Suzi Carla Barbosa: ‘Spain can find many opportunities to invest in Africa’

Madrid hosted the Africa Spain Summit 2025 with the aim of strengthening ties between Africa and Spain at all levels, mainly in the economic and commercial spheres. 

On the occasion of this important event organised by One Africa Forums, Atalayar was able to talk to Suzi Carla Barbosa, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea-Bissau, to discuss Spain's relations with the African continent. 

Ms Barbosa, what is your opinion of this type of forum? Is it necessary to hold this Spain-Africa Summit for the third year running to bring the two continents closer together? 

I think it is very important, especially at this moment when Spain has launched its Spain-Africa 2025-2028 strategy. this type of summit is very important to raise awareness of the strategy, but also to bring the ideas of Africans closer to Spanish leaders, so that we can, based on shared ideas, achieve cooperation that is sustainable, valid and enables the development that Africa is seeking.

You are going to be part of a committee set up by the Spanish government. Tell us, what are the objectives of this committee?

This is a committee set up by the Spanish government, with experts from Africa, who can, as an advisory council, support the Spanish executive in this task of cooperating with Africa and doing so in an effective manner, ensuring that cooperation is effective and produces results.

So, I think it has been a very good strategy on Spain's part to create this committee with people who know Africa and who can contribute very valid ideas so that it is a truly win-win cooperation for both sides.

And can you give us a preview of what you are going to propose at the first meeting, what you are going to recommend to the Spanish Government that it should do in Africa?

I am fortunate to know the Spanish reality very well, I have lived here, I have dual nationality because I was married to a Spaniard, and I truly feel that Spain is also my second country, and I believe that my experience in Spain allows me to contribute ideas about what could be valid for Spain's cooperation as a European country with Africa, which is a very large continent, a continent with 54 countries, with different realities, but which has many opportunities and, above all, many challenges that Spain can use to increase cooperation and, above all, to intensify the European Union's collaboration with the African continent.

Could we select or specify some priority areas where this collaboration could be better developed?

Of course, I think the main thing is training. I always say that everything starts with training, because Africa now has a population of 1.25 billion, which is very large, but it is expected to grow much more by 2050. According to the United Nations, by 2050 Africa will have a population of 2.5 billion, so that is a huge challenge: how to train that young population. We will have the youngest population in the world, we will have the largest young population and the largest middle class in the world, so it is a challenge and an opportunity, and I believe that Spain can find many opportunities to invest, to bring the Spanish private sector to Africa and create jobs that will allow the African economy to grow, and also the Spanish economy.

With the international crises we are experiencing, the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, the Sahel... What role can Africa play on the international stage, especially for Spain and for Europe? 

I believe that this is precisely why Africa is an opportunity, a new continent that is growing, a continent with many investment opportunities and which, although it has conflicts, also has many opportunities for Spanish companies to grow, because today diplomacy has to be economic diplomacy, it cannot just be political diplomacy, because what is sustainable and what provides continuity is this economic basis for relations between countries.

What would you say to a Spanish entrepreneur who might have an idea for investing in Africa? What would be the first steps? What recommendations would you give them? 

Well, first of all, they need to know which country they are going to invest in and understand the reality of that country because, as I said, Africa is made up of 54 countries with very different realities. We have Nigeria with more than 250 million inhabitants, which in a few years will be the third most populous country in the world, and we have Guinea-Bissau, which is my country, with barely 2 million inhabitants. These are very different realities, with different cultures and different languages, so you have to know the country where you are going to invest well, so that the investment is appropriate to the needs and reality of that country.

Tell us about Guinea-Bissau. What does your country have to offer? 

Guinea-Bissau is a small country with just 2 million inhabitants. It is Portuguese-speaking but is part of ECOWAS. ECOWAS is a community of West African states, made up of 15 countries with a population of over 360 million. What happens? With the free movement of goods, capital and people, being in Guinea-Bissau allows access to the huge ECOWAS market. 

In addition, there is another situation that many people are unaware of. Guinea-Bissau, although a small country, has the third largest fishing agreement with the European Union. We have a very large fishing bank and the main European country that benefits from this fishing agreement is Spain. 

What role do you think Morocco also plays, in terms of the relationship between Spain and Morocco, between Europe and Africa through Morocco, and with Guinea-Bissau? What is your opinion of the initiative, for example, of King Mohammed VI on the Atlantic coast to promote the economies of African countries?

I believe that Morocco can also be an ally in this cooperation, even in triangular cooperation. Why? Because Morocco is a country which, despite being African, has a fairly good level of development. It is very close to Spain due to historical relations and its geographical location.

It could also be a country that is used as an interlocutor for some African countries with which it has good relations. And, indeed, Morocco is a very good ally of Guinea-Bissau and other African countries and is a country that strongly promotes bilateral cooperation with other African nations.