Africa is a giant that is becoming a global economic powerhouse

Texte du discours prononcé le 8 juin 2017 au MEDEF. Seul le prononcé fait foi.

I am glad to welcome you here at the home of businesses in France.

It is a pleasure to host this Tech Industry Conference. From the beginning, we support the Afrobytes’ initiative. We are the place for doers and business man are doers. Everyday, we act concretly on the fields and during this two days we wish you to set concrete and long terme partenerships.

For these welcoming words, I would like to focus on two points : first, the partnership we wish to built with Africa and second, the place of France in Europe

• Partnership with Africa

I will never say it enough: Africa is a giant that is becoming a global economic powerhouse.

And through travels, meetings with African Heads of States and with entrepreneurs on the continent, I have seen Africa’s full potential. Africa is the continent where everything is possible.

You know, I often meet great African entrepreneurs. At the MEDEF, a few months ago, I had the pleasure of presenting the Business Africa Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016 to Mohammed Dewji, my friend from Tanzania. Tony Elumelu in Nigeria, Miriem Bensalah Chaqroun in Morocco, Chris Kerubi in Kenya and so many others are partners who show us that we have so much to learn from Africa.

And let's not forget that tomorrow our partners in Africa will be investors in Europe.

Thus we are convinced that the partnership with Africa must meet three criteria:

• A win-win dynamic;
• A central place given to Business;
• A priority given to youth.

First of all, we entrepreneurs, insist on humility. We cannot do business arrogantly. We must realise that today’s world has changed.

So, let's go to Africa and build partnerships. Not just to strike a great deal and leave but to do business over time, in the long term.

The partnership with Africa must therefore be considered from a sustainable and win-win perspective.

 I would also like to emphasise the role that business should play in this partnership.

We, entrepreneurs and businesses, are the levers for inclusive and sustainable growth in our countries : Business means employment and business also means stability.

Our businesses therefore have a lot to contribute to the African continent. They have much to share in joint partnerships with Africa in order to build national champions.

Finally, I would like to insist on one priority of the partnership we have to put in common : a priority should be given to Youth. By developing entrepreneurship, we want to make youth the pillar of inclusive and sustainable growth on the African continent.

This is why we developed the Active Growth & Youth Programs (AGYP) for Africa-Europe, a unique trans-continent network dedicated for doers.

• France : Entrepreneur Hub with Africa 

The second point that I would like to underline is the role of France.

Brexit was a thunderbolt and Trump's election reflects the increased protectionism that is likely to spread in some States.

Within this context, Europe and Africa must come together, share and co-build their future. And France is the one country in Europe where the entrepreneurial revolution is at its strongest yet it has the least recognition.

From connecting ecosystems to incubating projects and accelerating financing, the ecosystem for French start-ups is a rapidly growing, unexpected, and yet currently extremely vibrant hub for technology in Europe.

France is one of the leading creators of companies in Europe, with 390,000 companies set up each year. France has a central place on the bridge of new technologies and thanks to Afrobytes for strenghthening this key role.

As an example, I share with you two key figures from 2016 :

• The major French companies are getting involved in the financing of start-ups : France is ahead of Germany and the United States when it comes to collaborations between start-ups and major company groups. 
• Billion euros of capital risk were raised for start-ups, ahead of Germany

You cannot imagine how France is really the place to work with Africa.

But I was long enough. No more talks ! We now need to proceed and to develop concrete actions !

This Conference is the place where to do so. We will organise with Afrobytes the new Youth and Entrepreneurship Forum in Nairobi next November.

I hope to see you there again !