“Senegal’s Islam Is Not Influenced by Iran and Saudi Arabia,” Says Babacar Ba.

The Republic of Senegal is a western African state whose democracy has set an example of democracy for the whole African world. Neighboring with Mauritania in the north, with Mali in the east and with Guainía and Guinea-Bissau in the south, Senegal borders with the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Senegal is somewhat of a dry nature in the north and northeast because of its adjacency to the Sahara Desert with hot, dry climate. The country’s southwest is tropical and humid. It has also been host to the Toucouleur Empire. With the influence of Muslim Arabs in Africa, Senegal majorly turned to Islam in the 11^th century. Although it is not a vast country with a strategic location, Senegal plays a highlighted role in the politics of Africa. As a country with 90% of its population being Muslims, Senegal serves partly as a cultural bridge between Muslims and the Black African community. To study the strategic position of Senegal in Africa and the Islamic World, we conducted an interview with its ambassador in Tehran which comes below.

AVA Diplomatic’s Exclusive Interview with the Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal to Iran,

Mr. Babacar Ba

Interview by Mohammadreza Nazari

 When and how did you first find your way into the diplomatic world?

I started my diplomatic career in 1982.I have about 30 years of diplomatic careers. And I am graduated from the University of Dakar and also I got my degree from the national high school for diplomacy.

What was the first training course you took?

In Senegal, after you finish your high school, you go to the university. So after being graduated from the University of Dakar in Senegal, exactly from Department of Art, English and Arabic Studies; I joined the National School of Administration and Diplomacy.

Only five years after the assassination of Egypt’s third President, Anwar Sadaat, you arrived in Egypt to attend diplomatic trainings. How did you find the developments of the country while Hosni Mubarak was rising to power?

Yes. You know Egypt is a very highly qualified country in terms of diplomacy. During this time I remember the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Egypt. And Egypt used to organize training program for diplomats, especially foreign diplomats; in French language and also in Arabic and English. So I had the chance to go to Egypt in 1986 and to the academy of diplomacy .It was a very good program. By this time Egypt was a very stable country and very active country in international affairs .so it was very fruitful for me to be in Egypt by this time to learn about the diplomacy skills.

Between 2010 and 2012, you served as a diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister Office. Considering your background in Senegal’s diplomacy, what is the most significant international priority of the Senegalese government? Has it changed now?

Yes. During this time there was a lot of challenge in West Africa. If you remember this period was characterized by trouble rebellion in Mali. Because of the situation also in Libya; there was some inter connection between the severe situation in Libya and situation in Mali, along the border between Algeria and Mauritania. Some rebel groups or terrorist groups were acting in this area and my government was very keen in following the situation in the North Africa and West Africa, especially in Mali which is very important neighbor of Senegal. It was a security challenge and as a diplomatic adviser of the Prime Minister I was following closely the situation. My duty was also to advise and assist the Prime Minister on many other regional and international affairs. In this regard, I can assure you that the principles of Senegalese Diplomacy did not change a lot .we still promote and defend some principles of peace, justice and mutual respect and cooperation among states.

Speaking on international conflicts, Senegal stands out as one of the most influential countries in western Africa. What measures has it taken to work out international conflicts in the African world?

Yes. As you know Senegal is very active in helping the United Nations, to address conflict situation. If you take 128 countries who are contributing to the UN forces, Senegal is number seven on this group which is contributing in military operations to help easing the conflict situation around the world. So we are very well committed in peace keeping and conflict settlement within the UN system. Senegal is present in Sudan, in Central Africa, in Mali, in DRC, (Democrat Republic of Congo) we are also actively engaged in international and regional initiatives to settle peacefully all these conflicts.

Senegal is a new non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. How can that position affect Senegal’s role in solving international conflicts, esp. in Africa?

