POLITICS
SENEGAL – “Africa must be proud of itself. It must take root in its own values.” said Mr Souleymane Jules Diop
As part of UNESCO’s Africa Week for the 2022 edition, a week with the theme “Self-sufficiency, resilience, economic development in Africa”, the Ze-Africanews team had the privilege of conducting an exclusive interview with Mr Souleymane Jules Diop, Permanent Delegate of Senegal to UNESCO. “The African continent must be rooted in its own values, affirm its identity proudly, rediscover the greatness of Africa, past and future,” he said.
Ze-Africanews: Hello Can you introduce yourself?
Mr Souleymane Jules Diop: Good morning. I am Souleymane Jules Diop, Permanent Delegate Ambassador of Senegal to UNESCO. I am also the President of the African Ambassadors Group here at UNESCO.
The integral interview to watch here :
Ze-Africanews: We are at the African Week for this 2022 edition of the epic days happened between the 23rd and the 25th, what are your impressions?
Mr.Souleymane Jules Diop: I am pleased with the importance that all other friendly countries attach to African Week. The Italian ambassador, my friend Massimo, told me this morning about the symbolism of Senegalese culture. The Qatar ambassador told me that this is the only time in the year when we are experiencing something different and very authentic. It is a recognition for Africa and it is also a pride as President of the Group of Ambassadors. It was a great challenge to organize this week. We organized it in a month and a half and it is a gratitude to President Alassane Ouattara who agreed to sponsor it this week. When I sent him a message suggesting that he be the sponsor of this week, he immediately agreed. Not being able to be there, he asked his Prime Minister to represent him here with three other ministers so frankly, it is a great pride. And the enthusiasm that there was this year was commendable with a good organization, an exceptional party and we are very proud of it.
Ze-Africanews: “Self-sufficiency, resilience, economic development of Africa” is the theme of this edition why this choice?
Mr.Souleymane Jules Diop: In a global context where a war is taking place thousands of kilometres from our borders and threatening Africa with hunger, the question was why the African continent, which has the largest quantity of fresh water in the world, The largest area of arable land, can’t feed his children? Why is it that every time there is a crisis in the world, we are threatened with famine? This question had to be answered to reflect the reality that threatens us. That’s why we’ve tried to frame the debate and see the mechanisms by which we can solve this type of problem. We also wanted to break with a certain idea that we have when talking about Africa’s past, change the victimary discourse and show Africa’s contribution to other people. Look at the capoeira dance in Brazil, a martial art developed by African slaves to defend themselves, it is a brilliance of African genius. We wanted to show that instead of always talking about our suffering, the pain we have suffered. It is good to remember what is rooted in our history and in our past, but Africa is not just that, Africa is inventive genius, it is all we have been able to develop despite slavery. We wanted to erase our African identity by giving us other names in new lands that are not our lands and even on the religious level. Everywhere, Africans have stood on their feet thanks to their power, the power of our spirituality, but also of our culture, and that’s why, I told the Ambassadors who were present today, because we carry the DNA of a common ancestor who is African, So in a certain sense the whole world is African and so it was necessary to say it, to proclaim it, but also to see how to get out of the victimary position.
Ze-Africanews: During 3 days we saw a parade of scientists and intellectuals through panels of reflections on the economic development of Africa, including the economic independence of the continent, were the conclusions adopted?
Souleymane Jules Diop: There were also debates about African cultural heritage, including African sites that are part of the World Heritage. There have been very strong positions on the need for Africa to position itself clearly on a return of these goods. Senegal received the sand of El Hadji Omar. Recently Benin received the remains of the king. All this is entering a new era, a new reconstruction of our past and present identity because we have been for a while having created and pasted identities. In the same way, with the Ambassadors, we wanted to reflect on our present by drawing inspiration from our past. It was the philosopher Bergson who said that the present was a bridge between the past and the future. That’s what we meant in a way. We also wanted testimonies from Africans from the diaspora who also did something. Africa has brilliantly participated since the time of the Malian universities of Timbuktu, in the scientific development of the world on astrology, but today in all fields of mathematics and other. There are young Africans who shine. And all this allowed us once again to realize the need for a new paradigmatic anchorage, not on the basis of the paradigms that Westerners wanted to stick to us. For example, to say that Africans do not have history. When you go to the Universities of Toronto, there is a work of Realignment, of reconstitution of our African identity that has been done, and all this we will obviously draw conclusions that will reinforce what we have done for 3 years during the 211st session of the Executive Board of Unesco by presenting a document that was adopted around the priorities. This is obviously all going to feed the reflection on our priorities in terms of culture, in terms of heritage, in terms of simulation, but also to have a more enlightened view on the continent’s future.
