Connect, protect and coexist: key terms at the Africa-Spain Summit 2025

Madrid hosted the Africa-Spain Summit 2025 between 6 and 8 July. The summit was organised by One Africa Forums to further strengthen collaboration at all levels between Africa and Spain.

One Africa Forums is an organisation that creates economic conferences dedicated to the development of Africa, particularly North, Central and West Africa. It develops forums, web conferences and tailor-made events with an international reach in various cities around the world, addressing strategic sectors that are crucial for the development of the African continent. The third edition of the Africa-Spain summit in the Spanish capital focused on deepening cooperation, particularly economic and commercial, between the African continent and Spain.

The event was based on five basic principles: strengthening, growing, working together and coexisting, connecting and protecting. These five ideas reinforce the existing collaboration between Africa and Spain.

The last session of the day on the 7th, held at the Wellington Hotel in Madrid, focused on the basic pillars of connecting, protecting and coexisting.

On the subject of connection, a round table discussion entitled ‘Connecting, towards sustainable economic integration’ was moderated by Rosa Cañadas, president of the Tanja Foundation, and featured Espérance Kazabe, provincial minister of agriculture of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nasser Tiassellal, managing director of Tanger Med Engineering, Arthur Minsat, Head of Africa, Europe and the Middle East at the OECD, and Jaime Montalvo, International Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

In this case, it was pointed out that Africa must occupy a more central focus as a partner of Spain and Europe for the future, for which connection and closeness between both parties is essential.

Espérance Kazabe, Provincial Minister of Agriculture of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, spoke of the need to ‘capture Spain's attention through dissemination, practical training and demonstrations, use of the local press, technical support for farmers, communication and promotion’. She also highlighted the importance of local promotion and identifying and structuring all the planned innovation points.

The provincial minister of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo encouraged ‘working with Spain on key issues, especially agriculture and even tourism’.

For his part, Arthur Minsat, head of Africa for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), referred to the need to ‘attract more private capital and reduce the perception of risk so that there are more investors in Africa’.

Arthur Minsat explained that there is more risk, for example, when investing in Latin America than in Africa, but the negative perception of the African continent prevents this from being recognised. He encouraged investment in Africa, saying that it is necessary to get to know the continent better in order to eliminate prejudices.

Jaime Montalvo, international director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, referred to AFRICO, the Ibero-African Association of Chambers of Commerce, the new platform promoted by the Gran Canaria Chamber of Commerce to encourage business investment between Africa and Spain. This is an important initiative to increase the presence of Spanish companies in Africa, especially SMEs, which need chambers of commerce, unlike large companies, which have greater contact with governments and greater autonomy in this case.

Jaime Montalvo spoke of creating a Spain-Africa strategy at the SME level and explained that there is no significant presence in Africa, although this presence has increased significantly in recent times. Exchanges have grown exponentially, as have investments, up to 80% in recent years. Sixty per cent of Spanish exports to Africa go to Morocco, and 30% of investments in Africa are also destined for the Moroccan kingdom, which is Spain's main partner in Africa.

Montalvo pointed out that companies need valuable information, to promote their activity, to have business forums such as the Africa-Spain Summit, networking activities, etc.
‘There is more funding than ever, but investment in developing countries is not growing as it should. Secure legal structures must be put in place so that companies have some certainty about their investments. Public-private partnerships must seek a framework that favours such collaborations,’ explained the international director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

In his turn, Nasser Tiassellal, managing director of Tanger Med Engineering, indicated that there is ‘profitable cooperation’ between Spain and Tanger Med, especially Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia.

‘There is no need to talk about rivalry,’ said Nasser Tiassellal, who did speak of collaboration and complementarity between Spanish ports and Tanger Med in Morocco.

Since the inception of the Tangier Med project, Spain has been seen as a partner rather than a competitor, said the head of the Moroccan port.

During the dialogue, it was stated that the negative narrative about Africa must be changed in order to have a more positive view of the African continent when it comes to investment.