It is a very important position because if Senegal is accepted among the members of the Security Council it is due to its role in the international community in terms of diplomacy, in terms of its contribution to peace keeping, and also in terms of active initiative within the UN system. So this is a big responsibility to be a member of the Security Council, because you know the main objective of the Security Council of the UN is to maintain peace and stability and security around the world. It is a big challenge that Senegal is ready to address .By the way; it is not the first time that we assume this position. Senegal was twice member of this institution (1968-1969, 1988-1989).As I said before, Senegal will use this position to promote and support peaceful settlement of conflicts in Africa.

 Some are on the belief that countries such as Senegal do not cast an independent vote in the Security Council, meaning their votes are under the influence of other countries. Is that really so?

Not at all. You know Senegal has this influential role because of our freedom on thinking and acting. We are a country which always, since our independence, is promoting the virtue of dialogue, peace and justice. We are a country which always active in the debate of the United Nations to express independently our view based on our principles… That’s why Senegal has been selected to be member of many international initiatives for peace keeping and security. I don’t think that any other country can influence the position of Senegal, which is always referred to basic principle, of our independent diplomacy.

Can you give us an example of Senegal’s monitoring participations?

We are member of almost all UN Peace keeping forces and conflict monitoring mechanism around the world such as MONUSCO, MINUSMA and other UN Missions in Sudan, Haiti, RCA, etc. For the situation of Palestine, we are chairman of the committee in charge of the right of the Palestinian people, the UN committee in charge of defending the Palestinians rights. More than 35 years we are chairman of this committee and we always raise the issue of Palestine in this committee and in various other committees. And we do it independently.

What achievements has this committee had for the Palestinian people thus far?

First of all we succeed to maintain the Palestinian issue on the UN agenda. Many times, Israelis and some other countries initiated actions for this committee to be canceled. We have been fighting for 35 years to have this committee maintained and to have the Palestinian issue into the agenda of the General Assembly and UNSC. Within the UN system every-year several reports on the Palestinian situation are put on the table of UN agenda to sensitize international community and to mobilize its efforts to solve the plight of Palestinian people and not to undermine its rights.

How are the political relations between Senegal and Israel?

We have diplomatic relations with Israel. They have Embassy in Senegal but we didn’t have Embassy in Tel Aviv. So we think that this position gives us more rights and possibilities to express directly to them our feelings and position about the situation in Palestine and the necessity to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict.

Doesn’t that mean Israel wants to be present inside Senegal?

As I said, Senegal and Israel have diplomatic relations and even technical cooperation especially on agriculture. But those relations and cooperation do not undermine the strong and continuous support we provide to our Palestinian brothers for their inalienable rights to build and manage their independent STATE in a safe border.

Given your former position as the Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Union and Senegalese Abroad, how big is the Senegalese population living outside the country?

People of Senegal have a long tradition of migration not only in Europe but even in African regions. The first cause was that they got earlier some technical skills and knew how that was profitable to many African countries such as Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire. My father was working in Congo for 40 years during the colonial time. He was an expert on maritime transportation and shipments. That time, Congo did not have many experts in this area and my father was working there as technical staff. That shows how Senegalese have a long tradition of migration. We also have many Senegalese immigrants as technical staff in Europe, especially in the US and Canada. Senegalese immigrants are very active abroad and are contributing significantly to the GDP of Senegal economy.

How many Senegalese are currently living in France?

In France, we have roughly 300 000 immigrants. But they are also in Italy, Spain and Germany. They are more active in Italy and Spain, than in France. They are mostly students and traders.

Considering the similar language between Senegal and France, I expected a larger number of Senegalese to live in France.

Yes, they are, because of our cultural and historic ties. But they are mostly in Italy and Spain active in trade or as industries employees. In France, they are especially in academic institutions and universities.

How are the political ties between Senegal and France over the recent years?

You know we have a very long tradition of relations between Senegal and France because of the colonial system, and education; most of our authorities have been educated in France during the last century. Now we have a highly qualified new generation of Senegalese coming from America and other countries. But still, we have very strong political ties with France because of the history. We have good relations with them, no doubt about it. But our policy now is to enlarge our circle of partnership. In this regard, we are having also strong relations with China, India, Turkey and some other American and European countries. So France is not the only country which has close ties with Senegal. We are now diversifying our relations with many other countries. But still, we have pretty strong ties with France because of the history.

