By Jean Paul HABIMANA
Before proceeding, if we refer to the 2019 Economic Outlook published by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African working-age population is expected to increase from 705 million people in 2018 to nearly a billion by 2030. At the current rate of workforce growth, Africa needs to create approximately 12 million new jobs each year to contain the rising unemployment.
One of the reasons for organizing this economic mission is to collectively consider how Africans and their various partners can participate in the development process of Africa, and Belgium in particular.
Several essential questions should be addressed, such as:
- How can the African diaspora be effectively encouraged to invest in, and engage with, Belgium by establishing their own businesses?
- What key partners can assist in promoting immigrant entrepreneurs?
- What formalities are necessary to establish a business in Belgium?
- What opportunities are available for young immigrant leaders to create startups?
- Can Economic Growth in Africa scare us into multiplying business opportunities?
- How can we explain the very high unemployment rate in Africa compared to Europe?
- Isn't it true that the massive exodus from Africa to Europe is due to the poor policies of certain African countries?
- How can we educate Africans to work instead of seeking to move to Europe, where they hope for a better life compared to the African continent?
- What can be done to reduce the unemployment rate in the African continent? Is it true that the creation of new businesses could be the only solution to this issue?
- Isn't MEBA the key to cooperation between the North and the South, and, above all, to help Africans embark on entrepreneurship instead of choosing mass migration to Europe?
The answers to these questions involve understanding the opportunities available to the diaspora settled in Europe, particularly in Belgium, to establish an "economic bridge" with Africa. A win-win partnership that would help achieve the necessary balance between trade exchanges between the North and the South and further promote Africa-Belgium partnerships in order to effectively contribute to the development process of the African continent."
