Africa and the Mediterranean as a major priority

Madrid hosted the Africa-Spain Cooperation Summit with the aim of continuing to strengthen ties between Spain and Europe and the African continent in order to take advantage of the great economic and investment opportunities that Africa offers. 

In this sense, Atalayar spoke with Pere Navarro, head of the Zona Franca de Barcelona company, to analyse this issue and to highlight the great relevance of the relationship between Spain and Africa, specifically Morocco, and the great possibilities that the Mediterranean region has. 

One of the objectives of the Zona Franca de Barcelona consortium, which you lead, is to attract national and international companies, especially in Industry 4.0. What possibilities does this Africa-Spain Summit offer in terms of this objective?  

We are working a lot on the subject of Industry 4.0, which is sensor technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, everything that this new way of manufacturing means. These technologies or industry is no longer something that happens in a specific place in the territory, but we are working in a world with a global market. And, in this sense, this Spain-Africa Summit is very useful for us, because we must not forget that Africa is our closest neighbour to the south and that, therefore, in addition to geographical proximity, we also want to propose mental and economic proximity.  

From mutual collaboration, from the desire to cooperate with a world that is growing very rapidly, related to the new economy in many African countries. And, therefore, this summit is also a meeting place and a place for creating new opportunities.  

You have been in contact with the heads of Tangier Med, with the Chamber of Commerce of the region of Tangier, Tetouan and Al Hoceima and you have set as your objective the creation of a platform of free zones in the Mediterranean. Do you believe that both Spain and Morocco, as the gateway to Europe and Africa respectively, have a fundamental role in the development of trade relations between the two continents?  

Obviously, we are talking about the distance between Europe and Africa being the 13 kilometres that separate us at the Strait of Gibraltar, and the two countries that make up this distance are precisely Spain and Morocco. Therefore, cooperation with Morocco, cooperation with the new infrastructures that are being created, such as Tangier Med or cooperation with the network of free trade zones not only in Morocco, but also in the Mediterranean and, above all, also in Africa, is fundamental for us.  

Why?  

Because just as our territorial priority is based on the Mediterranean, it is also based on our relationship with the other side of the Atlantic, with America, especially Latin America. So this triangle is really very interesting. It is very interesting because, on the one hand, there is the geographical proximity, and on the other hand, there is the cultural proximity of a history of many years, but above all there is also the capacity to generate new opportunities through these new technologies, this new economy.  

Finally, what is your assessment of the Focus Africa 2023 initiative launched by the Spanish government to develop trade relations with this continent?  

I see the Spanish government as really very committed to the capacity to lead, shall we say, international relations. We are in the six months of Spain's presidency of the European Union and this is very important because it marks a path for Europe as a whole, for all the countries of Europe in relation to its southern neighbours and in relation to the world as a whole. And, therefore, these initiatives created by the Spanish Government, because they also have a continental dimension, are interesting because what comes from Africa, unfortunately, does not only have to be immigrants who live in a dramatic and often tragic situation, but governments, first and foremost, and society as a whole, have to take a stand, and society as a whole have to work to ensure that these countries can develop opportunities for industrialisation, for the application of these new economies, of this new industry and so that the Mediterranean Sea, in short, can be a sea, as it has often been, of cultural exchange and not a sea, let us say, unfortunately, that has been an impassable border for many people. Therefore, we are going to build these bridges of relations and make them solid.