Canada and the African Union: towards a shared agenda

ABSTRACTIn the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global powers are not only scrambling for Africa’s abundant resources but also jostling for its political attention. In the midst of this new geopolitical environment of heightened tension, Canada is developing its first ever engagement framework for Africa. In light of this, we argue that the African Union (AU) should be central to Canada’s engagement strategy. Canada’s ability to engage bilaterally with fifty-four countries is inevitably limited. At the same time, the AU is increasingly speaking with a stronger, more unified voice on the international stage, seeking to position Africa as an influential global partner. Many of the AU’s founding principles and guiding norms support a rules-based multilateral order, and Canada and the organisation can find common ground in seeking not only to strengthen but also possibly improve and reform what is commonly known as the rules-based liberal international order.RÉSUMÉÀ la suite de l’invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie, les puissances mondiales se bousculent non seulement pour exploiter les ressources abondantes de l’Afrique, mais aussi pour attirer son attention politique. Dans ce nouvel environnement géopolitique marqué par l’accroissement des tensions, le Canada élabore son tout premier cadre d’engagement en Afrique. À la lumière de cette situation, nous soutenons que l’Union africaine (UA) doit être au cœur de la stratégie d’engagement du Canada. La capacité du Canada à s’engager bilatéralement avec 54 pays est inévitablement limitée. Dans le même temps, l’UA s’exprime de plus en plus d’une voix plus forte et plus unie sur la scène internationale, cherchant à positionner l’Afrique comme un partenaire mondial influent. Beaucoup des principes fondateurs et normes directrices de l’UA soutiennent un ordre multilatéral fondé sur des règles, et le Canada et l’organisation peuvent trouver un terrain d’entente en cherchant non seulement à renforcer, mais aussi à éventuellement améliorer et réformer ce que l’on appelle communément l’ordre international libéral fondé sur des règles.KEYWORDS: CanadaAfricaAfrican Unioninternational cooperationdiplomacyMOTS-CLÉS: CanadaAfriqueUnion africainecoopération internationalediplomatie AcknowledgementsWe gratefully acknowledge the research assistance provided by Dr Farai Chipato and Ms Bucky Badejo.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1 This commentary draws on the report Canada and the African Union: Towards a Shared Agenda, published by the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) in February 2023. In preparation of the report, we benefitted from the insights and comments of numerous individuals in the African Union, Global Affairs Canada, diplomatic representatives to the AU, and academic experts in Africa, Canada and beyond.2 The AU does, of course, sometimes fail to live up to its principles, and the same can be said for Canada.Additional informationFundingThe research for this article was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), grant number 611-2021-0196, and by the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue’s support for the project Changing Orders: Shaping the Future and Securing Rights in a World in Transformation.Notes on contributorsRita AbrahamsenRita Abrahamsen is a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. She has published widely on African politics, security and international relations.Barbra ChimhandambaBarbra Chimhandamba holds a PhD in political science from Carleton University, with specialisation in comparative politics and international relations. She was an Alex Trebek Fellow at the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa from February 2022 to April 2023 with the project “Changing Orders: Shaping the Future and Security Rights in a World in Transformation.” She previously worked as a foreign service officer and has extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.