Creating a prosperous, sustainable future for Africa

EurAfrican Forum 2019.

For the second year, Portugal was the stage of theEurAfrican Forum 2019, that gathered 450 participants from Europe and Africa on July 4-5, with the theme, Partnership of Equals: Sharing Values, Sharing Prosperity, a new approach and paradigm for the relationship between Europe and Africa, changing the narrative for both continents to create an accountable, prosperous and sustainable future together.

As Siyanda Mohutsiwa, a satirical writer from Botswana, now living in the USA stated, “A shared imagination is behind some of society’s greatest achievements: technology, space travel and political ideas continue to be driven by groups of people who have the courage and faith in each other to come together and answer the question, ‘what if…?’”

Innovation and growth

During the two days of the event, many relevant topics were brought to discussion:

• African entrepreneurs driving inclusive innovation and growth.
• From donor-recipient towards equal participation.
• Changing the narrative: valuing talent and diversity from migrant flows.
• Africa: the new frontier for impact investment and innovation.
• Legacy to growth: rehabilitating the heritage, culture and tourism.

Also, four parallel breakout sessions deepened related topics, namely: rebuilding Mozambique; security, migration and talent; tools and strategies for women and youth empowerment; and EU-AF economic integration and digital infrastructure for Africa.

With the contribution of 40 international speakers, the Forum had the participation of 450 participants, from 17 European countries and 24 African countries, including the participation of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and His Excellency, the President the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

By invitation-only, the EurAfrican Forum is a networking and discussion platform underpinned on the power of Diasporas for connecting people, cities, regions and continents, gathering prominent and influential people that are forging enduring ties between the two continents - government officials, high profile business personalities, investors, young entrepreneurs, activists, social influencers, NGOs and media.

Hosted by the Portuguese Diaspora Council and the Municipality of Cascais, with the High Patronage of the Presidency of the President of the Portuguese Republic and the Government of Portugal, the EurAfrican Forum is led by José Manuel Durão Barroso (Chairman of the EurAfrican Forum and former President of the European Commission / former Prime Minister of Portugal) and Filipe de Botton (Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Diaspora Council).

“The mission of the Portuguese Diaspora Council was until today to help Portugal. We think today we should go to the next step: to motivate the African countries to create their own Diaspora Councils,” Said Filipe de Botton, President of the Board of the Portuguese Diaspora Council.

Entrepreneurs

“There’s a lot of activity happening in Africa. 80% of young people want to be entrepreneurs. If we look at the dynamism of what is happening – in agritech, in fintech, in lots of issues, even in social entrepreneurship – I mean, this is incredibly important, and that is where Europe and Africa need to link up,” said Koen Doens, Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission.

“There is a shift in the way we are now looking into the relations between Europe and Africa, which I believe is much more constructive, both for Africa and for the European Union. (…) but it’s probably more important, more strategic to think how we can put societies together, creating a higher level of complicity between Africa and Europe,” added José Manuel Durão Barroso, chairman of the EurAfrican Forum.