Senegal wants a rethought partnership with the EU

Senegal’s new president Bassirou Diomaye Faye said his country needs a new “rethought” partnership with European countries, part of his electoral promises to review deals signed with gas and oil extractors.

Faye has often used “the protection of national sovereignty” as a salient slogan in his electoral campaign which ended month-long crisis and safeguarded a democracy surrounded by military regimes.

Cooperation between Senegal and Europe was “dense and multifaceted, but together we want a rethought, renovated partnership”, one “capable of supporting the innovative dynamic we want to imprint on our relations,” Faye said at a joint press conference with president of the European Council Charles Michel.

Faye also plans to review fisheries agreements with the EU, often criticized for damage to biodiversity due to overfishing and low returns to the Senegalese treasury.

Faye said his government would pursue a model of boosting development from within, focusing on agriculture, livestock, and fishing, while also strengthening infrastructure such as railways, electrical grids, telecommunications, and roads.

“European investors whose companies have recognized skills in these different sectors are welcome,” he added.