In Senegal, a “round table of Russian-Senegalese businessmen” was held in Dakar on Thursday 31 March. The President of Tatarstan, Republic of the Russian Federation, made the trip. An economic meeting while Senegal, considered an ally of the West, had abstained during the vote on the first UN resolution, March 2, demanding an immediate end to the use of force by Russia in Ukraine.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
It was in a room in the Congress Center of the luxury King Fahd hotel that ” this round table on cooperation between the Republic of TatarstanSenegal and Gambia », as indicated by the sign at the entrance. Among the personalities announced on the Tatarstan side, the leaders of the Kazan helicopter factory, the heavy truck company Kamaz, and the oil company Tatneft. The President of Tatarstan Roustam Minnikhanov was welcomed in Dakar by Moïse Sarr, Senegalese Secretary of State in charge of External Affairs, specifies the Russian Embassy.
In a context of Western sanctions against Moscow, ” Russia, via one of its most economically dynamic regions, is looking for possible outlets in Africa », Analyzes a Kremlin specialist. “Tatarstan appears as a showcase of Russia for export “, continues our interlocutor. And the Republic, made up of a large Muslim community, relies on its links with the Islamic world. Kazan, its capital, is also considered ” a highly spiritual city with the establishment of prestigious Koranic schools “.