The Governing Council and the Diplomatic Council of Casa África meet up in Madrid to take stock of 2011 and plan 2012

Casa África’s Governing Council and the Diplomatic Council met yesterday at the Palacio de Viana in Madrid to take stock of activities in 2011 and hear about the preview of the scheduled programming for 2012, which was presented by its General Director, Ricardo Martínez Vázquez.

In attendance on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, we had the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and South America, Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo García; the General Director of International Economic Relations and Energy Affairs José Eugenio Salarich, and José Manuel Albares Bueno, General  Director of África Subsahariana. The Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations Carlos Alberdi Alonso attended on behalf of  the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AECID).

In attendance on behalf of the Canary Island Government we had the Government’s deputy president José Miguel Pérez García; Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Equality, Francisco Hernández Spínola; Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs with the European Union,  Ildefonso Socorro, and the Director General for Relations with Africa  Pablo Martín-Carbajal. The mayor Juan José Cardona was present on behalf of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Town Council.

During the Council, Casa África's programming for 2011 was valued positively, and the representatives of all the consortium administrations appreciated that Casa África had consolidated itself in a few years as " privileged instrument of Spanish foreign policy towards Africa" as well as a fundamental value for the Canary Islands as the actor in this foreign policy, which consolidates its role as a tri-continental platform and strategic point for Spain's access to the continent.

Casa África's Governing Council, the body that brings together African ambassadors in Spain for the Governing Council, brought together the ambassadors of Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the Diplomatic Council, the African ambassadors highlighted Casa África's role as an organisation that has contributed with its activities in generating a positive image of Spain on the African continent, showing that it is country that is "modern, fair and interested about the African agenda."