Maurizio Casasco, President of Confapi and European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME, INSME Members, participated in February to the 2022 EU Africa Business Forum (EABF22) seventh edition, along with the European Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen. The EU Africa Business Forum (EABF22) has been jointly organized by the European Commission, the African Union Commission, and European and African business organisations. The Conference has been attended by 10,000 participants among whom political leaders, decision-makers, African and European entrepreneurs discussed the future economic relationships between the two continents.
President Casasco stated that Italian entrepreneurs are willing to build bridges in order to favour not only the trade in goods, but also the exchange of values, know-how and education. These factors support the contamination of ideas and transfer of experience across our continents. Italy, he added, mainly thanks to its geographical position, has historically played a pivotal role in what concerns its relationship with the African Continent and should continue to do so.
He then suggested “Europe should broaden its perspective by starting from Africa. It is from there that European entrepreneurs must start to look carefully to boost the development of our enterprises, our manufacturers and our jobs”. He then added “There are over two million enterprises, which I represent, that look at Africa with a huge amount of interest. There are also several challenges that both the two continents must face, such as job creation, especially for the young generation and women, within sustainable economic systems able to embrace and guide new technologies and education investments. The SME’s model not only has an economic value but also a social one which represents a great sustainability opportunity and an example. Social stability together with economic development would be enhanced if African countries, following Europe’s example, could start to embrace a path towards the implementation of a common currency.”
Find more about the EU Africa Business Forum here.
Source: INSME Secretariat
