UK Africa Minister marks Nigerian Centenary

As we pointed out on Tuesday, the UK's Africa Minister is currently in Nigeria for the country's centenary celebrations. He has today given a speech to mark this occasion and brought with him "warm congratulations and best wishes from Her Majesty the Queen."

He spoke about renewing "the unique ties between Nigeria and the United Kingdom" and pointed out that:

"Our relationship is rooted in our joint history; in the large and important Nigerian community in the UK; the deep and expanding trade relationship; and our countless educational, sporting and cultural connections."

He backed this up with some hard facts stating that:

"in Nigeria [the UK] remains the largest investor, and are making strides to meet our ambition to double bilateral trade here, from £4 billion in 2011 to £8 billion this year."

And he concluded that he "looks forward to the next century of our partnership, and of Nigerian – and African – success."

You can read the full speech here.

Foreign Secretary discusses partnership with Africa

William Hague MP, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, has been speaking on a visit to Brazil about the two countries’ partnership with Africa. The full speech is available here but the following section is particularly encouraging:

My argument today is that there are exciting opportunities for Britain and Brazil to work in partnership with African countries to promote economic growth, good governance and stability – drawing on our own expertise, history, knowledge and historic ties with different parts of Africa – and building on the development partnerships that we have already established.

Both of our countries’ relationships with Africa are rooted in history, though they are not defined by it.

Eighteen African countries, including Mozambique, are members of the Commonwealth, a vibrant, free association of countries from every continent working together for our shared values and shared prosperity. British Africans make an invaluable contribution to many areas of our national life, while many leading government figures in Africa studied at world class institutions in the UK.