Foreign Affairs Committee on Jan. 27th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 18 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the committee is meeting on Canada's Africa strategy.

Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Before we continue, I would like to ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents, and to protect the health and safety of all participants.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking.

For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen, you can make the appropriate selection of channel for interpretation: floor, English or French.

For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand.

For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses for the first hour.

From the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, we have His Excellency Ben Marc Diendéré, ambassador, permanent observer to the African Union and Canada’s special envoy for Africa, who is joining us today by video conference.

We have, in person, Ryan Clark, director general, central, southern and eastern Africa bureau; as well as Susan Steffen, director general, west Africa and Maghreb bureau.

Up to five minutes will be given for opening remarks, after which we will proceed with rounds of questions.

I now invite His Excellency Ben Marc Diendéré to make an opening statement.

Welcome.

[H.E. Ben Marc Diendéré, Ambassador, Permanent Observer African Union and Canada’s Special Envoy for Africa, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Mr. Chair, I would like to make a quick statement because I am in Addis Ababa and we may experience a power outage before the end of this presentation.

Honourable members of the committee, I wish you all a very happy new year that furthers our shared eco-environmental and geopolitical issues.

First, thank you for your invitation. I am very pleased to testify in support of our Africa strategy. I will talk about three issues over the next few minutes that the committee has allocated to me: my role in Canada’s Africa strategy, highlights of my mandate as a special envoy, and highlights of my role within the African Union and the African Union Commission.

Members of the committee, I'll turn to point one, which is Africa's strategy and my role.

Prior to the launch of this strategy, this committee indicated the importance of enhancing—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Mr. Ambassador, could you slow down your pace a little bit for the benefit of the interpreters, please?

Thank you.

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

Thank you. I am sorry about that.

Among the report's recommendations was a call for a comprehensive strategy for Africa to be developed around the principle of partnership, mutual interests and shared priorities.

Canada's Africa strategy reinforces the importance of many of the committee's recommendations. For example, the committee recommended the creation of a diaspora engagement mechanism, devoting special attention to fragile and conflict-affected states and improving trade with Africa, including through a high-level trade mission.

Many other recommendations, such as support for the African continental free trade area, working through the Commonwealth, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Elsie initiative, already existed and were reaffirmed.

The strategy emphasizes partnership with mutual benefit, including economic co-operation, peace and security, engagement with African diaspora communities and development assistance focusing on economic growth and youth employment, humanitarian assistance and global health.

As Canada's first special envoy for Africa, I have been working for the last year on implementing this strategy in line with the government's seven missions: enhancing our partnership with the continent's most important multilateral organization, the African Union; promoting Canada's interests from a broad cross-cutting perspective; and amplifying our efforts to deepen and diversify trade relations with key countries and regions, particularly in sectors where Canada's trade is demonstrated in great capacity.

Members of the committee,

Mr. Chair, I would add that I have actively engaged with some members of civil society and African diaspora communities in Canada. One aspect of my mandate is to work closely with and to support heads of missions across the continent in order to strengthen our collective presence. They are doing a great job in that area, and this deserves recognition.

Turning to the second point about highlights of my actions as a special envoy for Africa, having a special envoy position has sent a signal to Canada's African partners that we are serious. New doors are opening to engage actively in continental initiatives involving trade and investment in sectors such as energy, mining, IT, agriculture, education, biosecurity, biosafety and climate.

Let me provide you with examples that are moving the needle in our relationships on the continent.

At the Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers, I participated alongside 16 Canadian companies representing agrotechnology, defence, AI, maritime and the creative industries.

In June, I led a delegation of 19 Canadian companies to the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.

In September, at the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, I presented remarks on Canada's important partnership with the African Development Bank supporting major blended finance initiatives, including support of climate-resilient agribusiness.

In support of Canada's African diaspora's efforts, I led a delegation to a diaspora investment forum in Ghana that included 10 Canadian companies and organizations.

I have been invited to the Angola financing summit for Africa's infrastructure development at the end of October, furthering our broader efforts to support strategic infrastructure projects and global supply chains.

Finally, let me provide you with some of my macro mission highlights.

We have made unprecedented strides in deepening our relations with the commission and its specialized agencies. At the last high-level dialogue of the African Union, Canada negotiated an MOU to deepen our areas of co-operation. My team and I are actively pursuing preparations for the next high-level dialogue to be held this year.

Closely connected to work with the African Union has been Canada's commitment to the design and implementation of the African continental free trade area, a flagship project of Agenda 2063. Through a partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Canada has provided substantial support to the UN African Trade Policy Centre, which is instrumental in driving economic integration and the opening of new markets for partners like Canada.

Members of the committee, I am especially proud that through my work and personal commitment, I have helped raise Canada’s profile in Addis Ababa, a diplomatic capital, while representing our country at NATO as the embassy’s point of contact. I am also the co-chair of the partners group of non-African representatives at the African Union.

