On behalf of the Alliance des patronats francophones, the Conseil du patronat du Québec hosted the third meeting of francophone entrepreneurs earlier this week in Quebec City. On the menu, discussions on the opportunities offered by the energy transition, the technological future in 2035, decarbonization and competitiveness as well as the resilience of supply chains.
After those of Paris and Abidjan, this gathering is the initiative of the grouping of large companies from 28 employers’ organizations from 28 countries.
Admittedly, the dynamism of the organizers and the charm of the city of Quebec work, but the danger that awaits us is to indulge in activism and business tourism without real roadmaps and without clear objectives. Over the past twenty years, we have lost count of the number of events that have tried, with varying degrees of success, to propel the economic Francophonie.
An avalanche of networks
In May 2008, Quebec City hosted the first international meeting of the economic Francophonie (RIFÉ 1). Four years later, the RIFÉ 2 met there again within the framework of the World Forum of the French language. A little as if we had stopped time, the same recommendations as during the RIFÉ 1 were made except for a few words, including the establishment of a business visa to promote the mobility of economic actors.
Also appearing on the radar screen is a recommendation to develop a French-speaking digital space at the service of economic players and to provide the French-speaking community with a mark of excellence in economic matters.
By adding sustainable development and the resilience of supply chains, most of these themes were again addressed 10 years later, in July 2022, during the Rendez-vous d’affaires de la francophonie organized by Québec international, the Center Congresses and the Permanent Conference of African and Francophone Consular Chambers (CPCCAF). And the invitation has already been launched to host the second edition of the Rendez-vous, in the summer of 2024.
To this avalanche of networks and organizations, we must add free spirits such as the Forum francophone des affaires (FFA), the Groupement du patronat francophone (GPF) and many others who often compete for the same clienteles and have developed a small international events industry.
Economic engine
This historical overview shows the ephemeral nature of these events, as interesting as they are on the relational level and beneficial by the economic spinoffs in terms of tourism. Although it is always difficult and risky to measure the impacts of such networking activities, we must nevertheless question their real benefits in the absence of roadmaps, follow-ups, structuring projects to be carried out and accounts to be rendered. .
Because La Francophonie can contribute to the major global economic challenges through its many networks, through the values it promotes, through the financial levers of its major national institutions (the CDPQ, for example), through solidarity and North-South partnerships and south-south.
It should be remembered that with an annual growth rate of 7% and accounting for 16% of global GDP, the French-speaking area has the potential and legitimacy to become a real economic engine.
The simple fact of negotiating between two countries belonging to this area allows them to increase their trade flows by 18% and their wealth per capita by 4.2% on average.
Characterized by a market of 540 million people, the Francophonie should reach 700 million in 2050 under the impetus of African demography. The French-speaking area accounts for 20% of world trade in goods and is home to 14% of the world’s reserves of mining and energy resources. This potential is clearly under-exploited.
Moreover, there is no doubt that the vitality of the French language in the world is directly linked to economic flows, whose communication and transactions are done in French. The same goes for the labor market. This is all the more true for young people, who will choose the French language on the condition of being able to live in French on the labor market.
Translating ideas into sustainable actions
The mobility of business people, the entrepreneurial culture, access to financing, the creation of digital platforms and winning conditions to face the major socio-economic challenges of the French-speaking world were topical 15 years ago and will remain so. tomorrow. These issues are now superimposed on fundamental questions about the opportunities linked to sustainable development and mobility, energy transition, artificial intelligence and the development of supply chains.
The big challenge now is not just to formulate and exchange ideas during major international business meetings. We must move to another level and translate these ideas into long-lasting and structuring actions. This is the only way to create a sustainable brand of francophone excellence in economic terms.