So, given the dynamics of Senegal’s relations, which countries are its most important trade partners in Europe?

In Europe, it is France, indeed. But, some other like Italy, Spain, Netherland, UK, Germany, and Belgium are also active partners in economic cooperation. They are very helpful in building many infrastructures such as, clinics and hospitals. Netherland for example is a big supplier of oil to Senegal, maybe because of the Rotterdam port facilities.

So you maintain good relations with colonialist countries.

We don’t consider those relations as colonialist relations. 50 years after independence and freedom, we share with all those countries relations based on mutual respect and equity for the benefit of our respective people.

In what areas are the current economic reformations being implemented in Senegal? How have they affected the country’s economic growth and gross national product?

In Senegal, we have a new President, His Excellency President Macky Sall, who after being elected in 2012, has come up with specific programs we call it “Emerging Senegal”. It is a special initiative to promote economic developments and social security in Senegal. “Emerging Senegal Program”.is focused mainly on agriculture and industry, because we see that as a developing country, we need to develop those sectors, infrastructure and energy, agricultural productivity through mechanization and new modern equipment for farmers. The objective is to improve our economic services and we are trying to find some partnership in Iran in this regard. We also want to develop our industry, because these sectors as well as agriculture have now very low position in our GDP. The government is also promoting other sectors like energy, health, education to sustain growth in the economy.

How much is Senegal’s GDP?

I can say that in the GDP, agriculture and industry are above 17%, when, for example, the contribution of the Senegalese abroad reach 40%. Contribution in Industry and agriculture in GDP is still very low, but we want to put it higher. The highest percentage in our GDP is coming from trade, because it is an informal sector, which contributes up to, let’s say, about 35%; tourism sectors, also very low, 2%; fisheries also 1.5%. The objective is to increase those areas contribution to the GDP to the highest levels.

So we can say Senegal is not a touristic country, right?

We are touristic, but we haven’t reached yet the level of Morocco, Tunisia or Kenya. We want to improve our tourism sector. Because we have many touristic attractions including cultural and religious attractions as Touba, a religious very well-known town in the world like Mashhad. 4 million people come every year to visit the Holy City of Touba. Then we have the history touristic city of Goree Island, where we have historical slavery house, from where many black Africans were transferred to America. And we have also very nice costal seaside, which attracted number of tourist from Europe and America. There are different types and new sites of tourism that we want to improve.

What was the reason for your assignment from UAE to Iran which reinvigorated the Senegal-Iran ties back to the level of ambassador?

This shows the importance that my President gives to Iran/Senegal relations. When you select an experienced diplomat, because I am one of the most experienced diplomats in Senegal, this shows that he gives some importance to the relations between Iran and Senegal. It’s a challenge for me to come here to reopen the Senegal Embassy in Tehran. I will do all my best to promote this cooperation and contribute to reinforce the relations between the two countries.

Before coming to Iran, what advice did you receive from other authorities, namely the PM?

Instructions from my authorities are to reactivate and reinforce relations between our two countries. Promoting relations between Senegal and Iran in investment and partnership are my main objectives. Because, you know, now diplomacy is economy. In terms of economy, there are a lot of potentials in Senegal and Iran, but we need to create more interconnection between the two countries to explore all opportunities.

What are the measures Your Excellency has planned to take to enhance the political ties between Iran and Senegal?

On political ties, what we need first is regular contact at the highest level, at the level of ministers, for example. The Foreign Minister of Senegal visited Iran in 2013 and invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Senegal. We are preparing this visit. Dr. Zarif has undertaken some visits to East Africa, and he assured me that his next trip to West Africa will be to respond to the invitation of his counterpart in Senegal. So what we want is at the highest level to have ministerial exchange between the two countries. The mayor of Dakar has invited his counterparts, the mayor of Tehran and Isfahan to go to Senegal. Our Minister of Sport is planning to come to Iran soon to meet with the Iranian Minister of Sport. Thanks to the former Ambassador of Iran in Dakar, Mr. Alibakhshi, a lot was done (the new Ambassador will join Dakar very soon.)