The exchange of information is very helpful, according to Espérance Kazabe. Successful projects help to create this favourable narrative, as in the case of Tangier Med, as pointed out by Arthur Minsait, who called for the best possible use of funds and the promotion of local know-how, as well as the strengthening of public-private cooperation.
Partnership is important, moving from trade to investment, that is the real commitment, according to Jaime Montalvo, especially considering that ‘we have financing’. ‘Business is about trust,’ added Nasser Tiassellal.

On the subject of protection, a round table discussion entitled ‘Protecting, addressing transnational challenges’ was held, moderated by Javier Fernández Arribas, director of the media outlet Atalayar entre dos orillas, with the participation of Luis Padilla Macabeo, director for Africa of the Government of the Canary Islands, Frantz Celestin, Regional Director for the Horn and Southern Africa at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM); Maite Martín-Crespo, Head of the Department of Environment and Climate Change at the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID); Santiago Yerga Cobos, Director General of Migration Management for the Kingdom of Spain; General Chantal Apendeki, Head of the Interpol Regional Office for Central Africa, Jimmy Kande, Director for West Africa of the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, and Blaise Abel Ezo'o Engolo, Secretary General of the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA).

The protection of citizens and security is fundamental when addressing Europe and Spain's relationship with Africa.

In his speech, Luis Padilla raised challenges such as migration and the environment. He also highlighted the importance of vocational training for young Africans with a view to their future employment, with important programmes in countries such as Senegal and Mauritania, and coordination between the private sector and the labour market as essential for formal employment for young Africans.

For his part, Frantz Celestin said that ‘security begins with cross-border protection’ and that mobility must be controlled. Climate mobilisation is a reality for the Regional Director for the Horn and Southern Africa of the International Organisation for Migration. ‘We need cross-border cooperation to prevent problems such as extremism and human trafficking, as well as forced displacement,’ he explained. In this regard, the IOM has mechanisms and data processing systems in place to prevent human trafficking and migration problems.

Frantz Celestin also indicated that migration governance must be inclusive and that it is urgent to address this issue due to the climate problems that cause migration and forced displacement.

On the other hand, Maite Martín-Crespo, head of the Department of Environment and Climate Change at the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, stressed that financial cooperation is essential, in addition to the grants that are obtained, and spoke of a Development Cooperation Fund for blending mechanisms that develop guarantee mechanisms.

Santiago Yerga Cobos, Director General of Migration for the Kingdom of Spain, spoke of promoting a positive approach to migration linked to the challenges that Spain and Africa face in dealing with the migration crisis in a reasonable manner.

He explained that Spain's migration policy with Africa must be approached from a human rights perspective with the utmost respect for people's rights. ‘The main objective is to achieve regular, orderly and legal migration with the primary goal of finding work,’ he said. For Santiago Yerga Cobos, labour migration should be a milestone and not a challenge. Africa is seen as a priority partner for orderly migration and for meeting the needs of the Spanish labour market, said the Spanish government's head of migration, who added that Spain has been working with Morocco on circular migration projects throughout Spain for 25 years. This has now been extended to Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania.

For her part, General Chantal Apendeki explained the work of INTERPOL, the world's largest police organisation with 196 member countries. INTERPOL has headquarters in the most important capitals of the countries represented and cooperates in various police functions at the international level to combat crime, terrorism and irregular migration, issues that affect the existing relationship between Spain and Africa.

Jimmy Kande, Director for West Africa at the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, spoke of the need to protect whistleblowers who provide information against criminal networks engaged in illegal activities such as terrorism or illegal migration.

He spoke about the importance of ‘raising awareness among the population and training people so that they do not have to leave their country’.

Africa is suffering the effects of climate change and does not benefit directly from climate finance. Those who pollute the most have the greatest control over the money granted, and Spain can defend Africans against the European Union so that more funding goes to African countries, explained Jimmy Kande himself.

