South Africa: President Ramaphosa Arrives in the Republic of Senegal On an Official Visit

PRESS RELEASE

President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, Sunday, 5 December 2021, arrived in the Republic of Senegal on an official visit at the invitation of His Excellency President Macky Sall.

The visit marks the end of President Ramaphosa's four-nation visit to West Africa which has included the Republics of Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

On Monday, 6 December 2021, President Ramaphosa will participate in the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security.

The Forum is an initiative of the Senegalese Government and has taken place annually since 2014. It is attended by Heads of State and Governments, international partners and organisations involved in peace and security matters.

This year's theme is "The challenges of stability and emergence in Africa in a post-COVID-19 world".

Also on Monday, 6 December 2021, the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar will confer an honorary doctorate on President Ramaphosa at an event held at the university.

In 1992, Cheikh Anta Diop University also honoured South Africa's founding President, Tata Nelson Mandela, with an honorary doctorate.

The programme for the Official Visit includes bilateral discussions and the signing of a memorandum of agreement on political and diplomatic consultations between the two countries.

The agreements to be signed on Tuesday, 07 December 2021, include an agreement to elevate the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation from the level of Foreign Ministers.

President Ramaphosa will visit Gorée Island, which is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Heritage site. It is estimated that millions of Africans passed through the Island from the 1500s to mid-1800s en route to slavery in other parts of the world.

South Africa and Senegal already enjoy cordial bilateral political, economic and social relations underpinned by strong historical ties dating back to the years of the liberation struggle.

Senegal facilitated the historic 1987 meeting of a group of South Africans with exiled members of the ANC on Gorée Island, which paved a way for future diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Representative offices were established in November 1993 in Pretoria and Dakar, followed by full diplomatic relations on 6 May 1994.

This article originally appeared on Govt of SA

Photo: Govt of SA