Casa África takes part in the diplomatic meeting “Africa’s women are its soul”

The meeting, organised as a closed-door working session, was attended by the dean of the African ambassadors in Spain, Paulo Da Silva, ambassador of Guinea Bissau in Spain. The ambassadors of Algeria, Nigeria and Senegal in Spain participated: Taous Ferokhi, Susan Aderonke Folarin and Mariame Sy. Mavis Esi Kusorgbor, Ghana’s Minister of Economic Affairs in Spain, was also part of the working group. The meeting was also attended by Elcia Grandcourt, director of the Africa regional programme at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, and journalists Beatriz Mesa, Lola Hierro, Paula Mayoral and Marta Pastor, as well as the director of Hera&Partners, Marta Lamas, and the CEO of IBC Spain, Navin Khemlani.

This meeting came about from the premise that more than 50% of the current and future population of Africa are urban women and that Africa’s socio-economic development is inconceivable without them. One conclusion of this meeting is that African women face similar challenges to women in the rest of the world, such as lack of visibility and the gender pay gap. However, in spite of the fact that African women have to live with so many stereotypes, the African ambassadors in Spain stated in this meeting that they do not consider that they have a particularly negative image in our country, nor do they perceive discrimination or racism in comparison with other countries.

The meeting highlighted the importance of training and education, the need to increase the visibility of women and the crucial issue of access to finance. The African diplomats asked Casa África and the UNWTO to help train women and increase their visibility in areas where particular Spanish know-how exists, such as tourism and renewable energies. This is the first in a series of diplomatic meetings aimed at discussing the realities, opportunities and challenges of each country with regard to the advancement of women.