In his speech, Blaise Abel Ezo'o Ngolo explained the role of his organisation, CIMA, an integrated entity set up 30 years ago with the aim of promoting and analysing insurance services in the different states that make up Central and West Africa.

Providing coverage and guarantees so that various activities can be beneficial when applying for financing and insurance is one of the challenges to be met. The mission of insurance companies is to protect investors and property owners from risks, as Blaise Abel Ezo'o Ngolo explained.

Activities involve some risk and the aim is to protect assets, which is why insurance companies exist, and CIMA seeks to develop the insurance industry, said the head of the organisation. Cooperation between Africa and Spain requires a strengthening of mutually beneficial activities. Insurance companies perform this support role to provide security and guarantees against the risks of activities, said Ezo'o Engolo.

On the main theme of coexistence, a presentation entitled ‘Living together, building a shared future’ was given, moderated by Anne-Sophie Firion, founding partner and managing director of RoAnn Africa, with the participation of Mankeur Ndiaye, former special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Central Africa and head of MINUSCA, Álvaro García, head of the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax), Fátima Bekkar, president of Sahara Horizons, and Nicole Ndongala, director general of the Karibu Association.

During this session, it was pointed out that civil society can shape a shared and sustainable future, highlighting the importance of promoting human rights and the critical role of cultural and linguistic cooperation in building bridges between Africa and Europe, in this case Spain.

Along these lines, Mankeur Ndiaye, former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Central Africa and Head of MINUSCA, pointed out that Spain is developing beneficial cooperation for Africa with mechanisms to further integrate Africans, unlike other countries such as France.

He also stated that the promotion of human rights, social inclusion and cultural and linguistic cooperation bring Africa and Europe closer together. ‘Cooperation between Spain and Africa must be developed and based on mutual respect and respect for African concerns,’ explained Mankeur Ndiaye, who added that ‘Spain must be the vector for relaunching cooperation and communication between Africa and Europe’.

For his part, Álvaro García, head of the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax), pointed out that conflict resolution is necessary for sustainable human development and cooperation. He explained that CITpax specialises in peacebuilding actions and is a think tank that has been active for 20 years, using tools to appeal for ‘parallel diplomacy or a second voice that takes the form of mediation activities and proposals for rapprochement’. It is a private institution that collaborates with Spanish regional public administrations such as those of Madrid, the Canary Islands and Toledo.

On the other hand, Fatima Bekkar, president of Sahara Horizons, referred to cooperation and training in West Africa. Sahara Horizons partners with civil society to create a free society with peaceful coexistence in harmony with the environment and sustainable development. ‘We seek to catalyse successful investments in human resources and identify opportunities for interesting investments,’ explained Fatima Bekkar, who called for ‘peaceful coexistence between Europe and Africa’.

Fatima Bekkar said she is from Dakhla, in southern Morocco, an effective location for human cooperation and development in Africa, connecting the north and south, where the challenge is to support women by launching vocational training and migrant integration projects. ‘We value the initiatives on the Sahara so that we can be a gateway to the world through Morocco and the Sahara,’ said Fatima Bekkar.

The head of Sahara Horizons spoke about the organisation of a youth forum in Dakhla in November 2025 to promote cooperation, pointing to Morocco as a bridge between Europe and Africa, and highlighting a training programme for humanitarian activities for African migrants with the aim of promoting training for a better shared future.

The president of Sahara Horizons highlighted the option of investing in education and development in a sustainable manner, taking care of migration and building a resilient society.

For her part, Nicole Ndongala, director general of the Karibu Association, indicated that there are many things that unite Africa and Spain, but that there are also barriers to be broken down in order for peaceful coexistence to be achieved.

The round table also referred to the Spain-Africa Initiative 2025-2028, which is the main document outlining Spain's strategy for the African continent with tools for conflict prevention such as mediation, making mediators available to Africans, as is the case with CITpax