When Britain’s new foreign secretary made his inaugural statement, one line stood out. David Lammy said the Labour government would “reset” Britain’s approach to the climate crisis, Europe and, intriguingly, the “global south”.
This would mark a considerable change. Conservative-led governments all but ignored the growing importance of Africans on the global stage over the past 14 years, and they consistently underestimated the contribution of African migrants to the UK’s economy. Foreign and domestic policies didn’t yield strong trade ties or security partnerships. All of this diminished Britain’s standing on the continent.
To make matters worse, the UK has also drastically reduced its aid budget in recent years, despite warnings from NGOs that it risked deepening a humanitarian crisis in parts of east Africa hit by drought, conflict and rising food prices. And the BBC World Service, long a source of the UK’s soft power in Africa, has slashed its output and staffing in response to more than a decade of cuts that reduced the BBC’s budget by 30% in real terms.
The result is that Britain’s influence in Africa has waned, while China and Russia have deepened their presence on the continent. Beijing committed an estimated $153bn to African public sector borrowers between 2000 and 2019 to finance infrastructure projects. And Russia has in recent years become the military partner of choice for west African countries fighting jihadist insurgents, supplanting French troops. Russia has also provided grain shipments to many states – partly to mitigate the supply-chain shocks caused by its invasion of Ukraine.
India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are among other countries building diplomatic and economic ties in the region. This eagerness to engage with African countries hasn’t been matched by the UK.
These relationships are significant because many African countries are rich in the mineral resources needed for the green energy transition and have leaders seeking strategic partnerships to ensure their nations benefit from natural resources that are in high demand. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, has more than 50% of the world’s deposits of cobalt, which is used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. Zimbabwe and Ghana are leading producers of lithium.
Labour, at least, seems aware of the need to forge closer ties with the continent. “Recognising the growing political and economic importance of African countries, we will deliver a new approach to the continent to foster opportunities for mutual long-term benefit,” it said in its manifesto.
In the months leading up to the UK election, Lammy wrote that Labour’s approach to diplomacy would be built on an understanding that we now inhabit a “messy and multipolar world” defined by a “new form of geopolitical competition”.
It would be naive to believe Labour will follow up on every promise made in opposition. But the manifesto and Lammy’s utterances point to a fundamental appreciation that the rules of global politics have been rewritten – something recent Conservative governments failed to grasp.
The UK’s higher education system and job opportunities have traditionally made it an attractive place to study and work. But policies aimed at cutting net migration have made the country less appealing for African migrants.
A case in point was the move last year to stop postgraduate students bringing family members to Britain. Home Office figures showed Nigeria had 60,923 dependents of sponsored study visa holders in 2022 – the highest of any nation. Also in that year, the Conservative government was accused of implementing anti-African policies when it launched a work visa to attract highly skilled international graduates, but ruled African university degree-holders ineligible.
These policies were incredibly shortsighted. Britain needs the tuition fee income from international students. And postgraduate African students are more likely to settle for a few years, working and paying taxes, if they are accompanied by their families. In doing so, they contribute to the economy.
Looking further ahead, it’s clear that Africa will be the engine of the global workforce in the coming decades. By 2050, the world’s youngest continent will have added 796 million people to the workforce, while Europe’s working-age population – those between 16 and 64 – will fall by 156 million.
The UK’s ageing population, combined with the need for care workers, who are in shorter supply after Brexit reduced access to EU workers, already means Britain needs young African care workers. And, with time, that trend will extend to a wide range of sectors. Labour’s newly installed ministers should factor these demographic trends into policies to attract young Africans.
The last time a British government focused on Africa’s trajectory was 20 years ago, under the last Labour prime minister to win a general election. Tony Blair launched the Commission for Africa, which drew on the expertise of African politicians and business leaders, to produce recommendations on a range of issues from trade partnerships to debt relief and poverty reduction.
Lammy and his ministerial colleagues have an opportunity to alter Britain’s relationship with Africa. The shift has the potential to be much more than an eye-catching line in a statement. It could be genuinely transformative.
Alexis Akwagyiram is the managing editor of Semafor Africa
