"Africa is the mother of all resources and all opportunities"

Libya was present at the Africa Spain Business Summit through Khaled Kaim, senior advisor to the Libyan Presidential Council, in the panel dedicated to African processing industries. 

The Presidential Council advisor later spoke to Atalayar and gave his views on relations between Europe and African countries. 

What is your opinion on this Africa-Spain Business Summit? 

This is the second time I am participating here as an economist, politician, academic and pan-Africanist. This forum is a good opportunity, but I was hoping that we would see more Spaniards, more people from the private sector, from the government sector, from universities, from think tanks... 

Africa is the mother of all resources and the mother of all opportunities, but there are many opportunists who want to make money, spoil our land and do nothing for Africans. Spain does not have a bad relationship with Africa; there is a positive factor, which is the geographical proximity and connectivity with Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. If Spain knows how to take advantage of this relationship, it can do a lot. Africa can be helped by hiring local people, supervising the work, investing money, trusting local banks... 

What can Libya offer Spanish and European investors? 

Libya offers opportunities to invest in various sectors: banking, agriculture, tourism, agribusiness, oil... We have large Libyan oil companies with a presence in East Africa. 

I think Spain needs to make progress in overcoming the language and cultural barriers: it can invest in teaching Africans the Spanish language, as the British Council is doing with English. Progress must also be made in the creation of joint ventures. There are two Spanish banks, there is Repsol and other companies, which can invest some money from their social responsibility fund. This will generate many opportunities for Spanish SMEs, corporations and government agencies. Africa has a lot of potential and is the only place that can help minimise and keep food prices down. 

You said in your speech that Africa does not need charity, but business. Do we have to change our mentality and be aware that the stability and progress of Africa is the stability and progress of Europe and the world? 

Of course we do. The only thing that can prevent famine in the world is Africa. It has the resources, the land, the soil, the water, the climate. And it can also mitigate the effects of climate change. 

It's not rocket science, it's very easy: you go there, you approach the people and you hire local people, but you have to have the instinct, the motivation, to take the first step. Spain really has a lot of potential to play an important role in Africa. One of the things I wanted to talk about is boosting exports. This is what Africa needs. When we manufacture in Africa, we have products, finished products, half-finished products or unfinished products, and we need markets for that. Spain is a coastal country and has the capacity to export and re-export, that is another opportunity for Spain. 

This would also help to reduce immigration, which is creating a serious problem in Europe... 

That's what we want, especially in Libya. Some European friends want Libya to play the role of a policeman to prevent these Africans from crossing the Mediterranean, from crossing the Sahara. 

I think, as Libyans, we cannot play that role, but we can mediate and help Europeans to invest in Africa instead of pushing people to flee to Europe because of lack of jobs, poverty, political instability. 

In 2010 I was in charge of foreign relations in my country, when we had the third summit between the African Union and the European Union. We told our European friends to invest, to start with 5 billion dollars or euros, to invest in Africa, to create projects for the local people, to help the government to create policies on how to deal with poverty and lack of jobs. They said no and instead opted for charity. They want to play the role of donors instead of partnering with Africa. For us it is a problem, because we educate people, we spend money on them, we train them and then they flee to Europe. We need them to stay in Africa, to be part of the process of development, of economic transformation, of industrialisation. With a minimum contribution, with some money for three, four or five years, through their businesses, they can help with that, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. They want to stay with their families. They don't want to take the risk of fleeing their countries and most of them are dying in sub-Saharan Africa. They are dying in the Mediterranean or being imprisoned. 

And then, those who managed to leave and reach Europe, face another problem which is integration. The issue of integration also creates economic problems here, political problems, integration problems, social problems, demographic problems. So this is my appeal to our European friends: please go and invest in Africa. That is a debt that you pay and that also protects your communities.