Theresa May, the UK prime minister, has given her speech in Cape Town, saying that she regards the countries she’s visiting this week – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya - as key partners and thriving democracies, typical of 21st Century Africa.
She pointed to the fact that five of the fast-growing economies were in African and the GDP of the continent was set to double between 2015 and 2030.
By 2050 a quarter of the world’s population and the world’s consumers would live on the continent, she said.
However, some of world’s poorest people were in Africa too, so achieving inclusive growth was a challenge, she added.
African leaders have told her the greatest challenge they face is creating jobs.
She says she’s proposing a new partnership with African, one built around on shared prosperity.
She announced plans for a £4bn ($5.1bn) programme of UK investment in Africa's economies – to be matched by a similar amount by the private sector.
She also said:
The UK would be back getting a permanent presence for Africa on the UN Security Council The UK would give back huge sums of money illegally taken from Kenya The UK would be opening new embassies in Chad and Niger.
The main thrust of her speech was that the UK’s investment on the continent, while not as big as other nations, would be over the long-term.
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