"African countries have to continue working on the development of their country brand, to attract investors"

Didier Lagae, head of the Marco agency, spoke at the Africa Spain Business Summit in Barcelona to explain the value of the country brand and how it is being developed in countries such as Morocco. 

Atalayar was able to talk to the founder and CEO of the Marco agency to delve into the matter and analyse the economic relations between Spain and various African countries, such as Morocco. 

Second edition of the Africa Spain Business Summit in Barcelona, organised by One Africa. From what you have seen, how important is this type of forum for bringing together public administrations, companies and investors from Europe and Africa? 

I think it is fundamental. Last year in Madrid we also participated as speakers and what we see is that it is about building bridges and discovering mutual realities. 

Logically, there are many people who perhaps come to get information, others are already active in certain parts of Africa and, as we see, there is also a lot of interest in sub-Saharan Africa to discover the realities that we can offer them from Spain. I have had meetings with several ministers from countries such as Gabon or the Democratic Republic of Congo, and there is a need to hold these meetings, to join forces, to connect. 

In your presentation you spoke especially of the key role of Morocco and Spain in trade relations between the two continents, due to their geostrategic location, as a gateway between Africa and Europe. How important is a good diplomatic, political and economic relationship between these two countries for promoting trade exchanges with the rest of the countries, both in Europe and Africa? 

I believe that economics and politics go hand in hand and need each other. Spain and Morocco are two brotherly countries: we have had a common history, not only geographically. There are countries that are close, such as Morocco and Algeria, but we know how things are there. 

It is important that there is an understanding, a very important knowledge of Spanish in the north of Morocco, in the Tangiers area. And we in Spain have also done our homework. As I said in my speech, 10 years ago we overtook France as the leading economic partner, whether for imports, exports or investment from Spain in Morocco. This is the example to follow: Morocco and Spain form a tandem, they are in a dance that may have its ups and downs, politically speaking, but which, economically speaking, is very solid. 

What reforms do you think are necessary or what is needed to increase the confidence of European businessmen and investors in the African continent? Better information, support for local partners...? 

Well, I have talked about how to use the Spain brand to do business in Africa, but, logically, the 54 African countries have perhaps more needs, with some exceptions, such as Morocco, which is the country brand that we have been working on since Marco, or South Africa, which has its cards on the table. Egypt, for example, has not known how to use COP 22 (the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Marrakech in 2016) like Morocco; they have had a copy, but they have not known how to exploit it to benefit at the country brand level, although it is a country that has a brand, logically. 

In terms of tourism, Senegal and Kenya stand out, but we are perhaps talking about 10 of the 54 African countries having a decent country brand that helps them to convince Europeans to invest. They need to work on it more. And we must also bear in mind that we are competing as potential investors, exporters or importers with powers such as China, in terms of infrastructure. This is one of the strong points of Spanish companies, where we are making a strong impact. So I think we have to be aware that China plays its cards and finances the works, issues long-term debt and has certain countries under control in this sense. We have to be aware that France and England are still playing their cards in their former colonies. But there is still a negative sentiment against the former colonisers, which we have also addressed in our paper and which we have to play fine and take advantage of. And then there are the Americans, who are always everywhere. 

Finally, and in our role as the media, how important is knowledge and information when it comes to overcoming the mistrust of investors and businessmen regarding the supposed perception of the risk involved in investing in African countries? 

In this sense, we are partners: apart from being the owner and president of Marco, I am also the editor. We do the same thing: we try to accompany the economic sector in its investments, in its development. I believe that doing what you are doing in Atalayar, what we are doing, is necessary. It is to inform, it is also to help build this country brand, promoting and distributing information in a transparent and truthful way.