Over the past couple of years, Senegal brings back interesting memories such as the ousting of Iran’s former FM while he was on a mission in Senegal. What impact did that measure have?

In the relations between two countries, there are always accidental phenomena and facts. There was an unfortunate situation during this time. I remember, because our former President was very close to President Ahmadinejad. He came here many times. So he was taken by surprise and was disappointed by some inacceptable practice. So, he decided to disrupt our diplomatic relations. But this was only one phase of the history. I’m glad it did not last long, because this happened in 2010 and by now in 2015, we already restarted our relations, and this is the past. We say we will have new form of relations based on mutual confidence, respect and mutual benefit. So this is what we learned from that and my objective is not to look behind but to look forward for what we can do to improve relations between the two countries.

Let’s not get into that and get to the cultural ties between the two countries.

The basis of the relations between Senegal and Iran is very cultural. You know President Senghor was the first President of Senegal. He was very interested by Iranian culture and civilization. You know there are many poets in Iran, and he was a poet and academician in Africa. So he learned a lot on Iran, on Iran’s culture. Senegal opens the first black African embassy here in Iran. His Excellency Mr. Masamba Sarr was the first ambassador of Senegal here. He is still alive in Senegal and has a good grasp of Iran. So cultural exchanges were very strong and a section of Persian language was open in 1975 at the University of Dakar. We have here in Iran, many Senegalese students completing their studies at Ph.D. level at Shahid Beheshti University, at Tehran University and at the University of Isfahan. I was one of the students who started first learning Farsi at the University of Dakar. Because when the Shah of Iran visited Senegal, they decided to open department of Farsi in Senegal at the Department of oriental studies. Thanks to the former President, Abdoulaye Wade, they reopened the department based on the partnership between the University of Tehran and University of Dakar. Many students come here to study Farsi. So education and culture are two strong parts of our relations. Culture is very important and I want to build on this basis to have some more exchanges between Senegal and Iran in culture; film making is also a good area of cooperation, and we need to exchange experience on the sector; we are producing many films. Last time, we had one of our big book writers come here to participate in the book fair in Tehran. So education and culture are basic. I think these two areas should not be forgotten in our promoting activities.

Considering the fact that 90% of Senegal’s population is Muslim, I wonder to know which Muslim offshoots are active in the country.

We are mostly Sunni and the percentage of Muslim in Senegal is 95%. We are very close in religious tradition to Morocco and Mauritania. Our Sunni tradition come from there. And we have a lot of Shuyukh and Senegalese academicians who wrote many books on Islam, Ahl-e-Bait and the Prophet. We have our own way of practicing our Sunni Islam with God blessing of our own religious leaders.

So this is the Senegalese Sunni Islam.

Senegalese Style of Sunni is very specific. We don’t have any influence from Iran, Saudi Arabia or any other Sunni or Shia country. Because we have our own shuyukh who learned the Quran, who learned the tradition and know everything about Islam and they adapt it with our local traditions. Our practice of Islam based on tolerance, and mutual respect.

I want to know that in the Senegalese style of Sunni, is there any savior like Imam Mahdi in Shia Islam? Do you believe in a savior? What is the role of clerics?

The Shuyukh are much respected in Senegal. In our constitution, normally the government does not interfere in the religious business, because we have what we call a secular system. But because of the cultural situation, the links between the government and the religious leaders are very strong. No government can succeed in our country without the support of the religious authorities. They are much respected. During their celebrations, Mowloods, Magal, government officials participate in the ceremonies, and assure them full assistance. But governments aren’t interfering in religious business, because in Senegal, there is freedom of faith. We have 3% of Christians living side by side with Muslims without any problem. They do not have any difficulties in practicing their religions.

Why is Senegal’s Muslim population bigger than those in the neighboring countries?

