Canada falling behind U.S. on trade with Africa, senators say – National

Senators are warning Trade Minister Mary Ng that Ottawa may be falling behind its peers in establishing deeper trade ties with Africa.

“We’re not in some of the geographies we need to be,” Ontario Sen. Peter Harder told Ng during a Thursday meeting of the Senate foreign-affairs committee.

The committee has been studying for months whether Global Affairs Canada is responding to the country’s diplomatic needs, hearing from current and former staff of the department as well as business and advocacy groups.

Ng appeared before the committee to take questions from senators, who raised concerns that the United States has been doing more to start trade talks with an African group that spans most of the continent.

Quebec Sen. Amina Gerba, who originally hails from Cameroon, asked about the previous day’s announcement that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai had signed a memorandum with the African Continental Free Trade Area secretariat, which is establishing a massive free-trade zone.

The deal commits the Americans to having regular talks with African leaders as they put the new trade zone into force and work toward signing an eventual trade agreement with Washington.

Gerba asked Ng whether her team is working on closer economic ties with Africa, and whether she envisions Canada signing a free-trade deal with the bloc.

Ng said Canadian development work has likely helped pave the way for African countries to create the trade bloc, and she noted side deals Ottawa has signed with specific countries around foreign investment.

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But Ng didn’t confirm whether or not she sees a trade deal coming together in the future.