THE BRITISH government have prioritised a post-Brexit trade deal with Liechtenstein over Africa, after it was revealed that trade ministers have only visited sub-Saharan Africa once in the past four years.

While Liz Truss, when she was trade secretary, struck a trade deal with the tiny state in the Alps – with a population equivalent to Canvey Island on the Essex coast – the entire sub-Saharan Africa was neglected despite having a combined population of 1.14 billion people.

In a parliamentary answer, trade minister James Duddridge admitted only one minister had visited sub-Saharan Africa since 2019, covering the period when Truss was secretary of state for trade, and foreign secretary.

This stands in stark contrast to the way Truss had boasted last year about the deal with Liechtenstein, with a population of just 38,000, or just 0.004% of the sub-Saharan Africa populous.

Responding to a question by Labour MP Ruth Jones, Duddridge said: “Department for International Trade Ministers have visited sub-Saharan Africa once since the start of 2019. Former Minister for Exports visited Nigeria and South Africa in May 2022.”

The low priority given to Africa indicates that any post-Brexit trade deal with sub-Saharan nations is highly unlikely.

Truss, as Prime Minister, was recently rebuffed by US President Joe Biden who said there was no chance of a trade deal with Britain, in an echo of the time Barack Obama told the UK it would be “at the back of the queue” for a deal with the US if it left Europe.

The British government appear to have their eyes set on new trade deals with the primarily white nations of New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Reacting to news about lack of trade contact with sub-Saharan Africa, Labour councillor and activist Adam Jogee said: “The Tories promised us a ‘Global Britain’ but that hasn’t extended to parts of the world that made this country so wealthy in years gone by.

“Global Britain won’t happen without a respectful, open and honest relationship between the UK and Africa as a continent.

“The fact that one Tory Trade Minister in three years bothered to visit says it all. No respect, no plan and no engagement. It says it all really.”

Botswana, Rwanda, Eritrea, Eswatini and Kenya are all enjoying higher GPD growth than Britain.

Government sources insist that ministerial visits are far from the only way to promote trading relationships, and that the Africa minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth department, who has made several visits to the continent, also promotes trade.

There has been criticism about the lack of attention given to increasing Africa’s energy production to ease the West’s cost of living crisis, with some commentators suspecting that rich nations would rather see their own people suffer than boost Africa’s economies with oil and gas exports.

A Department for International Trade spokesperson said: “Since the UK became an independent trading nation, we’ve secured 9 trade agreements covering 18 African countries, including 15 in sub-Saharan Africa. Our financial support for infrastructure projects in the region totalled £2.3bn in the last year alone.

“Despite the travel restrictions of the pandemic, the UK hosted the UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2020 and a further two Investment Conferences – in 2021 and 2022.

“The former Minister for Exports was able to visit South Africa and Nigeria once travel opened up earlier this year, building on extensive ministerial-led engagement that had necessarily been virtual.”