Why Australia Needs a National Africa Strategy

Jesse Amoah | Africa Fellow

Image sourced from Global Services Forum via Wikimedia Commons

Australia’s foreign policy vocabulary has, for more than a decade, been dominated by the ‘Indo-Pacific’. This term reflects Australia's geography and geopolitical significance, but its repetition has also narrowed the country’s vision. Beyond this familiar frame lies Africa, a continent of 1.5 billion people that is reshaping the global economic landscape.

A median age of nineteen, rapid population growth, and the African Continental Free Trade Area position the continent to shift both economic and political influence. According to current projections, the continent’s middle class is expected to reach 1.1 billion by 2060, transforming consumption and investment patterns.

Australia’s patchy engagement with Africa erodes a strategic opportunity. A coordinated vehicle, such as a possible National Australia Africa Engagement Council (NAEEC), would link capital, universities, and the domestic African Australian diaspora, turning intent into delivery for a stronger Australia-Africa partnership.

Fragmented Foundations

Australia’s record in Africa is intermittent. It concentrates on a few sectors, then loses momentum when governments change. Mining companies dominate Australia’s presence in Southern and West Africa, but that visibility has not become a coherent strategy. Diplomatically, Australia operates 17 missions across 54 African states. By contrast, China has more than 50, and India more than 40, highlighting Australia’s limited capacity for sustained engagement.

Similarly, academic links exist but are not actively promoted. The Australia Awards and the Australia Africa Universities Network have built genuine bridges, yet funding and coordination have not kept pace with demand for exchanges and joint research. And while community ties are strong, the domestic African-Australian diaspora remains largely untapped. More than 300,000 Australians of African heritage can broker practical partnerships across business, education and policy. Australia’s approach is piecemeal when it should be strategic, and our profile in the region is slipping as a result.

Strategic Competition & Multilateral Weight

Australia’s limited presence in Africa is more than a missed economic play; it constrains its diplomatic influence. African states comprise 28 per cent of the United Nations General Assembly members and significantly influence debates on climate finance, development assistance, and governance reform. African and regional coalitions are already influencing outcomes that matter to Australia, from climate adaptation funding to rules governing critical minerals supply chains.

China positions Africa as a cornerstone of its foreign policy and a primary arena for Global South diplomacy, with total trade reaching AUD$282 billion in 2023, and Beijing pledging AUD$50 billion in finance at the last Forum on China–Africa Cooperation. The European Union, Gulf states, and Türkiye have also embedded Africa within their economic strategies. Australia has remained peripheral. This absence undermines Australia’s ability to influence emerging coalitions in multilateral forums and leaves it reliant on partners whose priorities may diverge from its own.

Education & Skills as Connective Tissue

Demography makes education both strategic and developmental. The African Development Bank estimates 12 million new jobs are needed annually simply to absorb entrants to the labour market, yet fewer than 3 million are being created. This employment gap drives migration pressures, affects stability, and shapes market formation.

Australia already has assets to leverage in this regard. The Australia Awards, long-term scholarships for international students aiming to contribute to the development needs of Australia's partner countries, have produced over 5,800 African alumni, many of whom are now in leadership roles across government and business. The Australia–Africa Universities Network links researchers working on food systems, energy transitions, and water management. Deeper education partnerships strengthen capacity in these priority sectors and position Australia as a trusted knowledge partner, not merely a commodities supplier.

Development Cooperation and Institutional Trust

Australian NGOs, under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australian NGO Cooperation Program, delivered approximately AUD$36 million in health, education, and gender-equality projects across African countries. However, impact is diluted when development is separated from trade and policy. The work is strongest within a system that links clinics to classrooms to commercial opportunities, so that local capability, knowledge exchange, and enterprise grow together.

Australia must steer its involvement in African development towards institution-building and sector ties in food systems, water management and energy transitions. This would provide Australia with continuity across political cycles and partnerships that outlast individual grants.

How Can Australia Tie This Together?

Australia’s engagement with Africa remains intermittent, with scattered DFAT programs, isolated commercial beachheads, and a diaspora that we scarcely mobilise. Two-way trade was just AUD$9.6 billion in 2021, a figure out of step with the continent’s scale and trajectory.

Previous initiatives, such as the former Advisory Group on Australia–Africa Relations (AGAAR) and the annual Africa Down Under conference, demonstrate goodwill yet fall short of a cohesive framework. With AGAAR now discontinued and Africa Down Under operating primarily as an industry event, Australia’s engagement with Africa remains fragmented rather than guided by an integrated national strategy.

A NAEEC would change that. It would carry a clear mandate to coordinate policy, turn opportunities into outcomes, and provide the Government with a practical forum to consult, decide, and drive implementation of Africa policy. It could rest on four pillars that attend most directly to Australia’s ailing engagement: diaspora partnerships, education, business and NGOs. The NAEEC could launch pilot projects in year one, scale over five years, and report annually to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade against public KPIs.

This is more than new machinery; it could signal the shift from episodic gestures to an enduring national strategy. If Australia can envision the “Indo-Pacific,” it can also articulate its ambitions in Africa. The alternative is to watch others set the rules while Australia stands on the sidelines.

Standing still on Africa is not neutral. It is a net strategic loss for Australia.

Jesse Amoah is the Africa Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. Jesse is completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of New South Wales. His passion for Africa–Australia engagement is grounded in his Ghanaian heritage and shaped by experience across public policy and private markets. As an Africa Fellow, Jesse is committed to strengthening Australia’s strategic and diplomatic ties with the continent. He is particularly interested in how trade policy, diaspora networks, and investment diplomacy can position Australia as a meaningful partner in the African century.

Our 2025 Africa Fellow is sponsored by the Centre for Africa-Australia Relations. For more information, visit their website here.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Young Australians in International Affairs. AI tools were used by this author for grammar checks and idea refinement, but all content is original, and no plagiarism has been used in the preparation of this article.