Mr. Chair, we have also taken our strategy one step further by promoting our mutual interests to better position Canadian businesses for the numerous economic opportunities available to them.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much—

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Excuse me, Mr. Chair.

We have been very accommodating concerning the witness’s Internet connectivity issues. However, for the health and safety of our interpreters, I would suggest our colleagues not ask the witness too many questions. We can put any questions to him in writing, and he can respond in writing.

I am simply saying that because of the health and safety of our interpreters since the connection is quite poor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you for that intervention.

I now will open the floor for questions. The first round will begin with MP Rood.

You have six minutes.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for being here today.

After 10 years of spending in Africa, what hard proof does the department have that Canadian aid funding worked there? Where did it not work and what programs are being discontinued because of that?

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

That’s a very important question, Mr. Chair, and I believe many Canadians have the same question about the size of our investments on the continent.

A lot has happened. I think Canada has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of its response to investment in development in Africa. I can confirm that based on my three years here.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Can any of the witnesses tell me where Canadian aid has pushed aside local businesses or private investors? Does the department have plans to move money from grants to real revenue-backed projects with shared risk, and can you give us an example?

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

I think my colleagues here can give you more information, honourable member.

Nevertheless, as I said earlier, there is absolutely no reason for us to be ashamed of our investment. The new reform we are embarking on concerning our Africa strategy will allow us to move development finance resources to blended financing operations, but I will defer that question to my colleagues in the meeting.

[Ryan Clark, Director General, Central, Southern and Eastern Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you, Ben Marc.

Our international assistance in Africa funds social programs and productive programs, if I could separate them into those two buckets. For the last 10 years, the predominant amount of that funding has gone into social programs, so supporting health and education initiatives where we'd be funding Canadian partners or international partners to help local and national-level health or education systems. In those cases, there are extremely limited chances of that displacing any sort of private investment. In fact, anywhere that we could find ways to mobilize investment in health or education sectors using our international assistance, we attempt to do so as part of our project design.

On the productive side of things, which we're starting to do a bit more as part of this strategy, looking to see where and how we can better use our international assistance to spur economic growth and to mobilize investment and partnership, including with Canadian entities, we've had some successes in the agricultural sector. We've also had some success in energy transition using things like sovereign loans, for example. In South Africa, we've lent money where we're trying to work with the South African government to get them off coal while creating clean tech opportunities, hopefully for Canadian companies, for example. A lot of times we're trying to use more of what's called blended finance where we take a little bit of public finance, in this case our international assistance, and try to partner with private capital to spur job growth or spur investments in different markets.

One of the core components of the strategy is to try to do more of this. But in those cases, we're not looking to supplant private investment. We're looking to enhance it or the word that we use is to “mobilize” it. So it's not really supplanting. In some cases, what's needed is international assistance to incentivize or to help to buy down some of the risk that many private companies may see, whether it's perceived or actual in these markets. There are lots of proven examples of how international assistance can help in those types of circumstances.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Can you tell us how you're increasing blended finance opportunities and is there a goalpost to reach?

[Ryan Clark]

We have a specific target, but our strategy talks quite openly about the need for Canada seeking enhanced partnerships based on identified mutual interest, largely in the economic space, and how we'll use all of the tools we have in our tool kit, one of which is blended finance, which could be concessional financing. It could just be a grant, like the majority of our international assistance, that's used to try to create either a better enabling environment for other investment, or like I mentioned before, to try to incentivize private capital to get into a particular market or into a particular vehicle, whether it's a fund or a specific project.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

As part of the Africa strategy, will Canada see offtake deals and long-term supply contracts in agri-food—you mentioned agriculture before—energy and critical minerals? What's blocking deals from being created today, and how is the department working on clearing those obstacles?

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

I’ll give a quick answer, honourable member.

I deferred that question to my colleagues because I don’t have any leverage as a special envoy or permanent representative to the African Union. These programs are specific to our department. I’ve not answered the question directly and have deferred it to my colleague because the work is done at the departmental level.

I’ll let Mr. Clark answer.

[Ryan Clark]

Thank you, Ben Marc.

A lot of our international assistance as part of this new strategy will go, as I mentioned before, toward helping to create a better enabling environment for investment, including in the mining sectors and, by extension, in some areas where there are critical minerals of importance to Canada and our G7 partners, for example.

A lot of the time, what we hear from Canadian companies and other international companies and African companies that are investing in the mining sector is the need for clear standards, clear business practices and reduced corruption. The types of projects that would use international assistance would target those segments of the governance around mining and critical minerals to help improve private sector entry, including with our mining companies, into those areas to help them work with the local and national governments to get resources out of the ground and then get them to market.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Next is MP Mona Fortier. You have six minutes.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, ON]

Thank you very much.

