Trade and security are the main topics in discussion.
During the opening, the senegalese minister of foreign affairs appealed to China for help in bringing peace to the Sahel region.
“We would like China’s influence to be a strong voice in support of Senegal and all the countries involved in the problem of insecurity in the Sahel, so that our forces there have even more legal means to fight against terrorists and irredentism, and we hope that China will accompany us”, said Aissata Tall Sall, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal.
China remains the Continent’s main trading partner.
Direct exchanges reached 200 billion dollars in 2019, according to the Chinese embassy in Dakar.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal wants to maintain the links to China.
“We maintain this financial cooperation with transparency and responsibility so as not to worsen our level of indebtedness. We therefore take great care to ensure that our debt does not exceed the criteria and conditions that have been set, and we do so with absolute transparency, not only with respect to China, but also with respect to the Senegalese people to whom we owe an account”, concluded Aissata Tall Sall.
The summit takes place after a visit in November by north-american Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who visited Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
The summit ends on Tuesday.