Unit for Southern and Western Africa

The Unit for Southern and Western Africa (ALI-30)

• Prepares and coordinates Finland's political, trade political, commercial and development policy objectives, policies and positions, which concern Finland's relations with the countries, inter-regional organisations and other bodies and processes in the region;
• Promotes commercial and economic cooperation between Finland and the countries of the region, including Team Finland work;
• Defines the objectives of development cooperation, prepares and presents programmes and projects and handles them in the Ministry's internal coordination system, as well as takes care of their management and supervision;
• Handles matters relating to state and ministerial visits to and from the region, maintains contacts with the countries of the region through, for example, bilateral consultations, export promotion, and participation in multi-stakeholder negotiations and donor consultations that concern development cooperation;
• Prepares Finland's positions and represents Finland in EU working groups and committees dealing with matters concerning the region; develops the network of Finnish missions in the region and steers their work, among other things, by organising regional meetings, assessing the heads of missions' annual plans of action and holding annual consultations with them, and assessing the missions’ annual plans;
• Coordinates matters concerning the region with other departments of the Ministry, especially the Political Department, the Department for External Economic Relations, and the Department for Development Policy, including, as required, with other state administration bodies;
• Handles general political matters related to Finland and the EU and the countries of the region and formulation of related CFSP positions

Regional organisations:
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)