The Minister stresses the importance of the UK working with Africa to grow economies and enhance food security

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The UK’s Minister for Development and Africa will stress the importance of the UK working with African countries to grow economies and boost food security – on a two-day visit to Senegal, starting today (Tuesday 24 January).

Arriving in Dakar, Andrew Mitchell will pay tribute to the important relationship between the UK and Senegal, a country with huge economic potential.

He will meet with key Senegalese government figures on his visit, including the current African Union Chairman and Senegalese President Macky Sall. It will also set out the UK’s vision for a stronger partnership between the UK and Senegal that delivers mutual prosperity and security, and addresses global issues such as health and climate change. He will sign the first-ever Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Senegal, a symbol of our growing partnership.

Mr Mitchell will see firsthand the impact of British investment in Senegal, including how UK-funded projects support women and girls, and help build vaccine production facilities in Senegal to tackle the next pandemic.

Representing the UK at the Dakar 2 Feeding Africa Summit, an Africa-led initiative, the Minister will hear African leaders talk about the causes of increasing food insecurity and hear their vision for accelerating agricultural transformation, with the aim of maximizing the UK’s impact in alleviating food shortages across the continent. The UK works with regional organizations such as AGRA, the Regional Economic Communities and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to help boost food trade in Africa.

The Minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said:

Many Brits know Senegal because of its world class football team. They may not know that our partnership with Senegal is reaping benefits for people in both our countries, delivering economic growth and addressing shared security and health threats. We hope to deepen this partnership in the long term.


As a leading supporter of the African Development Bank, I am delighted to be participating in the Dakar Summit 2: Feeding Africa on an issue we all need to work together on.


With the Russian war in Ukraine exacerbating the already drastic effects of regional conflict in Africa and climate change on food security, I would also like to hear first-hand from Macky Sall and other African leaders about the issues the continent faces and understand how the UK can provide more support to African countries as we confront these. challenges together.

Senegal is a leading stable and democratic country in the region, and it is growing in importance and influence, and the UK hopes to build a closer partnership and greater trade and investment links in the long term.

Economic development is critical to addressing challenges such as food insecurity and climate change, and during his visit Mr Mitchell will explore opportunities to expand UK investment in the country to make a real and lasting positive impact. The UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 announced 27 deals worth over £6.5 billion from across Africa. It also announced investment decisions worth £9 billion.

During his visit, he will see the impact of this investment to date, including a $1.7 billion partnership between British International Investment and DP World that features a new container port in Ndayane, Senegal’s largest onshore investment. The port will enable the creation of more than 20,000 new jobs and help raise barriers to greater economic growth.

He’ll learn about the British Council’s historic English Connects program and visit the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) clinic where our delivery partner Marie Stopes International works to increase access to voluntary family planning, reaching those who need it most.

Andrew Mitchell will also visit the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to hear about their plans to develop vaccines for Covid and other deadly diseases.

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