LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Sunday vowed a “new approach” with Africa that will “listen rather than tell” as he began a visit to Nigeria and South Africa.
“Our new approach will deliver respectful partnerships that listen rather than tell, deliver long-term growth rather than short-term solutions and build a freer, safer, more prosperous continent,” he said, according to a press release from his ministry.
“I want to hear what our African partners need and foster relationships so that the UK and our friends and partners in Africa can grow together,” he added, as he set off for his first trip to the continent as foreign minister.
Lammy said that economic growth would “underpin our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond.”
In Nigeria, he will sign a “Strategic Partnership” that will cover growth, national security and climate change.
Lammy will then travel to South Africa, where he will “agree to develop a new UK-South Africa Growth Plan,” according to the Foreign Office.
He will also attend the Earthshot+ conference in Cape Town, where he will speak with innovators to find out how Britain can help channel finance to environmental solutions.
Founded by Prince William, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental award and platform designed to develop solutions to ecological problems.
UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip
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UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip
- Lammy said that economic growth would “underpin our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond”
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