Because we have many religious Muslim leaders who learn Arabic and very well educated on Islamic teachings and sciences. You know we are the first black African country after Arabic countries. We are close to Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. And many of them come affiliated to Tijannia and Qadiriyya teachings, you know from Ahmed Tidjane Al Sharif and Abdul-Qadir Gilani. They have a lot of followers. So they go and learn Arabic in Mauritania and Morocco. Furthermore many Senegalese from their younger age are educated in Arabic and Coran. And we have many religious Muslim figures who were local and fought against the colonial system to defend the Islamic religion and Islamic religious value. So that’s why the Islamic religion is very present in Senegal, because of the culture ties with Tijaniyya from Algeria and Morocco and Qadriyya from Mauritania. Our Islam is very specific and locally colored by our local religious Sufis leaders. It’s an Islam of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and respect of true Islamic values. Furthermore you have to go to the Quranic School when you are four or five years. It is compulsory. Before going to elementary school, you have to go to the Quranic School. And this contribute to give basic Islamic teaching to many Senegalese.

Speaking of the OIC which has Iran and Senegal included in its body, can it play a role in resolving the conflicts between Islamic countries? Take the Mina Stampede, for example. Can it guarantee the safety of pilgrims and avoid any misfortune such as this year from happening?

Basically, the objective of the OIC is enhancing solidarity between Muslim countries, reinforcing cooperation between member states. Because in economy and culture, there are a lot of things that the member states of the OIC should do; also resolving conflicts. When there is a conflict between member states, the OIC should help in finding solutions and peaceful settlement. This is the way they have to go. They also have to work on religion, because all of them share the same religion indeed. But the main focus is on the political level to have solidarity within the international arena, to have cooperation within them and to address all the challenges facing the Islamic Umah. All issues can be settled or addressed within the OIC. What happened in Mina is a very unfortunate situation. We have lost about 63 Senegalese. And as you know, we have 36 countries involved. What happened in Mina is very unfortunate. We pray Allah Almighty for the victims. Organizing Haj is very difficult. It is now getting big issue and big responsibility to organize it. Because every year, the number of pilgrims is expanding. But we can find expertise everywhere in the Muslim countries. Now it is up to the Saudis authorities also to work with all the countries of the Islamic Umah to see how we can reorganize it together, and the OIC can help. We can do it within the OIC. We can do it bilaterally between countries and Saudi authorities. But we have to learn a lesson from what happened this year. It should not be forgotten. We have to see how we can organize better the haj for the next years. This is the position of my country. And we have also decided in Senegal to see and even revise the haj process before they go. Because in Senegal, before going to Mecca, they also face some problems. So we have to work together. And we expect the government of Saudi Arabia to collaborate with other countries to work together and improve it. The haj is important for all the Umah. So the whole Umah should contribute to help organizing the haj better. We share the same opinion with Iran in this area to work together.

Doesn’t the deaths of thousands of Muslims mar the general image of Muslims and Muslim countries?

It was an unfortunate situation, but it was an accident. When there is an accident, first of all, you have to investigate to see why and how it happened. And then you learn from that within yourself. Because this is the pillar of Islamic Umah. But we have to learn a lesson from what happened and see how we can improve this organization next time. Because nowhere in the world do we have such a big gathering. Even in the Vatican. During the haj, there are millions of people coming from everywhere to one country, one place, doing the same thing. It is only in Mecca or in the holy sites of Islam that we have such gathering. Maybe sometime you have something like this in India for the Buddhists. They also have some accidents. But this type of gathering is very difficult to organize.

Between 2003 and 2010, you were Senegal’s Ambassador to the OIC. What is the essence of this organization? What would happen if it were shut down?

