Africa deserves Australia’s attention
Written By Nigel Huckle
Nigel Huckle is an outgoing Research Intern at the Australia Africa Chamber of Commerce. He will graduate this June with a Master of International Relations from the University of Melbourne.
For those who may be new to the geoeconomics of Africa, it’s time you put away all of the tropes about the continent that you’ve been holding throughout the years.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the African continent was home to some of the fastest-growing emerging economies. Aloysius Uche Ordu, Director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, points out that countries like Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, often approached with presuppositions, were experiencing annual GDP growth of over 5%—some upwards of 8%—before the pandemic.
If you thought a continent with a population of 1.3 billion–three-quarters of which are young people under 35–is going to take a pandemic punch lying down, think again.
Financial technology–‘fintech'–has boomed during the pandemic, as Africans have accelerated the shift and readily adapted to e-commerce and contactless payment. Health technology has also seen a rise as African digital entrepreneurs put their skills to slowing the spread of coronavirus with apps like DiagnoseMe in Burkina Faso, developed in competition with young Burkinabe engineers.
This is why Australia must reaffirm its engagement with the African continent.
Australia’s mining presence is well-known in Africa, but it must continue to seek opportunities to diversify its economic priorities.
This starts with Australian investment in African education. A skilled Africa is in Australia’s national interests. It means more jobs for Africans on the continent in a wider talent pool for Australian businesses that will produce greater trade opportunities. It means a more democratically engaged population that will push for better governance, creating a more secure global environment. It also means Australia can maintain competition with China, in tandem with the United States and other partners expanding their presence on the continent, as it continues its widespread Belt and Road Initiative.
This sort of people-to-people approach can be bolstered by greater public diplomacy. Australia has some excellent diplomats on the African continent, but all one needs to do is look at the social media presence of HE Gregory Andrews, Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, to understand how a personal approach to public diplomacy can shape international perceptions of Australia. As Australia seeks to enhance its middle power status, improving how it is viewed on a continent that is on the cusp of explosive economic expansion should be an absolute priority. And it can and should be addressed with more modern-day diplomatic prowess.
Diversification. Education. Diplomacy. Look Africa in the eyes and realise what you’ve been missing: A vibrant continent of fifty-five diverse and beautiful countries, with a youthful population eager to make a difference. As Generation Z would say, don’t sleep on Africa.