What does Boris Johnson think of Africa?

bbc

As the Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson steps over the threshold of 10 Downing Street later on Wednesday, no doubt it'll be Brexit that will be uppermost on his mind. But what is he thinking about this continent?

There may be some clues in what he has written about Africa.

In a 2002 blog following a visit to Uganda he wrote that the "problem [in Africa] is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more".

He said that colonialism ended slavery and brought cash crops, whereas aid efforts bring political correctness.

In the same year, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph that the Commonwealth supplied the Queen with "regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies".

In 2016, he wrote in the Sun newspaper that then-President Barack Obama had an "ancestral dislike of the British Empire" because he is "part-Kenyan".

Mr Johnson is never shy of the colourful phrase but when he gets into office, he'll be focused on the practicalities of a post-Brexit Britain, and that will include doing trade deals with African countries.

When it comes to African heads of state, some already welcomed his election as leader of the Conservative Party on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe's president wants to build "ever closer ties between our two nations":

And in a similar message, Ghana's president looks "forward to working with him"

ReutersCopyright: Reuters