Dakar: Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, received Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, and the accompanying UAE delegation during an official visit to Dakar to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment relations and explore new opportunities for cooperation in priority sectors.

Al Zeyoudi conveyed to the President the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, along with their wishes for continued progress and prosperity for the government and people of Senegal.

President Faye conveyed his greetings to the UAE leadership and his wishes for continued progress and prosperity for the leadership and people of the UAE, expressing Senegal’s appreciation for the strong relations between the two countries and his aspiration to strengthen cooperation across fields of common interest, particularly trade and investment.

During the meeting, both sides underscored the importance of enhancing trade flows, encouraging mutual investments, and expanding engagement between the two business communities to allow the private sector in both countries to benefit from opportunities in mining, renewable energy, infrastructure, food security and logistics, in line with Senegal’s national development priorities and the UAE’s strengths as a global hub for trade, investment and logistics.

Al Zeyoudi said, “Senegal is an important strategic partner for the UAE in West Africa, and our meetings during this visit reflect a shared commitment to elevate economic, trade and investment cooperation. We are working to translate the growing momentum in our relations into practical opportunities and partnerships for the private sector in both countries across priority sectors.

“By deepening cooperation in mining, renewable energy, infrastructure, food security and logistics, we can stimulate new trade and investment flows and contribute to sustainable economic growth that benefits both our nations. Non-oil trade between the UAE and Senegal grew 24.5% to reach approximately US$1.3 billion in 2025, while bilateral trade in the first half of 2026 surpassed US$751 million, a growth of 31% compared to the same period in 2025.”

In the presence of UAE Ambassador to Senegal, Saeed Hamdan Alnaqbi, and Mohammed Rashid bin Tali’a, Assistant Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Government Knowledge Exchange, Al Zeyoudi held a series of meetings with senior Senegalese officials, including Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo, Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal, and Cheikh Oumar Seck, Minister of Mines and Geology. The meetings focused on enhancing trade and investment cooperation and identifying opportunities across renewable energy, mining, infrastructure, food security and logistics.

The visit included business-to-business meetings between ministers, officials and business leaders from the UAE and Senegal, which reviewed trade and investment opportunities and the prospects for strengthening private-sector partnerships.

The visit is part of the UAE’s broader efforts to expand its trade and investment partnerships across Africa. In 2025, UAE-Africa non-oil trade reached approximately US$158 billion, a growth of 41.6% compared to 2024, with Africa’s share of the UAE’s total non-oil trade rising to 15.5%, up from 10.8% in 2019. UAE investments across the continent exceeded US$110 billion between 2019 and 2024.

Since its launch in September 2021, the UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement programme has concluded 38 agreements with economies across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with 18 now in force, as part of the UAE’s target to increase non-oil foreign trade to US$1.1 trillion by 2031.