La communauté Choiseul Africa s’est réunie lors d’un petit-déjeuner stratégique à Paris pour explorer les opportunités économiques en Afrique de l’Est, avec en ligne de mire la transformation des potentiels locaux en leviers de développement durable.
”We will soon be over 3,3 billion people in Africa, the continent’s growth is about 4% (because we’re 54 countries) (…). It’s like the EU, we have common external taxes and free trade. If you look at Eastern Africa, it’s a great investment and opportunity especially in agriculture !”
Mohammed Dewji, PDG du groupe MeTL
On Tuesday, April 15, 2024, in Paris, a high-level discussion took place between two prominent figures: Mohammed Dewji, CEO of the MeTL Group (Tanzania), and Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister Delegate to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad. Moderated by Daouda Fall, Chairman and CEO of Brahms Group, the exchange highlighted a shared conviction: to succeed on the continent, one must move away from broad continental approaches in favor of targeted, country-by-country strategies.
Several advantages of East Africa were discussed, particularly in the textile and agriculture sectors, where Africa—thanks to lower labor costs and an abundance of raw materials—can compete with Asia, provided that local production is developed to create jobs.
Within this framework, Mohammed Dewji and Laurent Saint-Martin stressed the importance of building targeted and sustainable partnerships through concrete investments. Some striking figures were mentioned: the African continent could benefit from a free trade area of 300 million people in East Africa; meanwhile, trade between France and African economies amounts to €65 billion.
The panelists also explored several avenues of cooperation, such as sports diplomacy and support for social projects in health and education. A powerful example of impact: the Mo Dewji Foundation, a strong lever for youth employment creation and entrepreneurship.
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