<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, received this Friday in Madrid his counterpart from Benin, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, with whom he discussed the security situation in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea and signed a political consultation agreement.</strong></h4> During the meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release, the two ministers reviewed different aspects of bilateral relations, with special emphasis on political and economic issues. They also analysed the regional situation, especially in terms of security in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, Albares and Bakari signed a political consultation agreement that “demonstrates the will to strengthen bilateral relations in sectors of common interest such as infrastructure, agriculture, textiles and construction”. The meeting, according to Foreign Ministry, took place within the framework of the Government's new Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028, "with which we want to strengthen our relationship with African partners" and which "Benin is one of the leading countries in West Africa for its economic growth and political stability." Precisely, Albares received a few hours earlier at the same ministerial headquarters of the Viana Palace the African ambassadors accredited in Spain, to whom he presented the first measures taken within the framework of the new Spain-Africa Strategy 2024-2028, the document that will guide Spanish foreign policy towards the continent for the next four years. Benin does not have an Embassy in Madrid and is represented in Spain through the ambassador in Paris, Corinne Brunet. Other meetings During his working visit to Madrid, Minister Bakari also held a meeting with the director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Antón Leis, during which they discussed issues relating to the Fund for the Promotion of Development (FONPRODE). He also met with the director of the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), Francisco Tierraseca, with whom he exchanged views on security in the Gulf of Guinea and the projects that the Foundation is developing in the region. According to FIIAPP itself, the meeting also explored opportunities for cooperation between institutions of both countries in the areas of social protection, digitalisation and the GARSI project for security in the region. GARSI Sahel (Rapid Action Groups for Surveillance and Intervention in the Sahel) is an EU project, delegated to FIIAPP, in which the Ministry of the Interior participates through the Civil Guard, with the aim of contributing to the security of the population and the stabilisation of the region by strengthening the capacities of its security forces and improving cross-border cooperation. Spanish experts work on the project together with French, Italian and Portuguese experts together with their counterparts in the region. Bakari also met with the Secretary of State for Trade, María Amparo López Senovilla, with whom he had the opportunity to exchange opinions on different aspects of bilateral trade relations, on the presence of Spanish companies in that country and on the instruments on which the Spanish Administration relies for the internationalisation of companies.
