Casa África's Diplomatic Council meets in Madrid

The Palacio de Viana in Madrid welcomed this morning's meeting of Casa África's Diplomatic Council, attended by representatives of 23 African embassies accredited in Spain, led by the dean of the African diplomatic mission in Madrid, the Angolan ambassador to Spain, Victor Manuel da Silva Fonseca. Casa África's Diplomatic Council has been traditionally held in the Spanish capital around 25th May, Africa Day, since 2008. This time, it was under the chairmanship of the President of the Canary Islands Government, Paulino Rivero, current president of Casa África's Governing Council. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the meeting was chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Gonzalo de Benito Secades, and from Casa África, by the institution's Director General, Luis Padrón. The Diplomatic Council was attended by 21 of the 23 African ambassadors currently serving in Spanish territory. In addition, minutes before the conclusion of the Diplomatic Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, met with the President of the Government of the Canary Islands. This is the sixth Diplomatic Council held since the creation of Casa África.

Casa África's Diplomatic Council serves as a meeting point for Hispanic-African diplomacy and as a space for sharing projects and defining lines of work and joint strategies. It also has the task of providing a framework for the presentation of Casa África's programming until the end of the year and providing an overview of its activities since the previous Diplomatic Council until now.

On this occasion, the Casa África's Director General showed the institution's lines of work in the coming months. In addition, Paulino Rivero introduced the ambitious programme Canary Islands, European Business Hub in Africa. This initiative primarily focuses on a web portal that aims to strengthen the promotion of the Canary Islands archipelago in West Africa. Canary Islands, European Business Hub in Africa seeks, among other things, to inform international companies and agencies of the advantages of the Canary Islands as a logistical base from which to operate with Africa and promote the internationalization of Canary Island companies on African soil. In the same way African ambassadors transferred to Casa África's Director General their request for Spanish economic diplomacy to be strengthened in Africa.