Interview with Lucien Bradet, President and C.E.O Canadian Council on Africa

Lucien Bradet is President and CEO of the Canadian Council on Africa (CCAfrica). Created in 2002 following the Kananaskis Summit in Alberta, the organisation's primary mission is to promote trade and institutional relations between Canada and Africa to further Africa's economic development. The Council brings together 115 Canadian companies, universities, colleges, NGOs, and federal and provincial government departments and agencies.

Possessing extensive experience in Africa, Lucien Bradet was appointed to CCAfrica in early 2004. He did his university studies in Sociology and Anthropology at the Université nationale du Rwanda, established during the 1960s by the Canadian government. After graduating from the University of Ottawa, he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and subsequently held numerous management positions at Information Canada, the Department of Regional Economic Expansion, and Industry Canada, where the Sustainable Cities Initiative was developed and implemented. This programme has worked in and continues to be active in sixteen cities on three continents, including four large African metropolitan areas: Algiers, Durban, Dakar and Dar Es Salaam.

eLa: Mr. Bradet, could you tell us something about your organisation and its contribution to capacity building and sustainable development in Africa?

The main aim of CCAfrica is to increase Canadian trade and investment in and with Africa and, therewith, to foster sustainable development via investments, trade, and exchange. Our organisation is not only designed as a forum for sharing expertise and experience, but also for forming new alliances and active partnerships. In this context, an important catchword for us is diversification: We want to make sure that all groups that are significant within this context are involved: companies as well as the educational and the private sector.

There are four things that we mainly do: First, we act as a lobby for Africa to help the Continent get the attention it deserves. Many of our activities – our conferences, discussions, and our PR activities – are dedicated to this task. Next, we do a lot of research to provide insights into the economic conditions of the African continent. We are continuously publishing guides for doing business in various African countries like Angola or Tanzania, just to name our latest. Additionally, we hold 5-6 workshops and seminars a year on different countries, and we offer many other printed and digital resources on African countries and sector market analysis via our comprehensive website portal http://www.ccafrica.ca. Finally, we concentrate on services like helping African to come to Canada, trying to ease up things like visa applications, for example.

To sum it up, with regard to our domestic programmes, I think they’re never done. There are always new regulations coming up; to be up to date, though, is essential for us. To assure this, we work very closely together with our African partners. This is why we also organise about six missions per year to Africa.

eLa: What role do education and training play in this context?

Education, of course, plays a very important role in this context because it is a key for economic and social development. We held an amazing education and economy conference last year with about twenty participating African countries to integrate economic as well as educational and societal issues and to show the progress being made. In retrospect, we are quite sure that there is strong willingness for a change, as well as for exchange and partnerships.

To give an example: In the past, many African “high potentials” left their home countries to go to other continents. The emigration problem really cost Africa dearly. Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa, once said that because of its expatriates, Africa has lost about 5-6 billion dollars a year. Fortunately, things are now changing. We, for our part, want to make contributions to the process. Students should be able to stay in their country and to get a degree. Local needs, from our point of view, should be addressed locally. This, by the way, also applies for the job market. Many jobs that could be done by Africans are not done by Africans yet, but they should be.

eLa: Among your members there are various ICT companies. Do you set a special emphasis on ICT projects?

ICT ranks high on our agenda. Next September, for example, we will hold a conference in Montreal to bring together ICT experts and service providers from both continents. In order to build up an effective ICT infrastructure, it is necessary that you identify and promote opportunities for partnerships and explore the potential for synergies. We want to raise awareness for that among the 500 people who will attend the conference via showcases and seminars.

eLa: Does your organisation to some extent encourage eLearning projects in Africa?

We have no current projects going on in this field: However, we try to foster eLearning by all means because we are convinced that it works. Canadian universities, in particular, work very hard to develop eLearning applications that meet the needs of Africans. We have become acquainted with corresponding projects for some time now and are interested in staying tuned to further developments. Regarding our events, we try to integrate as much expert knowledge as we can, and we support other expert meetings, like eLearning Africa.

There are many challenges for Africa in the field of education and effective content delivery, and we think eLearning is a way to face them. There are millions of young Africans who want to study but the infrastructure is not always there to provide the service. In this context, the advantages of eLearning and web applications are obvious. Additionally, they tend to help establish better governance because with well-informed people, there will be less abuse of power.

eLa: Mr. Bradet, many thanks for your time.

Link
http://www.ccafrica.ca/

Newsportal: Interviews