At a time in my long past, I worked on Africa for what is now Global Affairs and I've been to Africa. I follow very closely, looking at it from a China lens. Chinese are all over Africa. They're the number one trading partner for most African states.
Africans will tell you, however, that it's not as if the colonial powers covered themselves with glory in their work in Africa. Africans are often a bit uneasy with that experience.
Canada comes in with an advantage. We had no colonial experience in Africa. We're seen as a good partner, but it takes a lot of time and senior-level attention. It takes development funding and it takes active commercial relationships. We will not be able to play a role as high-profile as that of China, but we can play our part. If we don't do that, we just leave the field free for the Chinese and for other non-democratic actors who don't necessarily share our values.
Absolutely we need to be there with spurs on to make sure that we're at least noticed and that we can play a role, but not exaggerating the potential for us.