Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, focusing on long tradition and quality of relations between the two countries.
The meeting took place following a GAVI conference on accelerating vaccine production in Africa, which President Faye attended earlier in the day.
GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, is an international organization dedicated to improving vaccine access worldwide.
After the conference, President Macron invited his Senegalese counterpart to a private lunch. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed the longstanding relationship between their countries and expressed a mutual desire to adapt their ties to current global dynamics.
“After my participation this morning in the GAVI conference on accelerating vaccine production in Africa, I was invited to a friendly lunch by President Emmanuel MACRON,” president Faye said.
“We spoke of the long tradition and quality of relations between our two countries,” President Faye stated in a social media post. He added that both leaders expressed “our common desire to work towards their renovation by adapting them to current changes.”
This meeting marks an important diplomatic engagement for President Faye, who recently took office. It also underscores France’s continued interest in maintaining strong ties with its former colony and other African nations.
It come at a time of evolving dynamics between African nations and former colonial powers, with many African countries seeking more equitable partnerships on the global stage.
The focus on vaccine production in Africa highlights the continent’s push for greater self-reliance in healthcare, particularly in light of disparities in vaccine access revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
France plays a significant role in global vaccine initiatives. As the sixth-largest donor to Gavi, France has allocated approximately €800 million to the Alliance and to COVAX, ACT-A’s vaccine component, for the period of 2021-2025.
Since its establishment in 2000, Gavi has helped vaccinate more than a billion children, preventing an estimated 17.3 million deaths in the long term and reducing childhood mortality by half in 78 low-income countries.
