afrol News / A Semana, 12 April - The secretary general of the International Francophony Agency, former Senegalese president Adbou Diouf, will begin a two-day visit to Cape Verde tomorrow, April 13. Diouf, who will be accompanied by an important Francophony Agency delegation, will, together with Cape Verdean authorities, analyze political, diplomatic and cooperative relations between the organization he heads and Cape Verde.

The current international panorama, UN reforms, cultural diversity and conflicts in Africa will be among the themes to be discussed by Diouf and Cape Verdean authorities. The former Senegalese president’s visit will also be an opportunity for a meeting of technical delegations, which will review relations in the realm of the French language and linguistic diversity, education, higher learning and investigation. Peace, democracy and human rights are other themes sure to be discussed during the visit.

Diouf will hold work meetings with Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs Victor Borges, and will be received by President Pedro Pires and Prime Minister José Maria Neves. Cape Verde joined the International Francophony Agency in December 1996, and various projects are currently underway in the country as part of a bilateral accord signed in 2004.

This is Abdou Diouf’s first visit to Cape Verde as the Agency’s secretary general. As Senegal’s prime minister, and later as its president, he visited the archipelago on several occasions.

76-year-old Diouf, who holds a degree in law, has occupied a number of major posts over the course of his career. He was the office director of Senegal’s first president, Léopold Sedar Senghor, as well as the secretary general of the presidency, Minister of Planning and Minister of Industry of Senegal, before becoming his country’s prime minister. In 1981 he became president of Senegal following Senghor’s resignation, and was re-elected as the country’s head of state in the 1983, 1988 and 1993 elections. He was succeeded in office by current president Abdoulaye Wade in 2000.

By staff writers

© afrol News / A Semana

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