The public universities of the Canary Islands are currently hosting the second edition of the 'Bridge to Africa' event, an initiative promoted by the islands' higher education institutions. The event kicked off today at the University of Gran Canaria and will continue on Friday in La Laguna. More than 300 experts will participate in this forum.
This event thus becomes the ideal forum to analyze the challenges, opportunities, and solutions in areas essential for shared development between the Canary Islands and the African continent. The Rector of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Lluís Serra, emphasized at the opening ceremony that this gathering brings together “those who research and discover, those who create and undertake projects, those who teach and transform, and those who govern with their sights set on the common good.” He also noted that 'Bridge to Africa' was created with the ambition of establishing a stable forum for dialogue between universities, institutions, and civil societies from both continents.
For his part, the Rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL), Francisco García, described this meeting as a “magnificent example of academic diplomacy,” which uses higher education, science, and research as a bridge to build solid and peaceful relations between countries. He particularly valued the fact that “the Canary Islands are the territorial hub for building this bridge.” He highlighted the ULL’s long history of collaboration with the African continent: “We have 59 stable agreements, 14 Interreg MAC projects, and numerous exchanges of our faculty, students, and administrative staff with African universities.” In his view, this is a guarantee for working in a coordinated manner with all the institutions in the Canary Islands and African universities “in a horizontal collaboration, aligned with both the European strategy and the Spain-Africa strategy.”.
The 'Bridge to Africa' event is currently hosting institutional sessions, including academic panels featuring rectors and vice-rectors from several African countries such as Mauritania, Gambia, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Cape Verde. The initiative will also address the opportunities and experiences of Spanish companies in African markets, strategic academic partnerships with West Africa, and the expression of African narratives through culture and art.
In parallel, 'Bridge to Africa' also hosts the IV International Congress of Young Researchers on Africa, an academic forum that will bring together more than one hundred speakers and researchers who have presented their scientific work and theses in the last five years on the African reality and its diaspora.
The opening of the event, presided over by Serra and García, was also attended by the Director General for Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Ximena Bartolomé; the Director General of Relations with Africa of the Government of the Canary Islands, Luis Padilla; the President of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales; the Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Carolina Darias; the Director of Casa África, José Segura; and the Secretary General of the Association of African Universities, Olusola Oyewole.
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