Working with our network partners we were tasked with supporting the French Development Agency (FDA) in reinforcing French-British cooperation in the Sahel region. During a UK summit on development and international investment in this region, and another in Brussels, the UK officially became one of 3 new actors along with Italy and Spain in the Sahel Alliance, agreeing £6bn of investment across 500 projects in the region between 2018 and 2022.
Working with the FDA, we used this investment as the catalyst to create national dialogue on the potential of further collaborative investments and projects across Africa. We undertook a media tour of the UK; reaching out to UK businesses and government with a refreshingly positive slant on a future of working with eurozone partners, and creating a more open investment environment.