You are asking about the OIC and how we can get benefit of it. When I was in Geneva, for example, I found many people saying that OIC was of low benefit, no profit; they said it is not active. But when I took the office there, I told them the OIC is good tool. We use religion as pretext or a reason for assembling all Muslim countries. We are a big community as an Umah. Francophone are together within Francophonie with members states speaking the French language, so they have their own community. The English-speaking countries are organized within Common-Wealth, organization. Because as we say in Arabic, if you are all together, you will be very strong. And when we did that in Geneva, we were very strong within the UN, why? Let’s take an example, the Human Rights Council. Many of our countries were criticized; Iran, Sudan and some other Muslim countries were being criticized for their human rights records for political reasons, not only for defending the human rights specifically, but just to put some countries under the projector of criticism. But we work together and we succeed to form a strong majority within this Human Rights Council. Out of 46 members states 21 of them were from the OIC. Anytime we work together and defend one country, then we succeed to oppose politically oriented resolutions. We were also fighting against Islamophobia within the Human Rights Council. Why? Because many of our immigrants living in Europe have difficulties to live in the region. There is a lot of discrimination. And because of the OIC work within the UN we manage to adopt many resolutions fighting discrimination against Muslims and Islam, combating terrorism and extremism. We fight to say Islam is not a terrorist religion. Even if there are, unfortunately, some people who are using the religion to do terrorist acts. They do it within Jews, Christians and it is not only Muslims who do these acts. So do not mingle Islam with terrorism. We fight against this within the UN system; within the UN Human Rights Council. We fought also even when the Swiss government decided to ban building of mosques or minarets in Switzerland. The OIC was very active also to say no! We have to promote freedom of religion in Swiss. We addressed also other challenges such as migrations and refugees in the Islamic world. Iran received a lot of refugees from Afghanistan. And Turkey does the same. So we succeed to address the refugee problem and organize a meeting of the OIC members to address refugees. On health issue we worked also with WHO to see how we can fight some diseases within the Islamic Umah. For example we succeeded in fighting against poliomyelitis in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Just to tell you, within the OIC, we have a lot of potentials, a lot of possibilities and challenges, not only political, but economic, cultural and educational. The problem we are facing now is that sometimes, there are diversions between member states. Otherwise, the OIC is a good instrument, and if you use it properly, you can address your own problems, because it is a framework of unity and solidarity. But unfortunately sometimes, there are problems between member states that weaken the institution. We have to fight hard to give it force and use it as a good instrument to promote the Islamic Umah and Muslim interest.

I take your word for all the peaceful, nice things that are planned to happen. But this is an idealistic point of view and the output of this organization is nothing like what you said.

In the diplomatic arena, the solidarity between the OIC member states helps a lot to avoid deliberate and politically motivated condemnations, to avoid political stigmatization, to fight against Islamophobia. Maybe you don’t see it from here. But if you go to Europe, you will see that within the UN system, there are lots of resolutions to fight against this Islamophobia, to fight against the discrimination against Muslims in Europe. We succeeded to have some UN regulations; at least, some international regulations to oppose this. The other thing is health issue. I was telling you that within the OIC, we have fought against polio in Nigeria. We helped 5 countries affected by that disease and 4 of them were Muslim countries. In WHO, they came to me and asked how the OIC can help to fight polio in Nigeria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And I commit one Senegal religious leader to go to Nigeria and talk to their religious leader and they accepted to take the vaccine. And this initiative saved about 5-6 million children from polio. This is a concrete act, for example. But I agree with you that OIC it can do better. With 56-57 countries out of the UN together, OIC can do better. But for that, we need more political will, more political involvement and commitment by our leaders to use it as a good instrument.

I would like to ask you what the priorities of the Senegalese government are about the strategic cooperation in the Middle East. What areas does Senegal want to cooperate in with Iran?

