UK Minister pledges to support at Africa summit

The UK Government has said that the Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, will hold discussions with African leaders on rising food insecurity during his two day visit starting on 24 January.

Mitchell will reportedly be emphasising the importance of the UK working with African countries to support economic growth economies and boost food security.

Following arriving in Dakar, the Minister will highlight why he thinks the relationship between the UK and Senegal is important.

In addition, Mitchell will be meeting Senegalese government figures on his visit, including current African Union Chair and Senegal President Macky Sall where he will reportedly set out the UK’s vision of a stronger partnership between the UK and Senegal that the UK Government has said will deliver “mutual prosperity and security and tackles global issues such as health and climate change”.

The UK Government has said that Mitchell will sign the first ever Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Senegal as “a symbol of [their] growing partnership”.

“Many Brits know Senegal for its world-class football team. They may not know that our partnership with Senegal reaps benefits for people in both our countries, delivering economic growth and tackling common security and health threats. We hope to deepen this partnership over the long-term,” said Mitchell.

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“As a leading supporter of the African Development Bank I am delighted to participate in the Dakar 2: Feed Africa Summit on an issue that we all need to work together on.”

The Dakar 2 Feed Africa Summit is an African-led initiative that the Minister attend as a representative of the UK. At the summit, Mitchell will listen to African leaders talk about the causes of rising food insecurity, understanding their vision for accelerating agricultural transformation, with the aim of maximising the UK’s impact in alleviating food shortages across the continent.

“With Russia’s war in Ukraine exacerbating the already drastic impacts of regional conflict in Africa and climate change on food security, I also want to hear directly from Macky Sall and other African leaders about the issues the continent is facing and understand how the UK can further support African countries as we face those challenges, together,” explained Mitchell.

While in Senegal, the UK Government has said that the Minister will explore opportunities to expand UK investment into the country to make a “real and lasting positive impact”.