Nordic relations with Africa

Links to information resources. A thematic resource compiled by NAI library staff.

Post 1945

Norwegian UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie and other Nordic diplomats begin voicing support for the independence of African colonies. In the photo, taken 1951 in the UN Headquarters in New York, we see Trygve Lie in the middle with Kwame Nkrumah (to the right) and other Gold Coast officials. Photo: UN Photo/MB.

From grassroots missions to modern partnerships. A timeline of key Nordic–African milestones from 1945 until today.

Introduction

This thematic resource coincides with NAI Policy Note 2025:4, The Nordic Africa strategies – distinct but not incompatible: why and how the Nordic countries should align their engagement with Africa by Jesper Bjarnesen, Diana Højlund Madsen, Liisa Laakso, Patience Mususa, and Angela Muvumba Sellström (PDF version External link, opens in new window., Web version). The following introduction is from the policy note:

Africa's population is forecast to double by 2050. Meanwhile, the rapid economic growth seen across the continent in the past few years is only likely to accelerate thanks to free trade reforms, large-scale infrastructure investments and the growing demand for green transition minerals. In terms of geopolitics, Africa is attracting considerable attention from the global superpowers: China is now Africa’s largest trading partner; Russia is providing increased military support; and emerging powers such as Turkey and the Gulf States are seeking strategic partnerships with African countries. This new geopolitical multipolarity was made starkly clear by the number of African states abstaining from United Nations General Assembly resolution votes relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, democracy, human rights, minority representation and regional stability are in decline in parts of Africa, often with global consequences. In response to these shifts, Nordic governments are reshaping their strategic relationships with African partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally. Against this backdrop, three of the five Nordic countries – Finland, Norway and Denmark – have introduced new comprehensive strategies on engaging African states in the past few years. Of the remaining two, Sweden engages through more delimited bilateral and regional policy strategies, while Iceland is currently developing its first comprehensive Africa strategy.

Resources via the Nordic Africa Institute

Nordic Africa Institute has published overview titles on Nordic relations with Africa regularly. Most of the below titles contains chapters or sections on the individual Nordic countries.

A Shared Commitment: African-Nordic Peace and Security Cooperation External link, opens in new window. / De Coning, Cedric, and Angela Muvumba Sellström, 2023.
Overview of the partnership between African and Nordic countries in peace and security from 2012 to 2021 with case studies on Nordic country cooperation with African actors and institutions.
The Nordic Countries and Africa: Old and New Relations External link, opens in new window. / ed. Wohlgemuth, Lennart, 2002.
Historical overview of relations between individual Nordic countries and AFitca with an emphasis on the period 1950 – 2000.
Nordic Statements on Apartheid External link, opens in new window., 1977.
Collection of statements of the Nordic countries in General Assembly UN, Security Council UN and at the Maputo Conference May 19, 1977. Co-published with htre United Nations Centre against Apartheid
Scandinavian Development Agreements with African Countries External link, opens in new window. / Widstrand, Carl-Gösta, and Zdenek Červenka, 1971.
Overviews and comparisons between Sweden’s, Denmark’s, Finland’s and Norway’s development aid.

Search the NAI library collection for individual Nordic countries' relations with Africa

Links bring you to our search tool AfricaLit Plus. Default sorting of hits may vary between relevance or latest. Try changing them in the right-hand menu (in the next step).

African national liberation movements and the solidarity movements in the Nordic countries

The Nordic Africa Institute published a series of books on the liberation struggle in Southern Africa and the Nordic countries to document of the research project National Liberation in Southern Africa: The Role of the Nordic Countries, coordinated by Tor Sellström.

Liberation Africa documents the engagement of the Nordic countries in the national liberation movements on the African continent. The website contains overviews of archives, interviews, audio and visual materials and publications.

Resources elsewhere

Nordic countries each have national portals for academic research published. The repositories contain a mix of references and open access fulltexts.

Current research on Africa in the Nordic countries
	Search link	About the resource
Denmark	Research Portal Denmark: Publications on Africa and the separate countries, within social sciences and humanities External link, opens in new window.	Research Portal Denmark facilitates "discovery, exploration, and analysis of Danish research – from input, to output, and impact".
Finland	Research.fi: Publications with search term Africa, within social sciences External link, opens in new window. (try filtering to specific countries)	Research.fi contains information on the Finnish research system, publications by Finnish organizations, projects funded by public and private research funders, and statistical information on the development of research resources and impact.
Iceland	Opin vísindi: Publications with the search terms Africa OR Guinea Bissau OR Tanzania External link, opens in new window. (other other relevant geographical areas) Skemman: Publications with the word Africa in the bibliographical information External link, opens in new window.	Opin vísindi is the institutional repository of several universities on Iceland. Skemman is a collective digital repository for publications until 2016 for universities on Iceland.
Norway	CRISTIN: Publications with search term Africa in the title from 2021 onwards. External link, opens in new window. (try other relevant geographical areas)	CRISTIN (Current Research Information System In Norway) is a collective database for academic output in Norway.
Sweden	Swepub: Social sciences publications with country names or Africa in the record, 2023—2025 External link, opens in new window.	Swepub contains references to research publications registered in at present approximately 40 of the Swedish universities and of other authority publication databases.