I would like to focus on economy and partnership. There are a lot of potentials. Since my arrival here, I visited a lot of factories, many industries on pharmaceutical products, agricultural equipment, etc. There are a lot of possibilities. We are buying all this from Europe, and I see that from Iran, we can have good pharmaceutical products and agricultural equipment. There are some opportunities that we can use from Iran in the economic area. Before talking about the conflict situation, I want to focus on the partnership and also investment. There is a lot of money here. There are a lot of businessmen. I visited a petrochemical group also. They are ready to go invest in Senegal. So my objective is to see how we can get benefit from this knowhow of Iran in many areas, investment and partnership, and how we can sell our products from Senegal to Iran. We have phosphate; we also have many kinds of agricultural products that Iran needs. So we want to promote economy and agriculture in this area. We already have one proposal on aquaculture (fisheries). I visited one fishing farm in Mazandaran, and there is also one company in Tehran that proposed cooperation and we received a proposal of partnership between one municipality mayor in Senegal and a company here in Iran. Our fisheries are now getting low, because big ships from China, Korea and Europe take all our fish. So our sea doesn’t have that much fish anymore. Now we want to have fish farms through aquaculture programs, and Iran has good skills in this matter.

You seem to very much like the north of Iran.

Yes, I visited there a few times, Mazandaran twice in Sari and Ghaem Shahr. I like it. My plan is now to go to Gorgan. I like these cities. Very nice area. I also want to go to Shiraz. I visited Isfahan already. I plan to go to Shiraz and some other parts of the country. There are a lot of potentials for cooperation. But there is not much connection between businessmen. Sometimes, there is also a problem of communication. There is aerial communication and transportation, but there is a problem of language. I see many businessmen do not speak French or English. So we have tried to create a link between them, because they have so much to offer. Turkey and China are successfully working in Senegal, why not Iran. I tell them not to be afraid. Senegal is a peaceful and safe country; a very stable country. We have a good economy. We have facilities. People are also very open. There are no diseases. Everything is ready for Senegal to receive Iran. And some companies are already there selling furniture, carpets and commodities. They have good business there, because our religious leaders like furniture from Iran. We also have Iranian company for cars. We have also Sweeties Company selling biscuit. They like the sweeties and the carpets of Iran. There is a big international fair that Iran participates in every year. It is the international fair of Dakar. So we have to push some businessmen, because they are afraid. Because they think Senegal is a market for only France. Let’s forget that. Senegal is open to everybody now; Turkish, Iranian, Indian, Chinese; it is now totally open.

On your trip to Ghaem Shahr, you followed up on the case of medical cooperation and visited a medical cardiology center. What measures are you thinking of in the medical area?

First of all is to have the unit for manufacturing medical equipment, but also pharmaceutical products. Because as I told you, all our pharmaceutical products are coming from Europe, and it is not accessible for the low-level Senegalese people. It is very expensive when it comes from Swiss, France, etc. Now to get the good medicine, because I know we have the good medicine products here. For example, when I first came here, I had a dermatological problem. I went to a doctor and in one week, it was cured thanks to the quality of the medicine. And it is cheap. When I go to the pharmacy and I buy something, I’m surprised that it costs me almost nothing if you compare it to the price in my country. So we want to have this company in Senegal. It will create some jobs and then accessibility for medicine, not just for Senegal, but for all the neighbor countries, Mali, Burkina and Mauritania. All of them used to come to Senegal to get some health facilities. We also want to build some hospitals or clinics from Iran. I know about the Iranian clinic in Dubai. They are very famous. We seek to have an Iranian clinic also in Dakar. Especially in an area where we want to have health tourism. And it should be profitable for Iranian companies to have access. I received some proposals already on this issue; medical products, medical equipment, beds.

What about fighting terrorism and extremism?

Unfortunately, we are facing a lot of conflicts in both of our regions, in the Middle East and in West Africa. And the main problem we have to address together is how to fight terrorism and extremism. This plea gives us a lot of trouble. You see what happened with Boko Haram, in Nigeria, Cameron, Niger, Mali and all this area. You have ISIS representation here. They are using Islam in very bad manners. So we have to work together first of all to address terrorism and extremism. This is an area of cooperation between Iran and Senegal, because we are sharing the same view that there is a big threat that we have to address urgently. You see how Iran is active in Syria in fighting terrorism. You also see how Senegal is influential in the Sub-region to contribute also to the peace and integrity in this region. So this is an area where we want to have more exchange of views, more cooperation.

Insha’allah. We will work on that.