Finland’s Africa Strategy

Finland’s Africa Strategy aims to diversify Finland’s relations and to develop the ambitions and coherence of Finland’s Africa policy. This joint government strategy was prepared under the leadership of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

As their economies have developed and their populations grown in recent years, African countries are taking on an increasingly prominent role in world politics and the economy. Having political relationships with African countries is increasingly important to Finland. The growing markets of many African countries make these countries more potential trading partners for Finland.

Finland’s relations with the sub-Saharan countries are based on successful development cooperation on which broader cooperation can be built. Finland already has strong diplomatic and commercial relationships with North African countries, but there is potential for more. The strategy pays particular attention to the expansion and deepening of Finland’s ties with African countries, the African Union and with other regional organisations on the continent.

The strategy aims to identify the shared interests of Finland and Africa and to strengthen the contacts between the two countries in different sectors. The strategy builds on Finland’s own interests and competencies, Agenda 2030 and the African Union's Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Finland’s strategy also takes account of the policies of the European Union’s Strategy with Africa.

The strategy aims to

1. set realistic, yet ambitious, goals for Finland’s policy on Africa and define concrete action to achieve these goals;
2. outline a limited number of priorities for Finland’s Africa policy based on the common interests of Finland and African countries;
3. focus on strengthening political and economic relations to achieve the goals and to expand relations to other forms of cooperation besides development cooperation, while maintaining development cooperation as part of the whole.

Developing the strategy was a joint effort

The Finnish Government’s Africa Strategy was published in 2021. The strategy process was inclusive and interactive. Representatives of civil society, youth, and business, science and research communities were consulted on their views of the strategy.

The strategy was also discussed at ministerial meetings with African colleagues, at events in Finnish missions in Africa, and at meetings with African countries’ missions in Finland, as well as with the African diaspora in Finland.