Lord Popat
Main Page: Lord Popat (Conservative - Life peer)
Lord Popat (Con)
My Lords, I too welcome my noble friend to the Dispatch Box for the first time. Does she agree that a vital part of our trading arsenal is visits by Ministers and delegations to the continent of Africa? We see many visits to Asia but very few, if any, to Africa. Quite often, these visits are to do with DfID—in other words, they are to do with aid, not trade. Can she encourage more Cabinet Ministers to lead from the front and start visiting Africa?
Baroness Sugg
I agree with my noble friend, who speaks from his experience as the Prime Minister’s envoy to Uganda and Rwanda. Ministerial visits and delegations of course lead to improved relations and progress on commercial trade deals. I have already mentioned that my noble friend the Minister of State for Trade Policy and Rory Stewart, the Minister for Africa, were in the region last week attending the Great Lakes trade summit. The Chancellor visited South Africa last year, but there are opportunities to do more, and I will pass on my noble friend’s request.