German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit Senegal and Ivory Coast next week to engage in critical discussions with leaders of two of West Africa’s stable democracies. The countries are vital to the region’s stability and serve as key economic partners for Germany, a Foreign Office spokesperson announced on Friday.
The agenda will likely cover migration and renewable energy, with German business representatives accompanying Baerbock. She is set to meet Senegalese Foreign Minister Yassine Fall and newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Dakar on Monday. Following this, Baerbock will hold talks with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and Foreign Minister Kacou Houadja Leon Adom in Abidjan on Tuesday.
This visit comes at a time of increasing instability in the Sahel region, often referred to as the “African Coup Belt” due to numerous military uprisings in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon since 2020. Unlike many of these nations, which have distanced themselves from the European Union, exited the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and sought Russian support, Senegal and Ivory Coast have maintained their relations with Western countries.
A key focus of the talks will be migration, addressing legal routes to Europe and deportation matters. The spokesperson highlighted concerns that regional issues in the Sahel could “quickly spill over to us, for example in the form of irregular migration or organized crime.”
