Hon. Amina Gerba: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Moreau, in his economic address on October 22, Prime Minister Mark Carney didn’t mention Africa as one of the priority markets for our non-U.S. exports. The African continent wasn’t named as a strategic market in the government’s budget, either. According to the Observatoire de la Francophonie économique, however, Canada is letting $381 billion U.S. in potential exports to Africa slip through its fingers every year. Africa has four times more consumers than the U.S. market.

Is Africa being given serious consideration under the Prime Minister’s strategy to double our exports to non-U.S. markets?

Hon. Pierre Moreau (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question, Senator Gerba. You raise an important point. Yes, the government is certainly considering Africa. The government has set itself a very ambitious goal when it comes to diversifying Canadian trade, and that is to double Canada’s exports to non-U.S. markets over the next decade. Obviously, that includes Africa. To meet that goal, Budget 2025 sets out several measures to encourage Canadian businesses to explore new markets, including Africa.

For example, I am thinking of the creation of the $5-billion Strategic Response Fund, which seeks to offset the costs associated with accessing new markets, including the African market. In 2024, Canada’s merchandise trade with African countries was valued at $15.1 billion, an increase of 30% over the past five years. That is an impressive figure. The government is confident that those figures will grow with the measures put forward in Budget 2025.

Senator Gerba: Thank you, Senator Moreau. Will the Prime Minister be attending the G20 summit, which is being held in Africa for the first time? If so, will he be going there to lay out an ambitious vision for the partnership between Canada and Africa, or will he arrive empty-handed?

Senator Moreau: The Prime Minister has an extremely busy schedule, but I’m told that when Mr. Carney met with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, he indicated that he plans to attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. The partnership between Canada and South Africa is growing, particularly in the areas of forest fire management, trade, participation in the Canadian delegation to —