Tim Watts, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Australian Government. (Image source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
Speaking at the Africa Down Under Conference 2024, Tim Watts, the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Australian Government, highlighted the importance of Africa to Australian interests and committed to support partnerships between the two
“Since assuming this role I have paid special attention to highlighting the importance of Africa to Australian interests,” Watts remarked. “I have worked hard to advance Australia-Africa relations. This is because Africa is important; to the world, to Australia and to our shared futures.”
Emphasising this point, Watts drew attention to African Union entry to the G20 last year, a move that added 1.4bn people and almost US$3 trillion in GDP. These figures prove that “there is no global economy without Africa,” Watts continued. “Africa will have the world’s largest potential workforce by 2030. Africa’s middle class is projected to grow to over one billion people by 2060. Before the end of this century, the biggest cities in the world will be African cities. Those are simply staggering projections, which can’t be ignored. The message is crystal clear: Africa is not arriving, Africa is here.”
A focus on mining
While the country’s foreign policy has traditionally been focused on the Indo-Pacific (given its proximity), Watts maintained that Australia has global interests and is pursuing partnerships in Africa.
“I am pleased to see that, in the broad, Australia-Africa ties are expanding to meet the future’s global challenges… Australia can play a constructive role in Africa's rise, because Australia and Africa share many commodities. We're both blessed with a natural endowment of critical minerals. Rare earths elements, lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc… Whether it is solar, wind, or geothermal technology, the raw material needed to help power the future will first need to be mined out of the earth, whether that's here in Australia or across the Indian Ocean in Africa. Australian investments in Africa represent a long-term commitment to communities and to the prosperity of those communities.”
According to the Assistant Minister, investment by Australian companies has now reached US$60bn, capital that is providing jobs, training, expertise and opportunities and that can also come with new infrastructure while delivering significant benefits to local communities.
“Australians are proud of Australian mining, Australian innovation, Australian ingenuity. Companies are also increasingly looking to process minerals in Australia, supported by the Government's Future Made in Australia incentives. And I am proud that a range of Australian companies also support value addition in Africa… By adding value to raw minerals, we can create more jobs and support new market opportunities in the process. Australians want to know that our investments in Africa leave a lasting, positive legacy. And that desire applies to all Australian companies investing in Africa – not only to the resources sector.
“I am confident that Australian companies can continue to work together with their partners in Africa to deliver economic growth and prosperity in socially accountable and environmentally responsible ways. And the Australian Government will continue to support these partnerships.”
Listing this support, Watts referenced the Mining Governance Short Course for 25 African officials that ran in December 2023 and noted that a similar Short Course will be held in the coming year. Moreover, Australia’s High Commission in Accra will convene the next West Africa Mining Security Conference in October. This commitment is not “an abstraction” for Australians, the Assistant Minister remarked, but it is aiding a future in which they have a “personal stake”, not least because almost half a million Australians declared themselves to be of African heritage in the last Census.
“The continent is going to be an enormous global player in our lifetimes,” Watts concluded. “Because of its people. Because of its economies. Because of its role in the international system. There simply isn't a future where the countries of Africa are not important to Australia. You all know that. But I want to make it clear that I know that and the Australian Government knows it too.
