Dakar – Senegal´s Head of State, Macky Sall, on Monday praised the participation of President João Lourenço in the 8th Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, Macky Sall thanked his Angolan counterpart for his willingness to accept the invitation to travel to Dakar, sacrificing his busy schedule.
He made a special mention of Angola´s First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, who is accompanying the Head of State on the trip.
Macky Sall, who is also the current Chairman of the African Union (AU), said that the availability shown by the Angolan Head of State was proof of his interest in the topic proposed for the meeting and of his commitment to finding solutions for the stabilisation of the continent as a factor for development.
The eighth edition of the Dakar Forum runs until Tuesday 25 February at the Diamnadio International Conference Centre (CICAD) under the slogan, “Africa and the Impact of Exogenous Shocks: Challenges of Stability and Sovereignty”.
Among the participants there are Heads of State and Government and representatives of international and non-governmental organisations that are reflecting on the main challenges to peace and security on the African continent.
In his intervention at the meeting´s High Level Panel, President João Lourenço said that conflicts are increasingly impoverishing the African populations and are at the basis of the constant exodus of young people to Europe.
On his opinion without terrorism and wars, the continent could concentrate on developing its raw materials, retain young people and create the conditions they seek in other countries where the dream of many of them sometimes ends in tragedy.
On the main points of tension on the continent, he highlighted the Sahel as the region of greatest concern today without neglecting the others that are also experiencing situations of conflict.
He acknowledged the importance of looking at the continent as a whole, since instability observed in a member country of any regional bloc ends up being an instability for the entire region.
However, he stressed that it is the Sahel region that currently requires more care and it is on it that “we should pay our greatest attention”, although without forgetting the cases of Mozambique in Southern Africa, of Tigray and Somalia (Horn of Africa) and those of Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Chad).
President João Lourenço arrived in Dakar on Sunday afternoon to attend the Dakar Forum as honour guest, along with his counterparts from the Portuguese Speaking African countries, such as José Maria Neves (Cabo Verde) and Umaro Sissoco Embalo (Guinea Bissau).
Due to an overlapping agenda, Guinea Bissau President was represented by his minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Angolan Head of State, who is set to leave the Senegalese capital on Tuesday morning, 25, visited the historic island of Gorée, one of the main ports of departure for slaves during the slave trade era, off the coast of Dakar.
Source: Angola Press News Agency