Why and how the Nordic countries should align their engagement with Africa

Moving away from traditional aid-driven agendas, Finland, Norway and Denmark have launched Africa strategies that aim to foster equitable partnerships based on mutual interests in trade, security and climate adaptation. The respective strategies share common ground in terms of strengthening Nordic–African ties, supporting multilateralism and advancing Africa’s global influence. Given this common ground, the Nordic countries could reinforce their chances of shaping the global agenda by aligning their approaches.

Jesper Bjarnesen, Diana Højlund Madsen, Liisa Laakso, Patience Mususa and Angela Muvumba Sellström

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.

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

Finland: Aiming to double trade by 2030

Finland launched its first-ever comprehensive Africa strategy External link, opens in new window. in 2021. The strategy – which was prepared by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in cooperation with other ministries, and included broad stakeholder consultations – departs from development cooperation as the country’s primary foreign policy tool. Instead, it emphasises mutual interests, while signalling a continued commitment to human rights, democratic governance and the rule of law, including support for conflict resolution and regional cooperation. Here, the African Union’s policy for preventing terrorism and religious radicalisation represents a significant reference point.

Finland continues to invest in European Union–Africa partnerships through the Global Gateway and Team Europe initiatives, underlining the fact that cooperation requires the involvement of not only states, but businesses, civil society and the scientific community. Concrete targets include a doubling of trade between Finland and African countries between 2020 and 2030.

Denmark: ‘Better offers, less moralism’

Denmark launched its new Africa strategy External link, opens in new window. in September 2024, spearheaded by Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The strategy stresses Africa’s growing geopolitical importance, pledging genuine collaboration with African states and actors through bringing ‘better offers, less moralism, and more equality to the table’. This renewed relationship is to be based on shared interests in trade and investment – most significantly in African green minerals.

The strategy points to security and migration as overlapping concerns. While acknowledging that Africa’s projected population growth will provide an unprecedented supply of young people able to provide labour both within and beyond the continent, the strategic concerns about unwanted Europe-bound migration from conflict-affected regions are reflected in the proposed doubling of the Danish Africa Programme for Peace’s budget. A similar rationale can be read into Denmark’s decision to open new embassies in Tunisia, Senegal and Rwanda – all key actors in European efforts to stem irregular migration.

The strategy also spotlights multilateralism, the roles played by the EU, the UN, the AU and Nordic collaboration. In particular, it pledges to use Denmark’s seat in the UN Security Council to not only bolster conflict prevention capacities, but strengthen African representation in multilateral forums, including the Security Council itself. Finally, climate adaptation is emphasised (with, for example, more than one billion DKK pledged towards new water initiatives), although less prominently than in the previous 2007 strategy.

Norway: Investing in mutual benefits

Norway’s Africa strategy External link, opens in new window. was launched in August 2024 following an extensive national stakeholder consultative process involving Norwegian academia, civil society and the private sector. Partnerships and equality are central to a strategy that sees Norway shifting away from a donor–recipient model towards equitable collaboration based on shared interests and mutual understanding. The strategy stresses the importance of locally-led development initiatives and civil society engagement, and there is significant focus on climate adaptation and renewable energy. On the latter point, the strategy highlights the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) – which already has 62 percent of its portfolio in Africa – as a key vehicle for driving investment in renewables.

Norway supports increased African representation and influence in the UN Security Council, as well as strengthening the role of the UN’s African headquarters in Nairobi. When it comes to security, the new strategy takes a comprehensive approach, combining peacebuilding, counter-extremism and conflict prevention with digital security initiatives and support for African-led peacekeeping efforts.

Economic cooperation is another pillar of the strategy. In this respect, the importance of trade, investment and private sector development is stressed, alongside the promotion of responsible business practices and innovation, especially when it comes to green technology and knowledge sectors. Additionally, the strategy incorporates a rights-based approach based on democracy, gender equality and the inclusion of marginalised groups in decision-making processes. The importance of addressing sexual and gender-based violence is also stressed.

Old commitments and new(ish) tropes

The strategies outlined above reflect ongoing global debates regarding Africa’s growing political and economic importance; shifting geopolitical alliances; and the perceived threat of increased irregular migration from Africa to Europe. A common trope in the Nordic strategies is the pledge of a more genuine, reciprocal relationship with African actors. Although presented as a novelty, similar pledges have long been a feature of Nordic approaches to developing world regions. While this does not necessarily imply the strategies are little more than ‘business as usual’, caution should be exercised in assessing how ‘new’ they really are.

The five Nordic countries have tended to display more commonalities than differences in their foreign policy outlooks, including when engaging with Africa. Thus, the joint Nordic ‘brand’ has been built around a strong commitment to the rules-based international order; a less troubled history of colonisation compared to the central European states; an emphasis on (soft) diplomacy and dialogue; foregrounding democracy support and gender equality; and a historical role in supporting liberation movements in southern Africa. Nordic development cooperation has also traditionally shared several key features, such as relatively high levels of overseas development assistance relative to gross national income; an emphasis on supporting the multilateral system; and prioritising support for civil society actors. Over the past ten years, the share of official development assistance (ODA) that the Nordic countries directed to Africa has been only slightly higher than the Development Assistance Committee average – 33 percent compared to 32 percent.

