2023-05-26 15:40:00
“Where is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib?”“She had to leave in a hurry. We do not know why”: and as the princely economic mission to Senegal was coming to an end, Wednesday evening, rumors were rife. The minister disappeared from radar and the photographer who followed her, Vlad Vanderkelen, left a void in the team of journalists present on the spot. Why did the photographer have to follow her? It’s one more clue that something is going on. “Perhaps the release of Olivier Vandecasteele”, cautiously blurts out a person from the Walloon delegation. Good and happy suggestion.
But that does not prevent Princess Astrid, alongside Walloon Minister Willy Borsus (MR) and Secretary of State Pascal Smet (Vooruit), from taking stock of the economic mission, which has made it possible to sign 38 agreements between Belgian companies and the authorities and other Senegalese companies. And these are contracts worth several tens of millions of euros for some.
Olivier Vandecasteele is on a plane to Belgium: “He will be with us tonight”
The Jambaar project, which involves the port of Antwerp among others, represents an amount of nearly 150 million euros and aims to make the port of Dakar a logistics hub for all of West Africa.
The pressure drops
On the side of EcoSteryl, the Mons company specializing in the management of medical waste without going through the incineration box (and mainly active outside Wallonia), joy is felt. If the discussions went well with their private partner on site DrSett, the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health for the installation of six industrial sites for the management of medical waste will make it possible to firmly anchor on the African continent. The pressure goes down, we allow ourselves to let go of a few smiles after the signing ceremony at the end of the mission. “It’s only the first step, but it’s a great step”slips Olivier Dufrasne, the president of the company.
It is still not normal that the CFA franc is still printed by the Banque de France.
And if Flanders did not want to send officials during this princely mission, the Brussels Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pascal Smet nevertheless launched, leaving Vondel’s language aside: “Commercial links are facilitated by the use of French. So we must, in a united way, take advantage of this to strengthen our ties with Senegal”.
Shake up France and China
And potentially take a place hitherto more occupied by France? Tricky question. “We prefer to do business with Belgium. There remains a feeling in relations with France. It is still not normal that the CFA franc is still printed by the Banque de France. It’s a hangover from colonialism…”, slipped us upstream a Senegalese official. But there is no question of saying it so openly on the part of the Belgian representatives, who also watch over the competition represented by China on the spot.
Economic mission to Senegal: “Princess Astrid is discreet but plays a very important role behind the scenes”
The economic mission has therefore made it possible to anchor the Belgian presence, to bring the two countries closer together and to benefit from new markets. “Some are reluctant to work in Africa. Too bad for them. At some point, if you want to grow, don’t hesitate. You have to accept what that represents in terms of work and management. It’s a different culture. But it’s worth it”, another business manager of a Belgian company tells us.
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