Trade Envoy Role expanded: South Africa and Mauritius

January marks a year since my appointment as the UK’s Trade Envoy for Southern Africa.

Over the past year, I have undertaken visits to Angola, DRC, Mozambique, and Zambia, engaging with Presidents, Ministers, High Commissioners and Ambassadors from across the region, to break down barriers to the trade and investment needed to meet our shared growth and security goals.

I was delighted to meet with Trade Minister Sir Christopher Bryant MP to discuss objectives and delivery within year two of the Trade Envoy programme, as the announcement was made expanding my appointment. I will now work as Envoy to South Africa and Mauritius within my Southern Africa brief!

I hope this will further demonstrate the value of joined-up regional thinking on essential issues for the UK and our partners in Africa, including critical minerals, cross-border value chains, energy, and infrastructure development.

In these febrile times, the work of building reliable partnerships for mutual benefit is more important than ever.