The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade has today presented and published its report for the inquiry into strengthening and expanding Australia's trade and investment relations with the countries of Africa.
The Chair of the Trade Subcommittee, Mrs Fiona Phillips MP, said 'the report highlights the substantial opportunities for Australia to deepen and expand its long-standing relations and economic engagement with one of the world's fastest-growing regions. Africa is a diverse continent of 54 countries, and home to a rapidly expanding population, particularly its youth population, accelerating urbanisation, and regional economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).'
Mrs Phillips stated 'While Australia has maintained a substantial, well-respected presence with mining investment, total trade and investment flows remain modest compared with the scale and diversity of opportunities emerging across the African continent. Australia must adopt a more strategic and coordinated approach to support Australian businesses seeking to enter and expand their presence in African markets. Our report makes 17 recommendations to the Australian Government to address barriers to trade and investment with African nations and unlock emerging opportunities that align with Australia's many strengths across the resources sector, education and vocational training, agribusiness, digital technologies, supply chain logistics, and healthcare.'
The Committee's recommendations include:
- strengthening government-to-government engagement, including enhancing the capacity of Australia's current diplomatic and trade footprint across the African continent
- a whole-of-government Australia-Africa risk differentiated trade and investment strategy, focused on priority regions and commercial sectors
- establishing an Australia-Africa Advisory Council to provide strategic advice to the Australian Government and industry
- implementing a formal African diaspora engagement framework with structured mechanisms for consultation and collaboration across diaspora communities and government
- an Africa market intelligence and risk mitigation initiative to address market information gaps and de-risk market entry for Australian businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises
- coordinated Australian Government trade promotion campaigns highlighting Australian expertise that align with African emerging opportunities and supporting regular trade missions to and from the African continent
- developing a targeted Australia-Africa tertiary and vocational training partnership program.
The report can be accessed and downloaded here.