Several of the cornerstones outlined above remain in the new strategies. All three stress the importance of multilateralism, with organisations such as the AU, EU and UN seen as offering useful platforms for enhancing Africa’s global influence. Moreover, despite each of the countries having its own priorities, all three strategies place great stress on democracy, equality and sustainability.
In addition to renewing these longstanding priorities, all three strategies signal a move away from aid and development cooperation as the predominant mode of engagement with African actors. Instead, the focus is primarily on using trade and investment to boost economic growth and support business in both Africa and the Nordics. This shift resonates with the commitments made by African states and regional bodies to reduce dependencies and boost foreign trade.

Climate change adaptation and renewable energy also represent important goals for the three countries. This translates into support for climate change mitigation in Africa, alongside a recognition of the strategic importance of the continent’s green minerals.

Finally, the three strategies all make a connection between security and migration. Here, Denmark’s strategy is the most explicit, justifying collaboration on peace, security and counter-terrorism with reference to halting irregular migration from Africa to Europe.

Thematic and regional divergences

Although the Nordic region often appears fairly homogenous in terms of foreign policy, the new Africa strategies do reveal several longstanding nuances and divergences. The Danish approach is structured around three key pillars – trade, security and migration – with a strong emphasis on countering China’s influence via strategic investments and diplomatic initiatives. Norway, by contrast, has placed climate action and renewable energy at the heart of its Africa strategy. In highlighting Norfund as a key investment tool, the strategy is reflective of Norway’s leadership in hydropower, solar and wind energy. Finland, meanwhile, distinguishes itself with a focus on education, digitalisation and governance, prioritising knowledge-sharing partnerships and research collaborations. Overall, Finland’s strategy, which is being implemented through sector-specific action plans encompassing multiple government ministries, is the most structured.

While the Danish strategy avoids overt democracy promotion, Finland continues to emphasise good governance, anti-corruption and transparency, seeing these as essential for economic and security cooperation. Unlike Norway and Finland, Denmark explicitly links migration to security, treating Africa’s population growth as both a labour market opportunity and source of migration pressure on Europe. Norway takes a more holistic security approach, integrating peacebuilding, counter-extremism and digital security efforts, and emphasising African-led peacekeeping initiatives.

Another major difference between the strategies lies in gender equality and human rights. Unlike Finland and Norway, which both strongly emphasise gender equality in their strategies, Denmark makes no mention of the subject.

The regional focus adopted by each of the strategies also varies. Denmark’s most recent engagement is mainly confined to migration transit countries, such as Tunisia, Senegal and Rwanda, reflecting its focus on migration control. The other two strategies, by contrast, point to a broader geographic approach, with Norway’s climate and security priorities leading it to target countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia and South Sudan. Finland, meanwhile, emphasises AU-led governance reforms. Norway also stresses the importance of strengthening the UN’s African headquarters in Nairobi.

Common ground for Nordic cooperation

Despite their disparities, the three strategies share considerable common ground. As such, it would be relatively easy to align them into a coordinated Nordic Africa strategy position based around a number of key themes. This would maximise synergy effects and allow the Nordic region to punch above its weight.

First and foremost, all the strategies mention Nordic cooperation as a key feature of multilateral engagement. Although such cooperation is generally well established at the operational level of embassies and multilateral delegations, there is scope for improvement at the strategic level of the respective foreign ministries.

Second, the strategies all prioritise the expansion of trade relations with Africa, highlighting in particular the strategic importance of the continent’s green minerals. At the same time, they lack a clear vision on how to make such engagement attractive to African governments, given the latter are already pursuing a proactive green industrial policy agenda and integrating intra-African trade. Joint Nordic cooperation on trade relations could help mitigate this weakness, especially as the Nordic countries have distinct export profiles that could complement each other.

It is worth noting that despite recent pledges to increase trade in Africa, the actual investments made by the Nordic countries have thus far been minimal. While this offers considerable scope for expansion, doing so will require concerted time and effort on the part of the Nordics, which have limited connections and experience when it comes to engaging with African states and businesses. The Danish strategy acknowledges this lack of experience, setting out its intention to strengthen advisory services to Danish investors in Africa.

Third, the Nordic strategies all pledge increased commitment to peace and security. This seems an obvious field for structured Nordic cooperation, building on a long tradition of engagement with international peacekeeping, peace brokerage and training missions.

Fourth, there is a shared emphasis in the strategies on strengthening Africa’s role and voice in international forums. This could prompt a leveraging of influence though concerted Nordic political and strategic cooperation, most notably in the UN but also when negotiating Africa-related policies at the EU level.

Fifth, Nordic cooperation offers a means of rearticulating a shared commitment to democracy. Although the current strategies differ in this regard, the Nordic countries could nevertheless find common ground by moving beyond traditional capacity-building engagements and focusing more on principles such as equality and justice.

