The Chamber of Gran Canaria organizes the first Meeting of Chambers of Commerce of Spain and West Africa
Next November 22, the first meeting of the Chambers of Commerce of Spain and West Africa will take place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, at Infecar Feria de Gran Canaria, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria, in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fewacci), ICEX, Government of the Canary Islands, Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Casa África.
The event aims to serve as a meeting point for chambers of commerce from different West African countries that have stable economies and greater capacity for growth. In this sense, the president of the Chamber, Luis Padrón, stated: «we aspire to establish solid, stable and highly professional local connections that allow us to identify and take advantage of business opportunities between our two regions. The main objective of this meeting is to promote and strengthen commercial and investment relations between both territories, as well as promote the exchange of knowledge and best commercial practices.
The event will be represented by the following chambers from the neighboring continent: Chamber of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Chamber of Mauritania, which means covering “key” countries for Canarian companies that can invest in Africa, in the words of Luis Padrón. More than a dozen Spanish chambers of commerce also attend this forum.
The Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria, host of this international event, has prepared an intense work program, covering commercial relations between Spain and Africa, and Tourism, two panels for which there will be the best experts in each subject.
At the national level, there will be interventions from top-level personalities closely related to the African continent, such as Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez, and the Deputy Director General of Trade Policy with the Mediterranean Countries, Africa and the Middle East, Ana de Vicente. The president of the Chamber of Spain, José Luis Bonet, and the director of International, Jaime Montalvo, will also participate. The highest representative of relations with Africa of the Government of the Canary Islands, Luis Padilla. And internationally, the president of the World Trade Point Federation, Bruno Masier; and the director of the regional program for Africa of the World Tourism Organization, Elcia Grandcourt, among others.
Added to this institutional representation are more than 40 Canarian and 30 African companies, which will participate in B2B meetings and networking activities that will provide an ideal platform to establish contacts and explore business and investment opportunities.
In this sense, Luis Padrón pointed out: «Africa is experiencing a demographic explosion that will create a consumer market so powerful that small and medium-sized Canarian companies cannot miss it. The African continent is immersed in a process of creating the largest free market in the world, therefore, it is the right time for Canarian companies to intensify investments in Africa.
