PRETORIA - President Jacob Zuma arrived back in Pretoria, following a state visit to the Republic of Senegal. It was Zuma&39;s first state visit to the country.
Spokesman in The Presidency, Mac Maharaj said in a statement on Thursday that Zuma and Senegal&39;s President Macky Sall agreed to deepen cooperation at social, economic and political levels.
According to the statement, the statesmen agreed to "strengthen cooperation in a number of areas including air transportation, water, energy, defence, agriculture, higher education and tourism."
Zuma said: “We look forward to expanding economic ties. We are happy that South African companies have found so many opportunities in Senegal."
The statement said that the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) would assist Senegal with the construction of the Blaise International Airport in Diass. The IDC would also go in partneship with several consortiums to build a railway.
In addition the two states agreed to make Dakar a central hub to serve the West African Region. It was also agreed upon that an association between Goree Island and Robben Island would be formed, based on both places high historic value. Goree Island was used as a meeting place between the ANC and Afrikaner intellectuals in 1987. The meeting came to be known as the Dakar Declaration and was organised by the Institute for the Democratic Alternative for South Africa. Participants included members from the ANC and the main organisers were Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert and Breyten Breytenbach.
“That historic meeting was very important as it served to demystify the ANC and make white South Africans in particular understand it better. This island therefore has a special place in South African transitional history," said Zuma.
The two leaders also discussed cooperating on matters relating to strengthening the African Union, promoting peace and security and promoting a just and equitable world order.
