will begin a visit to Nigeria
and South Africa today (3rd November), his first trip to the
African continent as Foreign Secretary and the first to visit
South Africa since 2013.
Committing to a fresh approach to Africa that works productively
from Morocco to Madagascar, the Foreign Secretary will announce
the start of a five-month consultation process, to ensure African
voices inform and sit at the very heart of the UK's new approach
to the continent. Accommodating the diverse needs and ambitions
of 54 countries, the consultation will guarantee the UK's
relationships across Africa are based on mutual respect and
partnership.
Foreign Secretary said:
Africa has huge growth potential, with the continent on track to
make up 25% of the world's population by 2050.
Our new approach will deliver respectful partnerships that listen
rather than tell, deliver long term growth rather than short term
solutions and build a freer, safer, more prosperous continent. I
want to hear what our African partners need and foster
relationships so that the UK and our friends and partners in
Africa can grow together.
Growth is the core mission of this government and will underpin
our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond.
This will mean more jobs, more prosperity and more opportunities
for Brits and Africans alike.
In Nigeria, the Foreign Secretary will sign a modern and
progressive Strategic Partnership – the first of its kind between
the UK and Nigeria. This new dialogue will cover the breadth of
the UK-Nigeria areas of shared cooperation from growth and jobs
to national security, tackling the climate and nature crisis to
strengthening our people-to-people ties.
Nigeria will be the world's fifth largest economy by 2075 – the
Foreign Secretary will advocate for further collaboration on
mutual growth via the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment
Partnership, signed earlier this year. This partnership is the
key vehicle for driving trade and market access between the UK
and Nigeria and plays a vital role in the UK's growth mission.
The Foreign Secretary will advocate for further trade and climate
collaboration between Nigeria and the UK in high level meetings
with President Tinubu, Foreign Minister Tuggar and Lagos Governor
Sanwo-Olu.
Building on President Tinubu's macro-economic reforms, the
Foreign Secretary will announce a diverse Technical Assistance
package to the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, offering British
expertise from the Bank of England, HMRC and others to help
continue to modernise and diversify the Nigerian economy.
Catalysing reform across Nigeria will create further
opportunities within the flourishing Nigerian economy for British
businesses – generating growth, jobs and incomes for Brits and
Nigerians.
Travelling on to South Africa, will agree to develop a new
UK-South Africa Growth Plan. South Africa is our largest trading
partner on the continent and this plan will allow trade to
flourish even more through collaboration on market access, a new
UK Trade Partnership programme to boost South Africa exports, and
a new programme to increase the number of agricultural jobs in
rural South Africa. This will simultaneously boost trade for
Brits whilst bolstering opportunities within South Africa.
At the biennial UK-South Africa bilateral forum the Foreign
Secretary and Foreign Minister Lamola will refresh the
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to 2030 – raising joint
ambition on climate, nature, trade and security and committing to
UK-SA cooperation for the next two years on trade and investment,
energy transition, and security.
South African exports to the UK supported over 137,000 jobs in
2020 – the Foreign Secretary will boost this with the renewal of
a risk-sharing partnership between British International
Investment and Standard Chartered to provide trade finance for
SMEs and corporates operating across Africa and Asia.
No growth can be truly inclusive nor effective unless it is
green. In both Nigeria and South Africa, the Foreign Secretary
will build on the momentum from his Kew Lecture to encourage
green growth and climate cooperation. In South Africa the Foreign
Secretary will celebrate climate innovation at the Earthshot+
thought leadership conference. Founded by Prince William, The
Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize and platform
designed to discover, accelerate and scale
ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the
planet. The Foreign Secretary will speak with these innovators to
understand how the UK can support and help channel finance to
where biodiversity, climate risk and energy needs are greatest.
He will announce a further Biodiversity Challenge Fund to help
tackle the illegal wildlife trade and technical assistance to
support South Africa's energy transition.
