British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is nearing the end of his first tour of Africa aimed at rebuilding relations with the 54-nation continent.
“Our new approach will deliver respectful partnerships that listen rather than tell, deliver long-term growth rather than short-term fixes and build a freer, more secure and more prosperous continent,” he said as he set out the agenda for his trip to the United States . the two largest powers on the continent: Nigeria and South Africa.
Lammy’s visit follows his appointment as foreign secretary in the Labor government that took office earlier this year – and the first by a British foreign secretary to the continent since 2013.
Since then, relations between African states and other world powers have changed enormously.
Today, China is the largest trading partner of many African countries, while Russia is increasingly gaining ground, including by providing military support to West African states fighting jihadists.
The oil-rich Gulf states, along with Turkey, have also increased their influence on the continent by striking business and military deals.
By contrast, relations between Britain and Africa were “a lot more tenuous,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
This is particularly the case between Britain and its largest trading partner on the continent, South Africa, and the trip is an “attempt to restart that,” he adds.
“I want to hear what our African partners need and nurture relationships so that Britain and our friends and partners in Africa can grow together,” Lammy said.
Britain is not a newcomer to the continent. A long – and sometimes turbulent – history underlies many of the relationships with African countries.
Nearly all of its former colonies on the continent are part of the Commonwealth, although countries that did not have this historical link with Britain have joined the group, including Rwanda, Togo and Gabon. Angola has also put itself forward as a candidate.
“The Commonwealth is likely to remain an important platform,” said Nicole Beardsworth, an academic at South Africa’s Wits University.
When the former colonies became independent in the middle of the last century, Britain continued to play a kind of ‘big brother’ role.
But this is now changing.
Dr. Vines says Africa did not play a major role in a major document released last year that outlined Britain’s priorities on the world stage.
“There were namechecks in it to countries like Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, but not much writing,” he says.
Dr. Vines added that he expects relations between South Africa and Britain to improve under Labor because of its historic ties to the anti-apartheid movement that fought the white minority government.
“That comes from the anti-apartheid struggle and the solidarity that Labor and people who belonged to the Labor movement created in the fight against apartheid,” he says.
Dr. However, Beardsworth notes that former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May tried to strengthen ties with Africa, but her efforts were “undermined” after she resigned in 2019 following unrest in the then ruling party.
Britain then experienced an unprecedented turnover of prime ministers dealing with domestic crises, Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the Covid pandemic.
“Africa dropped off the radar,” says Dr Beardsworth, adding that the exception was the controversial and now scrapped deal to send some asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda.
As the youngest continent in the world – with an average age of 19 – Africa offers opportunities for the future, according to the British Foreign Office.
“Africa has enormous growth potential, with the continent on track to account for 25% of the world’s population by 2050,” said a statement from the office.
With an aging population in Britain – as in much of the developed world – Dr. Vines that skill sharing will increase.
He adds that migration is an “emotional and complicated issue” but that Britain and other Western countries must avoid “picking the best cherries and undermining African states’ ability to become successful themselves.”
The UK Foreign Office said that “growth is this government’s core mission and will underpin our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond”.
That will mean “more jobs and more opportunities for both British and Africans,” it added.
Britain’s Africa policy has long focused on development aid, but this has been cut back in recent years as the country faces its own economic crisis.
Dr. Vines says aid can be important to tackle humanitarian crises and climate shocks and to fund projects aimed at expanding the private sector in Africa, but he does not see the Labor government increasing funding.
“When you had a previous Labor government under Tony Blair, Britain saw itself as a global superpower for international development – that is no longer the case,” he says.
Dr. Beardsworth says relations are expected to move towards being more economically focused, and “much more mutually beneficial”.
She says this could also mean that the normalization of British relations with Zimbabwe and Harare would be welcomed back into the Commonwealth after relations broke down during the rule of the late Robert Mugabe.
Differences over international affairs, such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, could also be less public.
South Africa’s position on both conflicts is at odds with much of the West.
But South African analyst Yanga Molotana does not see this as a major problem.
“Two things can exist at the same time: I can still hold my position, I can still hold my opinion, and we can still have a mutually beneficial relationship without the moral pressure from you to tell me to agree with everything you say,” she adds.
Dr. Vines agrees, saying he expects Britain will continue to promote multi-party democracy in Africa, but there will be “less finger-wagging and more quiet diplomacy”.
“The concerns are likely to be raised privately more often,” he says.
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