Ze-Africanews: Do you have a global message to send?
Souleymane Jules Diop: Show others that Africa, contrary to a certain conception, is not a static continent. It is a dynamic continent that is moving at its own pace and still moving forward, and since we talked about self-sufficiency and resilience, we wanted to show that the initiative of Africans, especially African women, shows that there is a transformative effort. For several decades, Africa has had the raw materials that Westerners process and resell to us our own products. You saw that chocolate is now made in Côte d’Ivoire with cocoa beans and other products. We make beer, cream for the body and all that and we wanted to show it as well because as long as there is no processing, there is no added value and when there is no processing in reality. We are obliged to sell outside but at the price imposed by others. We are at home, we are transforming, we are changing the facts of the problem a little, we are bringing more money into our country, and we are exporting less and that partly solves the unemployment problem. Because the reason why the industry is not developed here, the factories are not developed so there is unemployment.
Ze-Africanews: Finally, how do you look at the African continent?
Souleymane Jules Diop: Africa must be proud of itself. It must be rooted in its own values. All the countries that have done so have developed such as Japan or China now the Koreans who show that religion can adapt to development contrary to what is said. All these prejudices are broken. So to say that the African continent, in order to develop, must be rooted in its own values, we must affirm our identity proudly and this is what will allow us to regain our place in the world, to regain the African greatness past and future.
POLITICS
SENEGAL Moussa Tine: “We launch a solemn appeal to the diaspora for the International Exhibition of Investment of the African Diaspora – SIDIA
Exclusive interview with Moussa Tine, the Director General of Urbanism and Habit. From September 26 to 28, 2025, at the Domaine de Choully, Africa – and particularly Senegal goes to meet its diaspora. For three days, the event will bring together several hundred entrepreneurs, including 30 from Senegal, investors, policy makers and artists. It is an unprecedented exhibition that brings together strategic sectors such as housing, agriculture, but also industry and commerce.
Why involve the diaspora and why organize this International Diaspora Investment Fair? Why this fair?
This exhibition today is a moment of exchange, an indispensable meeting point for government policy and particularly the policy of these three sectors, namely housing, construction, agriculture, industry and commerce. It is these three ministries that bring together their strategies, their strengths, to go out to meet the diaspora. The diaspora plays a decisive, extremely important role in the country’s economy and in its socio-economic stability. It is an important moment, a decisive moment, a moment that will also help us to financially complete a number of projects that are underway, but also to give the opportunity to the nationals of the diaspora to contribute to the development of their country. Each ministry today develops projects and this fair is an opportunity to give the diaspora the necessary information, either to integrate these projects or to collaborate with the State in the context of public-private partnerships or direct investments under the auspices of the State. Here is, in a global manner, the object of the exhibition. Today, this the exhibition is a decisive moment, an important one, with challenges defined across the three sectors I have just mentioned.
Thus, what is the economic weight of the diaspora?
The weight of the diaspora is well established. Today, it plays a decisive role in our economy. The diaspora is strong and economically involved, not only in a family way, but also through local and international initiatives. Therefore, involving the diaspora means redefining its role in a strategic way, which must no longer be limited to family support but contribute directly to the development of the country. This can be done through financial investment projects through programmes structured by the Ministry of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Spatial Planning. I take the example of the PNALRU (National Program for Access to Housing), a project designed and led by the Ministry of Urbanism. We know that most of our fellow citizens in the diaspora have a house or housing project because they want to invest in their home. But often, they do not have the necessary information to do it in a secure way, nor quality support. Projects like the PNALRU offer a secure framework at the level of land, construction, but also marketing, in a transparent manner. These are projects that the State has implemented and which allow the diaspora to have easier access to land, and to participate directly in the national economy. The diaspora complains about not having enough information on state initiatives. This exhibition is a way to reach out to her, to provide as much information as possible about ongoing projects and integration modalities. We know that a part of the diaspora already has the initiative to return or to work in collaboration with the State. This show will therefore be a B2B meeting, a space where the diaspora and the State will be able to meet, establish collaborative relationships, and create what I often call a “return ticket”, that is to say an opportunity for many Senegalese to prepare for a secure and planned return.
Mr. Director, what is the direct message you send to the diaspora, especially to that of Geneva, because the exhibition will take place there?
