada, while a framework has its “limitations”.
While waiting for the “framework”, therefore, on the ground, in the 25 Canadian missions in Africa, diplomats are navigating by sight. “Not only has the government not published a new foreign policy statement to replace that of 2005, but our action in Africa is without a compass,” a Canadian diplomat in West Africa told me. Ministerial visits are rare.
Two and a half years after his appointment, Mr.me Joly traveled to Tunisia, for a Francophonie summit, and to Kenya. Canada also opened an embassy in Rwanda and appointed an ambassador to the African Union. All this is rather thin, at a time when Canada is campaigning to obtain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
From climate change to wars, including economic and social development, Africa is at the heart of the major issues of the day. Will Canada respond or continue to fade away?