Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly is heading to Africa as her government works on a long-awaited plan for how to engage with the continent.

Joly is traveling to Ivory Coast today before visiting South Africa for two days starting Wednesday.

Her office said the trip to Ivory Coast aims to explore shared counter-terrorism priorities and reaffirm Canada’s ties with both English and French-speaking countries.

It added that the stop in South Africa will see Joly discussing the economic partnership between the two countries and celebrating 30 years since the end of apartheid.

The trip comes just days after the Liberals launched consultations on what they now call their approach to Africa, focusing on the best places to position diplomats and what issues to prioritize.

The Liberals have been developing what they initially called an Africa strategy for nearly three years, but they downgraded the project last year to call it a framework. In April, a senior bureaucrat said there was no longer a name used to describe the plan, which as of this week Ottawa is now calling its "approach" to the continent.

Experts in public administration have previously noted that strategies are multi-year plans often accompanied by funding allocations, while frameworks are a general set of principles.

In 2022, senators on the foreign affairs committee warned that Canada is falling behind peers and rivals in forming economic relationships on the continent.

Africa is resisting a global trend of demographic decline, with a thriving youth population and a host of trade deals and infrastructure projects that economists expect will lead to an economic boom.

Canada has already committed to some sort of plan for economic cooperation with Africa, having wrapped up consultations last summer. It is unclear whether this project will fit into the broader approach led by Joly.

Aid experts have urged Canada to improve the branding of the projects it funds on the continent and to take a more coherent approach to both development and trade.

Groups like One Campaign and Cuso International have noted that Canada is losing relevance through ongoing withdrawal, thus conceding ground to Russia and China.

Joly's trip also comes as Canada faces calls to donate some of its vaccine supplies that could help stop the spread of monkeypox.

Ottawa says it is looking into how to assist countries where the disease is spreading rapidly, but it has not indicated any plan to share Canada's stockpile with developing countries.

The World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global public health emergency on August 14 due to its rapid spread on the continent, with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention asking countries like Canada to share vaccine doses.

South Africa has previously criticized countries like Canada for hoarding COVID-19 vaccines that were desperately needed in Africa and for not supporting efforts to lift patents on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines that are rarely allowed to be manufactured in African countries.