Yes, the exhibition will be held in Geneva. This choice does not come by chance. Geneva is a financial capital and a business hub. Organizing it there highlights a decisive point in the outcome of projects: the financial dimension and the technical dimension. The objective is that from this exhibition, not only do we provide the necessary information to the diaspora, but also that we mobilize its capital to encourage it to invest in real estate, agriculture and industry. Each ministry will present development projects that the diaspora can appropriate, whether in housing, agriculture or industry. These sectors are linked: industry supports habitat, habitat needs building materials, and agriculture requires infrastructure. This sectoral transversality will allow for maximum opportunities to be created for the diaspora. In Geneva, for three days, we will have exchanges, panels, permanent exhibitions (more than 30 planned), and B2B meetings between the state, professionals, the diaspora, and the private sector. The aim is to mobilize investors, experts and promoters to implement joint projects.
Who are the partners of this project?
In Senegal, we have the Ministry of Urbanism, Territorial Collectivities and Spatial Planning, which leads, with the Ministries of Industry and Trade, and Agriculture as co-organizers. We also work in partnership with Me Events, a structure specialized in the organization of events, and with partners in Geneva, such as the African Village Association and Afrique Néon.
Mr. Director, to conclude, what message do you want to send to the Senegalese in the diaspora?
I take this opportunity to make a solemn appeal to all our fellow citizens of the diaspora. This exhibition is made for you. Its objective is clear: to mobilize the diaspora, not only for its expertise, but also for its investments. Invest in yourself. Invest in Senegal. Invest in Africa. This fair is yours, make it your own, and make it a channel for communication and development. The success of this exhibition will be the success of the national policy towards the diaspora. Senegal comes to you, your country comes to you, in order to discuss your projects and those we develop here. Come in large numbers, because together we can ensure inclusive development where every contribution counts. Thank you and I hope to see you very soon at the Geneva exhibition, from September 26 to 28.
Initially scheduled for Wednesday, June 11, 2025, the major march of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA), the main opposition party in Côte d’Ivoire, will finally take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025. This postponement was announced by the party’s Executive Secretary, who points out that the decision came after discussions between the PDCI leadership and the authorities of the Abidjan department. The details of these discussions have not been made public.
This demonstration, highly anticipated by the party’s activists and supporters, aims to support the candidacy of its president, Tidjane Thiam, in the presidential election of 2025, and to protest against his removal from the electoral list. A decision that the party qualifies as unfair and unacceptable, arguing for the right of all Ivorian citizens, including those with dual nationality, to participate in the political life of the country.
The route of the march remains unchanged: the protesters will leave from the SOCOCE space of the 2 Plateaux, in the municipality of Cocody, to head towards the headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). The party calls for a strong peaceful mobilization in order to convey a clear message: demand inclusive, transparent and peaceful elections.
The removal of Tidjane Thiam and other opposition figures is mainly based on the issue of dual nationality, a legal provision that continues to be debated as the election approaches. The PDCI, which sees in Thiam a rally candidate capable of unifying the Ivorians, intends to make this march a highlight of its campaign and its democratic fight.
Photo credit: Tidiane Thiam page
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Morissanda Kouyaté, received this Sunday, June 1, 2025 in Conakry a delegation from the African Union, on an official visit to Guinea. On this occasion, he reaffirmed the commitment of the transitional authorities to respect the deadlines set for the return to constitutional order, while stressing the historical and central role of Guinea in the construction of the Pan-African project.
« I am very happy. The African Union is at Guinea’s side to accompany and support the vision of the head of state, President Mamadi Doumbouya, in favor of Guinea and Africa, in the political, diplomatic, economic, and cultural fields, declared the head of Guinean diplomacy.
This meeting takes place in a context marked by the preparations for the constitutional referendum scheduled for next September 21.
Morissanda Kouyaté also recalled the founding involvement of Guinea in the creation of the Organization of African Unity, which became the African Union. “This visit materializes the commitment of the Peace and Security Council to accompany Guinea in a dynamic of ambitious political and diplomatic transformation,” he stressed.
The minister indicated that all actions related to the transition are currently funded by the national development budget, while calling for a broader mobilization of the international community. “We have requested a round table, called the Basketfront, to seek support to speed up the process. But this does not mean that we will give up,” he said, reiterating President Doumbouya’s willingness to scrupulously respect the scheduled deadlines.
He finally wanted to reassure on the efforts made to ensure an inclusive electoral process. “We are going through a difficult period, and that is why we want all Guineans to be registered in order to obtain a reliable electoral roll,” concluded Morissanda Kouyaté.
Source: guinee360 / Photo credit: Page Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guinea
