Kulczyk: 'Africa offers a chance for Europe'

Jan Kulczyk (L) and EU Commissoner for Development Andris Piebalgs during the panel discussion "Go global! The world, Europe and Africa": photo - PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

Speaking during a panel discussion at the 5th European Economic Congress in Katowice, southern Poland, Kulczyk said that “today, Africa offers a chance for Europe, and not the other way round,” as cited by Polish Radio.

“In the wake of the crisis, we Europeans have lost the right to teach Africans how things should be done: now it is Europe that needs Africa,” he said.

As the panellists stressed, of the ten fastest developing countries in the world, six are in Africa, and in thirty years time, twenty percent of the world's population will be in Africa.

“In thirty years time, more than a billion people in Africa will be under the age of thirty – this is a huge opportunity for investors,” Kulczyk said.

Among other recent ventures, the Polish mogul finalised a major concession in Nigerian oil in 2011.

Last month, Prime Minister Donald Tusk travelled to Nigeria along with the representatives of twenty Polish businesses (including Kulczyk Investments), where he attended a special Polish-Nigerian Economic Forum.

Tusk's visit was part of a programme of of visits to rapidly developing countries, including India and China.

The 5th European Economic Congress in Katowice lasts until 15 May. (nh)

Source: IAR, Gazeta Wyborcza