The Governing Council of Casa África meets in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to approve the areas of activity for 2019

Casa África begins 2019 with an approved programme combining projects which are now well-established - Vis a Vis, Investour, #ÁfricaEsNoticia and Teaching Africa - and a strategic plan to 2021 which emphasises areas such as digital diplomacy and gender equality. These are some of the issues discussed yesterday at the 21st meeting of the Governing Council of Casa África, in addition to budgetary, organisational and administrative aspects of the institution.

The meeting was chaired by the Director General for Diplomatic Communication and Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Co-operation, Amador Sánchez, on behalf of the Minister Josep Borrell. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has held the rotating presidency of the Governing Council of Casa África since last June, a presidency that alternates every two years with the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, represented at yesterday's meeting by its Vice-President, Pablo Rodríguez. The third institution in the Casa África consortium is the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, represented yesterday by its mayor, Augusto Hidalgo.

Yesterday, the Governing Council of Casa África also approved the Consortium’s 2017 annual accounts, a report on the state of execution of the 2018 budget, and the 2019 budget which amounts to 1,874,900 euros. In addition, and as mentioned above, Casa África’s areas of activity for 2019 and 3-year Strategic Plan were approved, and slight modifications to the Casa África Consortium’s Statutes, recommended by the Court of Auditors, were ratified. Regarding the 2019 budget, the annual contributions of the entities who make up the consortium were confirmed. Casa África also finances its activities through subsidies from other institutions and sponsorship by various private companies.

Among the new areas of activity, following the approval of Casa África’s Strategic Plan, new programmes are introduced including the Agenda 2030 Forum, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which will serve to showcase and share success stories and good practices. Women will also play a leading role, with activities which are already well-established, such as the training events and meetings of women in the port sector, and new initiatives such as the meeting of businesswomen of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which took place for the first time this year and is expected to be repeated next year.

In the field of public diplomacy, work with young people will be reinforced, with a meeting of young African leaders already planned and projects and initiatives continuing in the digital transformation sector. This is integrated into the operation of Casa África and its communication through social networks and also continues to be part of the programme of events with activities such as the Library Science and the Digital Society Meeting and the Tech Hubs Forum. Established programmes such as Vis a Vis, Investour, África Vive, African Letters, Africa in Movement, #ÁfricaEsNoticia and Teaching Africa, continue to be part of Casa África’s programme of activities in 2019, along with the traditional early access to presentations in Spain of economic reports from world-class authorities. Investour, the Tourism Investment and Business Forum, will return to Fitur at the end of January, bringing African ministers, specialists and businesspeople from the sector together in Madrid. Vis a Vis will be held in March in Ghana. Producers and programmers from Spanish music festivals will travel to Ghana to experience the music scene and select two groups for an extensive tour (financed by Casa África) of Spain’s summer festivals.

This meeting was attended by the heads of the different entities which are part of the Casa África consortium. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation was represented by Amador Sánchez and Alberto Cerezo, the Deputy Director General for Bilateral Relations with Sub-Saharan African Countries. The Government of the Canary Islands was represented by its vice-president, Pablo Rodríguez, and the vice-counsellor for Foreign Affairs, Luis Padilla, attended as a guest. The mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Augusto Hidalgo, represented the city council. Casa África was represented by its director general, Luis Padrón, and manager, José Luis Márquez.