Thank you all for being here today.

I’d like to welcome my colleague Mr. Steven Guilbeault, who has joined us and will speak later.

Thank you very much, Mr. Diendéré, for joining us today. I’m very grateful for that. Your work is much appreciated.

From what I understand, you have had the same role for almost one year, since February 2025. However, we must point out that your expertise and your experience have increased the likelihood of the implementation of this strategy, which was announced a year ago.

I wish to remind the committee that if I understand correctly, your work consists in translating the strategy’s goals into concrete action. This includes strengthening economic partnerships, supporting peace and security initiatives, strengthening connections between people, including African diaspora communities in Canada, and positioning Canada as a reliable and committed long-term partner for Canadian institutions and Canadians.

Now that you have been pursuing this commitment for the past year, and in view of the current geopolitical context and the fact that among other things, Canada wishes to continue to diversify its markets and to operate on several continents, including the African continent, what concrete measures can you recommend that the committee could include in its recommendations?

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

Thank you very much, honourable member. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I have previously had many opportunities to speak with you. Since we’re going to run out of time shortly, I’d like to quickly share some progress with you.

We have had an Africa strategy for the past one year. We have an unwavering commitment to the African Union. This gives us access to everything, including the African Union’s specialized agencies; the entire CDC Africa, or disease control and prevention centres in Africa; the African Development Bank, and the CfCA, or Connect for Culture Africa. For the diplomatic community, our presence here has become real. That is progress. I would go so far as to add some very basic items. We now have air operator certificates in a number of African countries that are in the process of opening up their skies.

What do we need to do going forward? We need to make sure we have champions. Canada must make sure it has champions on the ground, whether in the field of agriculture, which I am quite familiar with because I have worked in the sector, the telecommunications field or other fields that are of interest to our country today. As the Davos speech reminds us, we don’t have to invent a world.

Right now, the African Union has projects worth approximately $3 trillion in construction, value chain transformation and business transformation fields. There is no field that Canada cannot operate in today, be it in IT or the oil and gas sector.

What we need to do is to find champions and position them on the ground. We need to help them get into the markets. We have commissioners who currently work on the ground. Whenever I travel with business representatives, I am surprised to see how isolated we are. We need a lot more resources than that. We need organizations to walk in lockstep with our champions and to bring them to see business opportunities in Canada. We have the resources for that.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, ON]

Thank you.

My remarks are for those who work on the strategy on a day-to-day basis. Do you have anything to add? No? Okay.

I will carry on then. I know that the Internet connection may be a challenge, but if you think of other strategies or concrete measures that the committee could consider, feel free to send us the information after your presentation today. It would be quite helpful to us to take these measures into consideration.

In the riding I represent, many businesses from the African diaspora play a concrete role on the ground. I had the privilege to take part in the Impact Diaspora Forum in my riding not too long ago. There is no shortage of opportunities or ideas. However, how can we make them a reality? In your opinion, what breakthrough would make us active with these champions? I am thinking, among others, of Canadian businesses that are ready to do business with businesses on the African continent. Do you see any action that we should focus on?

[Ben Marc Diendéré]

Thank you for your question, honourable member.

It will take a number of tools to make that happen. Canada is already lagging behind in Africa. We need to catch up, even though I’m not entirely sure who or what we’re catching up on. However, for now, if we want our businesses to be on the ground, measures to support them have to be interdepartmental, which is the case with Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which passed through several departments concurrently.

Right now, Global Affairs Canada has an Africa strategy. Are the other departments involved? Coordination work is needed. It’s important to find a way for all the departments that have something to sell, whether that is Natural Resources Canada or the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to come together to do that. Global Affairs Canada can’t go it alone. The department is doing what it can to raise issues, and on the business side of things, we have often had success on this continent. We have brought aeronautics here. We have brought leading companies, such as SNC-Lavalin, as members will recall. We have brought CPCS and engineering companies. They are all here. All of them came to this continent because they had support from the country, and not just Global Affairs Canada, and the institutions we have and the financial tools at our disposal.

We therefore need to go back to support tools, pool our investments instead of spreading ourselves too thin left and right, go to priority countries, priority regions, and succeed in business. We must always keep our Canadian businesses in mind. The diaspora communities are there. They own businesses and want to develop. We need to give them tools, and Canada can do that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Before I give the floor to the next questioner, I once again want to remind all the witnesses and particularly his excellency to slow down the pace for the benefit of our interpreters.

Next, we have MP Brunelle-Duceppe.

You have six minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank our witnesses for being here for this extremely important study that I had the honour of recommending to this committee.

I would like to hear the views of the witnesses. We have just heard about priorities. Are Canada-Africa relations a priority for the current government and for Mr. Carney?

Don’t answer all at once.

I suppose that these seconds where no one answers will not be taken off my time, Mr. Chair.