Saudi seeks friends in West Africa

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is believed to be attempting to make new friends by improving relations with West African nations that could support and enhance the role of its allies on the continent.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, arrived on Sunday to the Senegalese capital Dakar where he met with President Macky Sall and other officials.

In a brief statement following his meeting with the Saudi Prince, the Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye said; “the Saudi Fund for Development has allocated nearly 40 per cent of its investments in West Africa to improving social and economic developmental projects in Senegal,” noting to the convergence of views between the two sides regarding international issues.

Prior to his visit to Senegal, Bin Abdul Aziz visited Mauritania and announced his government’s intention to allocate $30 million to construct a building for the Faculty of Economic and Legal Sciences that will host nearly 50 per cent of the students in the University of Nouakchott.

The Mauritanian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Hmeida Ould Ahmed Taleb, said: “With the Saudi Fund, the Ministry will implement a series of educational projects, including building 35 model schools in the state’s capital worth at $10 million.”

He added that “the Gulf Kingdom has agreed to fund the construction of a drinking water network to be tendered by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation.”

Analysts believe Saudi support in the region is to prompt authorities to escalate their oppression of the Islamic current believed to have links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia praised the Mauritanian authorities’ decision in March to close Al-Mustaqbal Association headed by the vice president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars Sheikh Mohammed Hassan Ould Al-Dadou and other institutions believed to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

A report released by the Desert Studies Centre notes “the possibility of widening the confrontation between the two sides via launching a regional campaign of harassment and arrests against members of the Islamic movement.”

Meanwhile, following the Saudi Prince’s visit to Mauritania, an African delegation chaired by the Mauritanian envoy to the African Union (AU) Hamadi Meimou arrived in Cairo on Monday to meet with officials there. The Egyptian ambassador to Mauritania also met with Mauritanian ministers to discuss abolishing the AU’s decision to suspend Egypt’s membership in the Union following the military coup in July 2013.

Analysts believe the Saudi activities in West Africa mean to encourage countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to support the new authorities in Egypt in the AU which is scheduled to decide over the course of the coming days about Egypt’s membership, the Union’s position on the military coup and the scheduled presidential elections.

Source: Noon Post