According to a statement from CIPRA, to which VerAngola had access, the Senegalese minister expressed his country's full availability to "support Angola's mandate in the leadership of the African Union (AU), particularly in the areas of infrastructure and development financing".
Abdourahmane Sarr was speaking to the press after being received, last Friday, in audience by João Lourenço, in his capacity as special envoy and bearer of a letter from the Senegalese President.
Thus, on that occasion, he said that the meeting also served to "transmit to the Angolan Head of State the feelings of fraternity and friendship of his Senegalese counterpart".
"Given the relevance of Angola's presidency, which assumes an important role on the continent in 2025, Senegal is ready to work alongside Angola, with a view to ensuring the success of this mission", the note reads.
"President Bassirou appointed me to convey the Republic of Senegal's willingness to support the Angolan presidency, to work with President João Lourenço and provide the necessary support, given that he has a heavy task ahead of him to lead our continent during this year of 2025", said the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation of Senegal.
Regarding the message sent by the President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to João Lourenço, the minister said, "without going into details, that the current African context, marked by challenges in the field of infrastructure and the need for large investments, makes support for the development of the continent even more pressing".
"We need, at this moment, to empower our institutions, the institutions that can obtain financing so that we can boost or catapult development. This is part of the African agenda and part of President João Lourenço's strategy during his term in office," he said, quoted in the note.
On that occasion, the statement said, he also "considered collaboration with African institutions and the private sector to be essential to drive progress and underlined Senegal's willingness to contribute to the viability of structural projects in Africa."
He also said they wanted to help João Lourenço in this presidency: "We want to help President João Lourenço in his presidency so that we can find funding that can, together with African institutions, finance the projects that Africa would like to have to drive its development."