Sixth, there is potential for greater Nordic coordination around migration governance, despite significant differences in how the three strategies frame African migration towards Europe. For example, it may be possible to combine the Finnish emphasis on improving opportunities for legal migration with the Danish pledge to proactively reduce the drivers of irregular migration and increase student exchanges. All three strategies would be closer to achieving a dignified, humane migration governance agenda if they aligned their policies with the Nordics’ longstanding emphasis on respect for and promotion of universal human rights. Ongoing efforts to increase Nordic cooperation on returns and readmissions offer valuable lessons in this regard.

Seventh, the Nordic countries have all been leading innovators when it comes to climate adaptation and green energy. While the Finnish and Danish strategies are not as explicit in their commitments as previous iterations, increased joint Nordic climate action would sustain this world-leading role, offering African states and actors a comprehensive agenda for the much-needed green transition.

Finally, the Nordic region is well-placed to renew its longstanding dedication to gender equality through joint cooperation and advocacy in international forums. This is particularly important given the resistance and apathy currently facing the global gender equality agenda.

The benefits of collaboration mean the strategic priorities set out above could easily extend to Sweden and Iceland as well. The ongoing foreign policy reforms being undertaken by the two counties offer further opportunities to strengthen Nordic cooperation, safeguard longstanding principles and relationships, and inspire deeper engagement with African states and actors.

On the basis of the comparative reflection offered by this Policy Note, we encourage all five Nordic governments to invest more time and resources in aligning their foreign policy engagements with African actors. Towards this end, we offer specific examples – provided by nine NAI researchers – of how to improve and leverage Nordic cooperation.

How can the Nordic countries align their engagements with Africa?

Tips from NAI researchers

• Job creation and skills development. One of the 20 goals set up in the AU’s Agenda 2063 is for ‘transformed economies’. Recent assessments indicate the implementation level so far is just 17 percent, making it the weakest performing of the agenda’s goals. This shortfall is particularly concerning in light of Africa’s rapidly growing population and rising youth unemployment. Given that many African governments are prioritising digital skills development, Nordic countries can leverage their advanced expertise in this area, for example by supporting investments in digital infrastructure and facilitating skills transfers. / Jörgen Levin and Emmanuel Orkoh
• Climate adaptation. Nordic commitments to address climate adaptation in partnership with African countries could include incubation grants for capacity building, as well as finance options for testing and commercialising green innovation through training and business development. Nordic countries could also reinforce locally-led adaptation planning through multi-stakeholder partnerships, thereby nurturing multiple pathways to sustainability. / Eleanor Fisher
• Democratic stability. The Nordic countries share strategic interests in supporting a democratic consolidation in Africa that is aligned with AU priorities. Drawing on their institution-building and public service-delivery experiences, the Nordics can help strengthen African states against corruption. This would in turn build public trust, contributing to long-term democratic stability. Based on their common agenda of supporting civil society organisations, Nordic countries are also well-placed to promote inclusivity reforms and assist in dislodging entrenched patronage systems. / Liisa Laakso
• Irregular migration. Few Nordic countries have offered details on how they actually intend to reduce irregular migration. Joint Nordic efforts should therefore focus on shaping the EU Pact for Migration and Asylum, especially its plans to expand legal migration pathways, and strengthening European support for the Free Movement Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which faces ratification and implementation challenges. These areas align with African governments’ priorities, potentially offering a platform for Nordic–African cooperation in reducing irregular migration. / Jesper Bjarnesen
• Green minerals. Nordic and African countries share a common interest in developing renewable energy technologies for climate adaptation and economic growth. While the Nordic countries are acutely aware of Africa’s critical minerals endowment and its strategic importance, they often fail to acknowledge their African counterparts’ agenda of establishing a green industrial base for their transition minerals. This constitutes a missed opportunity for joint Nordic–African research and innovation, as well as the sharing of mineral and natural resource governance experiences. / Patience Mususa
• Women in politics. The past decade has seen a backlash against gender equality and democracy, both globally and in Africa, with gendered political violence leading to women being marginalised from politics. As such, the Nordic countries should formulate a joint position aimed at supporting progressive voices on the continent, with a particular focus on working towards the rights laid out in the African Union’s Maputo Protocol. / Diana Højlund Madsen
• Global governance. African–Nordic relations are mutually invested in global governance systems. Nordic engagement should continue to support African goals for reform. As new structures emerge, African voices – from governments to civil society – must be included in formal decision-making and in informal negotiation processes. Moreover, Nordic and African countries should jointly address key gaps in global human security – beyond economic and military cooperation. / Angela Muvumba Sellström
• Benefits of free trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area holds immense potential in terms of driving inclusive economic growth, reducing poverty and accelerating industrialisation. Nevertheless, addressing the attendant structural adjustment costs represents a core challenge, as trade agreements with highly uneven benefits often unravel. By leveraging their expertise and resources, Nordic countries can help African countries craft economic reforms designed to ensure both inclusive growth and green transition. / Assem Abu Hatab