President Cyril Ramaphosa will today participate in the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security as part of his official visit to Senegal.
The President’s visit is at the invitation of His Excellency President Macky Sall.
President Ramaphosa arrived in the Republic of Senegal on Sunday, following his State Visit to Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. This visit marks the last leg of his four-nation West Africa tour.
“President Ramaphosa’s Senegal leg is at the invitation of His Excellency President Macky Sall as a special guest to participate in the opening session of the seventh edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security on Monday,” the Presidency said in a statement.
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 forum will be held under the theme: “The challenges of stability and emergence in Africa in a post-COVID-19 world”.
Later in the day, President Ramaphosa will proceed to the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar where he will be conferred with an honorary doctorate at an event held at the university.
According to the Presidency, in 1992, the same university (Cheikh Anta Diop) 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 include an agreement to elevate the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation from the level of Foreign Ministers,” the Presidency said.
In addition, President Ramaphosa will also 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,” the Presidency said.
Representative offices were established in November 1993 in Pretoria and Dakar, followed by full diplomatic relations on 6 May 1994.
Source: South African Government News Agency