Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will make this week his second tour of Sub-Saharan Africa, in which he will visit Niger, Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau with the aim of addressing the Spanish Cooperation, the security of the Southern Flank and, prominently, the contribution of Nigerian oil to address the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
Albares’ first African tour to the region took place last June, when he visited Mauritania and Senegal with the aim of strengthening collaboration with two “strategic partners of Spain in North Africa”.
This second sub-Saharan tour will begin on Wednesday in Niamey, capital of Niger, where Albares will be received by his counterpart, Hassoumi Massaoudou, and will visit, on the one hand, an urban garden promoted by the Spanish Cooperation and, on the other hand, the GARSI Sahel project, in which the Civil Guard, the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the Portuguese Republican National Guard participate, according to Foreign Ministry sources informed The Diplomat. Precisely, the need to reinforce security in Africa and the importance given by Spain to NATO’s so-called Southern Flank will be one of the main topics to be addressed by Albares in the three countries of the tour.
Afterwards, Albares will travel on Thursday to Abuja, capital of Nigeria, where he will carry out a working visit with a more economic content, both in relation to the energy capacities of this oil-producing country and the interest of Spanish companies to invest in it. For this reason, in addition to meeting with his Nigerian counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama, the head of Spanish diplomacy will be received by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva. Albares will also visit the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is located in Abuja.
Last June, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received in La Moncloa the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, with whom he agreed on the need to “strengthen energy supply, at a time of special international pressure on the energy markets due to the current war context”. In the Joint Declaration signed by the two leaders, Spain recognized Nigeria as one of its main “and most reliable” energy suppliers -gas and oil-. Spain is Nigeria’s second largest customer in this area. Pedro Sánchez also conveyed to President Buhari “the interest of Spanish companies” in the sector in “continuing their commitment to Nigeria in order to seek agreements that ensure a stable supply on a lasting basis”.
Albares’ African tour will conclude on Thursday in Guinea-Bissau, the country that currently holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS. The minister will meet with his counterpart, Suzi Barbosa, and visit Spanish Cooperation projects.
