José Segura Clavell: "Africa is a young continent that is full of life, ideas and ambitions"

 

“Africa is a young continent that is full of life, ideas and ambitions,” said José Segura Clavell , general director of Casa África, at the seminar 'Mobility and employability Africa-Canary Islands / Canary Islands-Africa', which is being held at the XXX Summer University of Maspalomas.

 

José Segura explained that “the population growth in Africa is spectacular. In some countries on the continent the average age barely reaches twenty years,” and “one in every six inhabitants of the planet is African.” Furthermore, he added that “although its population is increasingly more prepared, it is essential that the future of Africa is far from the exploitation of human beings,” because “the process of economic colonization that it is undergoing is worrying.”

 

The general director said that “Africa is Europe's energy granary”, given that “it is going to play an immense role in a Europe with a desperation that we have already seen in the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, signing sixteen agreements for the purchase of gas to Algeria.”

 

On the other hand, José Segura referred to the Canarian SAR zone – which must be monitored by emergency services to find people who are lost at sea – and assured that “it is the responsibility of the Spanish State to monitor it, but it is not always "They have sufficient resources," he stressed that "the services of a specialized satellite must be contracted."

 

Segura Clavellre acknowledged that he was greatly influenced by “having lived four years caring for more than 70.000 human beings who arrived aboard cayucos on the front line at sea,” he said that “I have witnessed the rescue of thousands of people who were risking their lives.” and they did not do it voluntarily, but driven by needs of a very different nature," and that is that "migrations are natural and inherent to human beings."

 

The director of Casa África spoke alongside Carla Velayos, director of Talent Training at PROEXCA; and Andrea-Nicoleta Leurzeanu, Internationalization technician at the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Senegal.

 

For her part, Carla Velayos explained that Proexca "is a company of the Government of the Canary Islands that promotes the internationalization of island companies and the attraction of investment to the Archipelago", she said that "mobility does not mean losing talent, but rather enriching ourselves." In the Canary Islands we are lucky to be multicultural,” and “we want people from here to go outside and have possibilities.”

 

The Director of Training stated that “we have scholarship recipients all over the world” and that “in the case of Africa they are in Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, Cape Verde and Morocco,” adding that going to the African continent with the help of Proexca with a tutor and making contacts “is essential, for those who have gone, it has changed their lives.” Furthermore, she stated that “our employability percentage is 100%,” because “there are more and more companies whose target audience is African.”

 

Carla Velayos stated that "the development that we must do in Africa has to be sustainable", as well as that "the Canary Islands are interested in twinning with Africa and mixing with it because that will mean the prosperity of the Islands."

 

In his turn, Leurzeanu focused his intervention on the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Senegal, created in 2019 and which currently has fifty members. He explained that, among his services, is “providing advice, information and logistical support to trade missions.” 

 

To find employment more easily in Senegal, the Internationalization technique recommended “mastering French, getting closer to Senegalese culture, taking into account administrative particularities and looking for sectors that need specialized human resources.”