OTTAWA — 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.
"Obviously, the big news here is no new funding attached to it," said David Boroto, an executive with the charity Engineers Without Borders.
He said the strategy's unceremonial launch and the time it took to develop shows "a relative deprioritization" of the continent compared to the Indo-Pacific.
"Africa needs the requisite funding and investments and attention commensurate with its global significance today," said Boroto, who has lived in multiple African regions.
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.
"It's a document that in many ways seems to summarize what Canada was already doing," said Achampong.
He added that parts of the strategy were "difficult to read" as they focused on Canada's efforts on the continent over time, without offering details about the opportunities Ottawa sees there.
"Some aspects of the language sound — and I'll be honest — sounds a little bit paternalistic, with even some colonial overtones."
Achampong said it would be wrong for the strategy to ignore conflict and instability on the continent, but the document might "overstate" these issues and undermine its stated goals of building on investment and democratic gains.
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 Kayabaga warned recently that the 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.
Achampong noted the Liberals had scant engagement with Africa until they campaigned for a United Nations Security Council seat around 2019.
The campaign failed, and Achampong said it was a wake-up call that "we are not seen as a, as a real partner in Africa in the way that we could have been."
He added that he's glad the Liberals committed to learn from that reality check.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
