Oscar Santiago Vargas Guevara *

Colombia’s Vice President Francia Márquez has ended her diplomatic tour of South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia, for which she was heavily criticized. However, if this effort takes off, it could become a diplomatic coup in the Global South, with implications for industry, trade, culture and climate change in Africa and Latin America.

Few recent events have received as much banal, predictable and showbiz criticism as the vice president’s diplomatic tour of several African countries. Among other things, they talked about the price of fuel, the numerous entourage and the arrogance of France. This just highlights the double standards we, as a society, hold the country’s first black vice president to.

However, the impact these criticisms had on public opinion cannot be denied. AND review Datexca shows that more than half of Colombians disagree with the trip (compared to 29% who agree) and that more than seven in ten respondents think the vice president should provide explanations regarding the trip and its costs.

Despite so many smokescreens, a legitimate concern is coming to light: why should diplomatic rapprochement with African countries be our priority, when we are economically more dependent on relations with the United States and the European Union?

vice president gave some explanations about finding this strengthening diplomatic relations. “Colombia has turned its back on the African continent for years. […] Economically, if you look down on a continent that has 1.390 million inhabitants and say that there is nothing to do there, I think that is a very biased point of view”. He also referred to the long history of conflicts and efforts to build peace in the region:[África] It is a continent of reconciliation and there, at that moment, has a lot to offer our country”.

This effort is part of the functions delegated by President Gustavo Petro in terms of strengthening international relations with movements of Afro-descendants. So far, numerous MoUs on trade, culture and even gender have been announced, the latter through the “She Exports to Africa” ​​program that seeks to boost the economy of women in the country. Although these are already significant developments, if this strategy is consolidated, we could witness one of the great diplomatic maneuvers of the century from the Global South.

This political rapprochement, on the one hand, could be an introduction to the dynamics of coordination in international negotiation spaces such as the G77, a coalition of 134 developing countries that has been fundamental in promoting any political agenda at the United Nations. Latin America and the Caribbean also have something to learn from the African Union in terms of regional integration, given that the latter has consistently expressed unique views in these areas, contrary to the dispersed and divergent voices heard on this side of the Atlantic.

The emergence of this bi-regional coalition could consolidate the current leadership of Colombia and Brazil in the global fight against climate change by mobilizing such a powerful bloc as the African Union. Although interregional conflicts over the distribution of scarce climate finance could lead to discord, aligning the regions could serve to increase the contribution of the global North.

In this context, priority should be given to demanding resources for adaptation to climate change and progress in creation Fund for losses and damages, which was agreed last year at the COP summit in Egypt. In addition, the regions must demand global financing commitments to protect the Amazon and Congo basins (the two most important carbon sinks in the world) through instruments debt write-offamong others.

This diplomatic effort should also be understood starting from Reindustrialization policy, which is perhaps the only national government program that has gained some consensus among sectors in the country. This is to help the country “move from an extractivist economy to a productive and sustainable knowledge economy” by strengthening the business and commercial system, prioritizing sectors that were strong before the neoliberal opening of the 1990s, such as agro-industrial and pharmaceutical production.

However, it is not a strictly protectionist policy. Quite the opposite. This depends on strengthening commercial links with markets where these products can be competitive (not in the United States or Europe, but in Latin America and other developing economies). Africa would be an excellent candidate given that the African Continental Free Trade Area is the largest in the world and that Colombian sales to African countries have increased by 158% 2022 compared to the previous year.

The vice president’s diplomatic tour is promising. However, important sectors of the country will not be waiting for her with open arms, and racism and misinformation have a lot to do with that. It is also true that there was a lack of a comprehensive strategy for communicating the importance of this diplomatic visit by the Vice Presidency and in coordination with other dependents of the national government. And while it may seem like a detail, it’s not a small thing. This strategy requires a radical shift in perception to see ourselves as a country that can go beyond exporting raw materials and cheap labor to the global north. We need to harness this creative energy and learn from other regions with similar challenges.

Meanwhile, opposition senator María Fernanda Cabal, chirped a video of the vice president dancing to African rhythms during the tour with the following text: “This is ‘living tasty'”. Beyond the irony, this statement is interesting: to live deliciously, of course, it means smiling, dancing and being in contact with the roots, with the womb. In fact, the colonial wound may begin to heal with this conversation. How nice to see a representative of all Colombians rebuilding the umbilical cord between our peoples through art, love for the territory, dance and smile. (OR)

* Oscar Santiago Vargas Guevara is the coordinator of environmental and fiscal policy projects of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Colombia (Fescol).