Albares signs new Country Partnership Framework with Senegalese counterpart

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares received the Minister of African Integration, Foreign Affairs, and Senegalese Abroad, Cheikh Niang, in Madrid on Monday, where they signed the 2026-2030 Country Partnership Framework. “I am welcoming my Senegalese counterpart, Cheikh Niang, to Madrid during the visit of the President of Senegal,” the minister wrote on social media, referring to the official visit that Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye will make to Spain this week at the invitation of King Felipe VI. “We are strengthening our excellent relations of friendship and cooperation with the signing of the new 2026-2030 Country Partnership Framework,” Albares continued. “Senegal is a priority partner in Africa,” he concluded. The new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) replaces the previous one for the 2019-2023 period, during which Spain significantly increased its contribution to Senegal to approximately €128 million, representing a 125 percent increase compared to the previous CPF of December 2013. In 2024, negotiations began between the Spanish Cooperation Office in Dakar (OCE) and Senegalese authorities for a new Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development between Spain and Senegal. According to a press release issued by the Ministry on Monday, the new Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development will be in effect until 2030 and includes an initial financial allocation of €180 million, €40 million more than the amount disbursed in the previous period. Alongside traditional areas of focus such as agriculture, water, and sanitation, the new framework will prioritize education and technical and vocational training. Senegal is a priority country for development cooperation, as reflected in the Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028 and the 2023 Development Cooperation Law. Second visit of Faye President Faye will make his second official visit to Spain from March 24 to 26. He will be received on Wednesday by King Felipe VI and hosted by the King and Queen that same day with a luncheon in his honor at the Royal Palace of Madrid, as reported by the Royal Household. Separately, the President of Senegal will be received by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, according to sources at Moncloa Palace who spoke to The Diplomat. According to a statement from the Senegalese government, the visit “is part of the desire to strengthen the Dakar-Madrid axis” and will serve to address bilateral cooperation, regional security, and economic collaboration. On Wednesday, Faye will also attend an event jointly organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the State Secretariat for Trade through ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade), and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), where Spanish investors will be informed about the opportunities offered by Senegal. Faye will be accompanied by Abdourahmane Sarr, Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, and Cheikh Niang, Minister of African Integration, Foreign Affairs, and Senegalese Abroad. This is the second official visit of the President of Senegal to Spain, following his visit on June 30, 2015, to attend the 4th United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville. The previous visit by a Senegalese head of state to Spain took place in December 2014, when President Macky Sall traveled to Madrid for working meetings with King Felipe VI and the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. Queen Letizia, for her part, made her traditional Cooperation Trip to Senegal in 2017, between December 11 and 14. Subsequently, in December 2021, the Queen traveled to Dakar to inaugurate the new headquarters of the Cervantes Institute. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has traveled to Senegal on two occasions. The first meeting took place in April 2021 and served to reaffirm, before President Sall, their commitment to working towards “regular and orderly migration” and to combating “clandestine migration networks.” The second meeting was held at the end of August 2024 and included the adoption of a joint declaration with Faye to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

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