AFRICA DIARY
PM Theresa May has visited Abuja, Nigeria
Haram. Nigeria is among the top five recipients of the UK ' s aid globally, receiving the second-highest assistance in the continent after Ethiopia; and on the other side, Kenya’ s is one of the largest travel markets for the UK with over 168,000 British visitors in 2017.
However, trade is the biggest of all agendas as Nigeria and South Africa are the UK’ s biggest trading partners in the continent,— with trade worth $ 3.3 billion and $ 8.7 billion respectively in 2016— and are Africa’ s two largest economies; Kenya ranks ninth. All three exert significant economic influence across the region and are key gateways for investment into the rest of the continent.
Operation Fear: A Deal before Brexit
Britain leaving the EU without a deal posed an " existential threat " to the country, as it would have a " big impact " on " regions such as Scotland ". The government ministers were part of Operation Fear, whose intention was to scare the EU into compromising on a deal. PM May’ s trip to Africa focused on " deepening and strengthening its global partnerships " ahead of her country’ s departure from the EU in 2019. The main objectives that her nation – through her – was hoping to achieve were boosting the UK’ s fortunes via a trade mission after the Brexit period. This marked her first trip to the country following her election as the PM in 2016.
The Africans are being wooed by multiple economies, and they need to declare their pick: a go-getting but welcoming China, the huge European Union community, the yet-to-beexplored potential of the United States, or the historicallyconnected United Kingdom. The trade figures also clear matters; in 2015, trade between the UK and Africa amounted to $ 36bn(£ 28bn), which was way behind EU’ s $ 305bn. In the same year, Africa ' s trade with China reached $ 188bn; and between the US and Africa, it totalled $ 53bn.
Standing Alone: How Far UK Could Go?
African influence in geo-economics should not be underestimated; a united African position can be a powerful force as the recent African support for the Paris climate change agreement showed. Revisiting its term with African states can be an important part of the May administration ' s efforts to shore up its international relevance and influence after it leaves the European Union.
The UK accounts for just three percent of trade with the entire African continent ' s goods and services imports. The UK’ s trade presence in Africa was not always this low: until late-1990s Britain accounted for nearly seven percent of the continent’ s imports.
The present UK administration appears optimistic that it can change this.“ As the Prime Minister announced during
54 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida