South Sudan and Senegal have signed an agreement to formally establish mutual diplomatic relations.
The agreement was initialed following an unannounced visit to Juba by Senegalese President Macky Sall on Monday. He met with President Salva Kiir at the State House, J1.
“The bilateral relationship established now between our two countries resurrects these ties and invites us to deepen cultural and economic exchange and political cooperation,” President Kiir said.
The agreement was signed by South Sudan Minister of Foreign Affairs and his Senegalese counterpart.
President Sall who is also the head of the African Union said his visit is to enable opportunities for political and economic growth between Senegal and South Sudan.
“I would like to reveal to you my availability to get together at bilateral level, cooperation and attention with South Sudan. I am very happy our two Ministers of Foreign Affairs signed the agreement for the establishment of the diplomatic relations,” he stated.
President Salva Kiir emphasized that the two countries share traceable history and origin through names, politics, linguistic similarities and roots in the Nile during the ancient Kush – as documented by Cheikh Anta Diop, a Senegalese historian, anthropologist and a politician who studied the human race’s origin and pre-colonial African culture.
“Our bilateral relations will stand on the shoulders of people like Cheikh Anta Diop, who knew the importance of understanding who we are, [where] we come from and what unifies us above and beyond politics. We can advance African integration between these two countries – one firmly centered in north and East Africa and the other firmly centered in West Africa,” he asserted.
President Sall concluded by stating that; “I would like to wish you peace and stability and thank you very much for hospitality.”