British officials are engaged in a sharp debate over how to scramble back into Africa
HOW TO PROMOTE a “global Britain” after Britain leaves the European Union? One step is to try to regain some of Britain’s influence in Africa, where it had once been the leading colonial power. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, will be hosting about a third of the continent’s leaders at an “investment summit” in London on January 20th. Many of them are en route to a bigger shindig in Davos; a handful from pariah states such as Zimbabwe have not been invited.
Partly this is because of cash. Whereas the FCO’s core budget, now £1.1bn a year, has shrunk greatly in the past decade, DFID’s has swollen steadily, since by law it must be at least 0.7% of GDP, a figure enshrined in an act of Parliament in 2015. In 2018 Britain disbursed foreign aid worth £14.6bn, mainly through DFID.
Still, it is tiny compared with what it was, and about a sixth the size of France’s diplomatic operation. According to a report issued last year by the British Foreign Policy Group, a think-tank backed by former ambassadors, in 2017 Britain had 231 diplomats in 31 out of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 countries. In 16 of those British missions, only one or two diplomats were in situ. Missions to five more countries have since been opened or reopened.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
UK PM Johnson to impose new restrictions on low-skilled migrants post-Brexit: TelegraphBritain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to impose new restricti...
Read more »
No normalization in relations yet, UK PM Johnson tells Russia's PutinBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Su...
Read more »
Johnson plans to move House of Lords to York - Sunday TimesPrime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to relocate parliament's upper hou...
Read more »
UK's Johnson, France's Macron reiterate commitment to Iran nuclear dealBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron reiter...
Read more »
As Brexit nears, Johnson pushes for deeper trade ties with AfricaPrime Minister Boris Johnson will call for deeper investment ties between Britai...
Read more »
Johnson tells Putin UK-Russia relations still poisonedOn sidelines of Libya conference, PM says ties between the two countries cannot return to normal.
Read more »