The institution based in the Canary Islands plays an important role in public diplomacy, parallel to institutional relations between governments

Casa África, protagonist of the week of Internationalisation IMEX Madrid 2022

Juan Peña

Updated: 21/04/22

José Segura Clavell, Casa África's director general, puts the functions of the organisation he directs in black and white during the celebration of the 20th Internationalisation Week IMEX Madrid. The institution is one of the major collaborators of the Spanish trade fair, which has set up its stands in the Cibeles Palace on the 19th, 20th and 21st. Casa África's close collaboration and presence is no coincidence. Together with Casa Árabe, they are the protagonists of this 20th edition of Imex dedicated to the African continent.

José Segura Clavell describes the role of public diplomacy as "white diplomacy". "Public relations work with our African colleagues, their institutions, their collectives. Casa África serves as an instrument for there to be a better understanding between us," Segura adds in an interview with Atalayar from his stand at Imex2022. As the general director of the institution explains, and as stated in its statutes, Casa África is part of the network of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One more instrument of Spanish diplomacy, which collaborates closely with Spanish institutions but which "does not participate in dialogue between governments, but rather in dialogue between societies and groups," Segura explains. "We develop aspects that institutional diplomacy does not develop as much.

Casa África began its work during Zapatero's government, developing between 2004 and 2008, in the midst of the cayuco crisis. A crisis that has profoundly marked the organisation's line of action. According to Segura, this crisis, and many other reasons, place Casa África's headquarters in the Canary Islands, specifically in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. "The Canary Islands have a symbolic place, but they also have a special status in the European Union because of their status as an overseas territory and because they are located right in front of the African continental shelf," Clavell says.

From Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the institution offers its services to Spanish society, especially with regard to the dissemination of information about the African continent. At the IMEX fair, Casa África's work stands out for its regular publications on the situation of African countries, valuable information for businessmen seeking to reach the continent. "We have a partial role of think tank, analysis and studies. Accumulation of information, debate..." says José Segura. The data confirms the frenetic activity of the organisation, which in 2019 will organise 232 activities, rising to 459 in 2020 despite the pandemic, and finally reaching 661 activities of very different types in 2021.

For José Segura Clavell, the most important of these activities are those focused on young people from the African continent. "It is perhaps the continent's greatest resource. An explosively creative youth, with a great desire to create and do things, but who often lack resources," Segura says. "Africa is a continent undergoing an immense demographic revolution, and the young population is the protagonist there, while our European continent is ageing by the day," continues the director general of Casa África.

Segura Clavell shows a deep and sincere concern for these young Africans who must be given solutions and ways out of harmful behaviour for them and for society. "We have a series of educational videos on migration that we show in schools and educational centres in West Africa, such as in Senegal, for example," Segura explains, "It is nonsense to get into a cayuco and risk your life in the Atlantic. African youth must realise this.

For Casa África, this same youth, brimming with life, should be one of the priorities of the business community seeking to enter Africa. Sustainable development that promotes human capital on the continent, far from the method of plundering commonly carried out by some European countries in Africa. "We have to help young African groups to train themselves. Many are already at a very advanced stage of development, as in Kenya with bitcoin. We need to promote this".

According to Segura, human development on the continent is intrinsically linked to another of Casa África's priorities: security. "The Sahel is currently a powder keg. Security in that region is a guarantee of security in Europe. The advance of jihadist movements or the overthrow of legally constituted governments are issues of great concern to us. Without security there is nothing. There is no economy and no business".