Diplomatist Magazine DIplomatist September 2018 | Page 53

AFRICA DIARY
of state for international trade, Liam Fox, visited Ethiopia,
Mozambique, South Africa, and Uganda in 2017.
UK’s former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson who
resigned over the Brexit issue, undertook more visits to the
African continent than any senior UK government offi cial
in the last few years — visiting Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya,
Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Uganda in 2017. He also
attended the EU-African Union summit in Côte d’Ivoire.
Moreover, former International Development Secretary,
Priti Patel and her successor Penny Mordaunt, have made
a signifi cant number of visits to African countries over the
past two years as well.
However, the UK is not alone in seeking to forge ties in
the African continent. The presidents of France and Turkey,
for example, have made far more visits to Africa since 2010,
and even the geographically distant Japan has managed to
send more representatives than British heads of government.
India-Japan Dialogue on Africa is a good example of building
ties in Africa; the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) is
an important component of the India-Japan Vision 2025 for
Being an important development and
security partner of Nigeria and Kenya, the
UK conducts annual military training in
the latter African country with six infantry
battalions per year.
Theresa May visits a school in Cape Town on 28 August as she
begins her visit to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
Why Nigeria, Kenya, & South Africa: Is it Sudden?
Out of three countries, two of them — Nigeria and South
Africa are the UK’s biggest trade allies in Africa, with trade
worth $3.3 billion and $8.7 billion respectively in 2016. They
are also the continent’s two largest economies. All three exert
notable economic infl uence across their sub-regions and are
major gateways for investment into Africa.
Though PM May's visit is the highest profi le visit, it is just
the latest of a number of signifi cant engagements with Africa
under May’s leadership. She committed to hold Somalia
Conference in London last May; Phillip Hammond, her
chancellor visited South Africa in late 2016; and her secretary
Indo-Pacifi c Region. It further converges with Japan’s Free
and Open Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (EPQI) and
India’s development cooperation with Africa.
Given that policy bandwidth and policymakers in London
are overwhelmed by Brexit, it is also signifi cant the UK’s
National Security Council confi rmed a new Africa strategy in
early 2018. Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa were obvious
destinations as they are priorities for British foreign policy
and key members of the Commonwealth. Prime Minister's
agenda of discussing the threat of Boko Haram in Nigeria,
and the role of British troops based in Kenya (who are helping
countries fi ght Al-Shabab militants in Somalia) are a refl ection
of London's policies for the continent.
Being an important development and security partner of
Nigeria and Kenya, the UK conducts annual military training
in the latter African country with six infantry battalions per
year. Also, in 2016, it pledged £40 million of counter-terrorism
and counter-extremism support to Nigeria in combating Boko
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida • 53