The Liberals released their long-promised Africa strategy Thursday but without the funding and media blitz that accompanied their plan for Asia.
The strategy calls for an increased focus on trade and security co-operation with entities like the African Union, as Ottawa and businesses move beyond a focus on aid.
The document cites recent spending and investment pledges the government has made but offers no new money.
“Programming under the strategy will be recalibrated to support delivery on existing priorities while providing a greater focus on economic co-operation and peace and security partnerships,” the document says.
Some advocates were hoping the strategy would offer more specific initiatives and name the countries that Canada seeks closer ties with, as the Indo-Pacific strategy did.
Instead, the document calls for “targeting diplomatic efforts toward countries with shared values and objectives” as part of a “robust new foreign policy” on the continent.
It lists five priorities, including human rights, working with African leaders in multilateral institutions, and sending more diplomats to the continent.
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The government is pledging to open an office in South Africa this year focused on development funding, in addition to already announced diplomatic missions in Benin and Zambia.
The strategy calls for a “high-level trade mission to Africa” focused on critical minerals, infrastructure and innovation, as well as the creation of a continental trade hub and an increase in investment agreements.
Ottawa says it wants diplomats and businesses to seize opportunities presented by the continent’s young population, which is set to drive an economic boom in the coming decades.
The strategy notes that conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo “have not achieved the global attention they deserve” — despite advocates suggesting the Liberals have moved too slowly on calling out the parties driving both conflicts.
In 2022, the Liberal government launched its Indo-Pacific strategy with a press conference, keynote speeches and $2.3 billion in funding.
The Africa strategy document was released Thursday at a Toronto event to which members of the parliamentary press gallery were not invited.
Kofi Achampong, a Ghana-born lawyer who called on Ottawa to launch the strategy, called it a “milestone moment” given the failed attempts by past governments to outline their priorities for the continent.
But he said there are major shortfalls in the policy, citing a lack of specific projects “strategically linked” to dedicated funding for each.
He said some will see the document at paternalistic given its focus on Canada’s efforts on the continent without offering details about the opportunities Canada sees there.
The strategy says the continent is rich in “naturally occurring pathogens of biological concern, samples of which are in turn sought and harvested for possible malign purposes by states and terrorist organizations.”
The government has delayed the release of its Africa strategy more than once and at one point downgraded it to a framework. Liberal MP Arielle Kayabga warned recently that her government’s decision to prorogue Parliament meant there might not be new funding in the strategy.
Thursday’s strategy document notes that Ottawa has earmarked $4.5 billion in aid to Africa over the past five years, and that this funding has increased by 52 per cent over the past eight years.
It says Ottawa will target the spending toward jobs for youth.
The strategy did not mention changes to how Canada issues visitor and student visas for Africans, despite widespread claims that Canada is overly restrictive and is harming its outreach by blocking officials, academics and athletes.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
