SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The acting President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, together with the acting Minister of Economy and Employment, Elena Máñez, attended the presentation, in Madrid, of the Spain-Africa Business Council, whose general secretary will be Agustín from the Canary Islands. Manrique de Lara and that will be based on the islands.
Speaking to the media, Ángel Víctor Torres highlighted the intense work carried out so that the archipelago is the permanent headquarters of this body, for which he highlighted the decision of the CEOE since “this connects Europe with Africa and even with Latin America, but with a permanent look towards the African continent”.
The head of the regional government recalled that the Canary Islands is the only Spanish region with a specific address for relations with Africa which, moreover, “has intensified in recent years with the expansion of projects such as Interreg Mac to up to seven countries.”
For Torres, Africa is not only an opportunity for economic expansion, but also represents “a requirement to promote its values and those of Europe, the Canary Islands being, without a doubt, the best bridge for that.” As he recalled, this was already achieved with the OECD Digital Economy Summit, but, due to the geographical proximity, good relations must be strengthened, “for example, to advance the maritime connection between Morocco (Tarfaya) and the Canary Islands through Fuerteventura”.
For this reason, the president insists on the importance of investing in Africa and getting the best out of each one and, “for that, it is very important to have a specific CEOE office for those relations between Europe and Africa. It could have been anywhere of Spain, but the Canary Islands were chosen in the end, so you are welcome”.
For her part, the Minister of Economy intervened as a speaker to explain the relevance that the archipelago already has in Spain-Africa relations, being the headquarters of Casa África and with a long tradition of bilateral relations in all areas.
Regarding the economy, Elena Máñez recalled that “there are more than 140 Canarian companies already established in the neighboring continent and the islands -which represent around 4% of the Spanish population- have a weight of around 7.1% of exports Spanish towards Sub-Saharan Africa”. Figures that the counselor estimated will experience significant progress, thanks to this newly created Council.
