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The
‘Foco África 2023’ plan, which is aimed at supporting the implementation of the
Spanish government’s ‘Third Africa Plan’ approved in March 2019,
outlines Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola,
Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa as priority partner countries. Specifically
for development cooperation, Spain will focus its efforts on Mali, Niger,
Senegal, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Morocco,
Mauritania, Tunisia, and Egypt.
The
new plan outlines seven strategic priorities:
- Peace and security;
- Sustainable development;
- Trade and economic investments;
- Global public services (with a
focus on health, water, and sanitation);
- Humanitarian assistance (with a
focus on nutrition and education);
- Gender equality and women and
girls’ empowerment; and
- Migration and mobility.
·
Africa and Spain are close neighbours and
strategic partners. Together we can face common challenges, such as economic
development and employment, decarbonisation, fight against poverty, women’s
empowerment, migration management or peace and stability, in better way.
The Spanish Government approved in 2019 the Third Plan Africa “Spain and
Africa, challenges and opportunities”, a strategic framework of Spain’s foreign
action in and with Africa.
·
Focus Africa 2023 implements the Third Plan
Africa for the current parliamentary period, until 2023. Focus Africa 2023
defines Spanish foreign action in Africa until 2023 and forms part of the
Spanish Foreign Action Strategy 2021-2024. In line with the principle of unity
in foreign action, it includes the specific actions of government and other key
Spanish stakeholders in Africa. Moreover, it is aligned with the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s 2063 Agenda.
The strategic objectives of the Third Plan Africa - Peace
and security; Sustainable development, inclusive and resilient economic growth;
Institutional strengthening; and Safe, orderly and regular movement- are
reflected in seven priorities in Focus Africa 2023. Morocco is an important
international student market for Spain, sending close to 7,000 students in
2019/20. Now, the Spanish government has announced an ambition to attract not
just more Moroccan students, but also more students from across Africa –
particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. The median age of the massive, combined
population of Sub-Saharan African countries is 19.5 years. This – combined
with the surging demand for higher education and the prestige attached to
overseas degrees throughout the continent – translates into a huge pool of
college-age students who want to study abroad.
Changing the dynamics of migration
Spain’s
new focus on Africa, encapsulated in a policy document entitled Focus Africa 2023, is part of a larger intention to develop
deeper diplomatic and economic ties with African countries and to work with
them to promote stability and peace in the region.
Spain
has struggled with how to deal with a large influx of illegal immigrants who
have been forced to flee their region because of violence and poverty.
Collaborating with African countries to strengthen their education systems
would expand a different pool of migrants – students with enough schooling to
succeed in Spanish higher education and skilled workers ready to contribute to
the Spanish economy. This an urgent need given Spain’s issues with “brain
drain” of its own students and workers to other countries.
The
strategy document indicates more than a dozen African countries that will be
priorities for bi-lateral cooperation and for the recruitment of skilled
workers and students:
“Focus
Africa 2023 pays particular attention to Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa,
which are referred to in the Third Plan Africa as ‘anchor countries’ due to
their large populations, their economic and political clout, and their
influence on the stability of their sub-regions; as well as Senegal, Côte
d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Angola, considered ‘priority
countries.’”
Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Rwanda, and Uganda are also singled out as priorities in the “economic” sphere.
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A similarity with China?
The
80-page plan lays out a comprehensive approach for partnering with African
countries for greater stability and prosperity – and the wide-ranging policy
framework puts one in mind of another country’s strategy in Africa over the
past decade. China has poured billions into Africa in recent years to finance a
wide range of infrastructure and economic development projects. The scale and
ambition of that strategy reflects an early recognition of the potential of
Africa’s burgeoning youth populations, and China’s multi-pronged investment in
the region was a long-term game that has already allowed it to strengthen its
economy with skilled workers and students.
It
is not coincidental that over a period during which China increased its
presence and investment in Africa, the number of African students enrolling
with Chinese higher education institutions grew by 258% (2011–2017). By contrast, the growth rate of
African students going to the US was 30% in that period, and there were
declines of -2% for France and -24% for the UK.
Others have also set their sights on Africa
Chinese
institutions’ ability to recruit international students has been hampered by
the incredibly tight border policies the Chinese government has held to
throughout the pandemic. This opens a door for other countries to claim more
share of African students – notably France and possibly Spain if all goes to
plan.
France
is the world’s top enroller of African francophone students. As we recently
reported, students from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Republic of Congo, Benin,
Gabon, and Cameroon are increasingly deciding to enrol in French institutions.
Russia
has also been very active in recruiting students from Africa – and Russian
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed his commitment to the region
particularly in the context of his invasion of Ukraine. In advance of talks
with African Union leaders centred on what to do about food shortages caused by
blockades of Ukrainian grain, Mr Putin issued this cryptic comment to reporters:
“At
the new stage of development, we place great importance on our relations with
African countries, and I must say this has had a certain positive result.”
By
contrast, Ukraine’s economy will be seriously damaged by its inability to recruit
in Africa because of the war. Al Jazeera has reported that international students’
spending makes up a bigger proportion of GDP in the Ukraine than in the US.
Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, and Egypt had been sending increasing numbers of
students to Ukraine before the war.
Meanwhile,
educators in the US, UK, and Canada have also been recruiting more intensely in Africa, in a bid to further build
and diversity their international enrolments.
Room to grow
Last
summer, the Spanish government initiated a seminar series entitled Cooperacion Academica Espana-Africa,
where expert speakers discussed the task ahead for Spain: how to increase its
small population of African students amid daunting competition from countries
such as China and France.
The
seminar report noted that “Only 352 master students came from Sub-Saharan
Africa, which is a low figure compared to that of Latin America (14,615), Asia
(5,050) and Northern Africa (671).” Attracting African students to
master’s-level studies would be a natural priority for Spain given that,
according to a government report in the economic impact of international
students in 2020, master’s programmes contribute the most to the Spanish
economy
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