Strategy documents / policies from Nordic Ministries for Foreign Affairs
	Links and search criteria
Denmark	Africa External link, opens in new window. MENA External link, opens in new window. Development activities and partnership programmes, on separate web pages.
Finland	Search on Africa* External link, opens in new window., filtered down to MFA's publications. Possible to filter results further. Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Development policy and development cooperation External link, opens in new window.
Iceland	Web page on bilateral cooperation External link, opens in new window.
Norway	Search on Africa + strategy External link, opens in new window., possible to filter results further on content, topic, ministry etc.
Sweden	Search on Africa External link, opens in new window., narrowed down to MFA's publications on international development cooperation. Possible to filter results further. Recent Swedish policy documents on Development cooperation: Development assistance for a new era - Government.se External link, opens in new window. (Dec 2023) International development cooperation strategies - Government.se External link, opens in new window. (April 2025) Statement of Foreign Policy - Government.se External link, opens in new window. (Feb 2025)

The Nordic Africa Institute

Nordic relations with Africa

The Sharpeville Massacre gives rise to a wave of anti-apartheid activism across the Nordics. In the aftermath, Albert Luthuli receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. In this photo, taken in Oslo 1961, we see him at Folkets Hus in Oslo. Photo: Leif Krohn Ørnelund, Oslo museum.

The Nordic Africa Institute, a centre for research on Africa, is founded on the Nordic Council’s initiative. In the photo, we see Dr John Ndisi and the Institute's first Director Dr Carl Gösta Widstrand at the inauguration ceremony in Uppsala. Photo: Uppsala-Bild.

The UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm – the first global environment summit – features many African nations voicing ecological concerns. In the photo, we see Perez Arteta, Joseph Odero-Jowi Kenya, and M Plehn-Mejia at the conference. Photo: Yutaka Nagata, UN.

Following the UN/OAU conference on the victims of colonialism in Oslo, Nordic governments increase assistance to liberation movements. In the photo, we see Vasco Cabral and Joseph Turpin from the liberation parties of Guinea and Cape Verde, at the conference. Photo: UN.

The Swedish Air Force delivers a mobile field hospital after the Rhodesian attacks on ZAPU camps in Zambia. In the photo, taken in Freedom Camp, Zimbabwe, we see ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo with journalists viewing the damage after the attacks. Photo: NAI Liberation Africa Collection / JNT Nkobi.

Iceland sets up its international development agency ICEIDA, supporting, for example, fisheries training in Namibia and Cape Verde. In the photo, taken some years later (1987), we see Stefán Thórarinsson with two fishermen in the fishing boat Feng in Cape Verde. Photo: ICEIDA / JH.

Severe famine strikes the Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia and Sudan. Nordic humanitarian NGOs respond vigorously. In the photo, taken in Ethiopia in 1984, we see food distribution organised by the Red Cross. Photo: British Red Cross.

As UN Special Representative, Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari plays a key role in Namibia’s transition to independence and democracy. In the photo, we see him and his deputy Legwaila T. Legwaila as they visit a ballot-counting centre in Windhoek. Photo: Milton Grant UN.

The Training for Peace (TfP) Programme, which aims to build peacekeeping capacity in Africa, starts, with Norway a key partner and funder. In the photo, which is taken at a later date, we see women participating in a training session. Photo: Accord.

The first African-Nordic Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is held in Stockholm. This annual forum becomes a platform for informal policy dialogue. In the photo, taken one year later (2002), we see Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh. Photo: Vesa Lindqvist / Matti Hurm.

Finland sets up a project aimed at enhancing the African Union's mediation support structures. The photo, taken many years later (2022) in Nkhata Bay, Malawi, shows a mediation training session with FemWise-Africa. Photo: Erika Paakkinen, CMI.

Norway hosts a UN-supported humanitarian conference on the Lake Chad crisis, giving people in need of aid a voice. In the photo, we see Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Merete Lundemo, Norway's Special Representative for the Sahel. Photo: Ken Opprann, MFA Norway.

The governments of Finland, Norway and Denmark launch Africa strategies. The photo shows the press conference held in Copenhagen in August 2024 at the release of the Danish government's new comprehensive Africa strategy. Photo: Danish government.

Introduction

Resources via the Nordic Africa Institute

Resources elsewhere

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