UK in Africa before and after Brexit

Abstract

The article raises the question of the place of Tropical Africa in the system of British foreign policy priorities before and after Brexit. It is shown that the African continent traditionally played an important role in the colonial empire of the United Kingdom, and its importance only intensified under the conditions of decolonization and the Cold War, which was demonstrated by the first visit in the colonial history of the country of the British leader of H. Macmillan to Africa south of the Sahara in February 1960 (“Year of Africa”) and drawing attention to the future of the continent in connection with the acquisition of sovereign status by the colonies. However, after this tour, the weakening of Britain’s ties with the continent in the trade, economic, political and other spheres gradually began to occur, and only after the Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016, the UK announced a reset of relations within the loud slogan and foreign policy line “Global Britain”. In August 2018, Prime Minister T. May made a large-scale visit to the key countries of Tropical Africa, similar to H. Macmillan’s trip in terms of numbers, status and intentions, on the eve of the completion of a series of negotiations with the European Union and the country’s withdrawal from it. In addition to analyzing two of the British leaders’ trips, the article raises important contemporary questions about the incompleteness of decolonization, the future of development policy, and the overall prospects for the UK’s relationship with sub-Saharan Africa. Attention is also paid to the economic aspects of interaction between the parties and the updated priorities of Britain in the context of the pandemic and the challenges of European and global security under the influence of a new configuration of the system of international relations.