Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am first going to address the question of the economy. Canada has signed foreign investment promotion and protection agreements with nine African countries. It has signed free trade agreements with countries on every continent except Africa. As we know, a broad economic agreement was signed in 2023 between Kenya and the European Union—with which we had so much trouble developing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which has not yet been ratified. We also know that an agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area was signed in 2019 among the members of the African Union.
Why are we not seizing the economic opportunities that this great continent offers us?