President of the Republic of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is on an official visit to Spain from March 24th to 26th, at the invitation of King Felipe VI. The visit was announced by the presidency as a trip aimed at strengthening the friendly and cooperative relations between Dakar and Madrid. This visit comes at a time when Senegal is seeking to reassure its partners, attract more capital, and assert itself as a stable platform in West Africa.
Beyond the protocol, the focus is on enhancing business relations. Senegal now sees itself not only as a reliable political ally but also as a suitable investment destination for long-term projects. In an international context marked by increased competition among African economies for funding, Senegal aims to present itself as a land of strategic opportunities, as highlighted during the Invest in Senegal Forum held from October 7th to 8th, 2025.
During that forum, Bassirou Diomaye Faye expressed his country’s interest in collaborating with investors to support national development through various priority sectors, including agro-industry, green energy, mining transformation, the blue economy, and digitalization.
Senegal, a strategic gateway in Africa: Spain represents a suitable partner from this perspective due to its geographical proximity to West Africa, human ties with the region, and growing interest in connectivity, employment, and economic presence in Africa. For Senegal, the goal is to expand its circle of European partners, leveraging Madrid as a gateway to broader financial, industrial, and institutional networks. The presidential visit thus serves as both a positioning operation and a bilateral consolidation effort, aligning with Spain’s priorities in its renewed relationship with Africa.
Concrete needs: The visit by Bassirou Diomaye Faye is part of a broader Spanish push towards Africa, as outlined in the Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028. This strategy emphasizes strengthening political, economic, and human ties with the continent, with a particular focus on neighboring regions, including West Africa. Senegal stands out as a natural anchor point in this architecture due to its relative institutional stability, Atlantic facade, access to regional markets, and stated economic transformation ambitions.
The selection of sectors highlighted by Dakar is strategic – agro-industry addresses the need to better transform local production and reduce import dependence, renewable energies respond to energy sovereignty and ecological transition goals, mining transformation aims to move away from raw resource export models, the blue economy leverages coastal potential for fisheries and aquaculture, and digitalization remains a key tool for productivity improvement, modernization, and creating skilled jobs.
The success of this visit will not be measured by protocol quality or the intensity of declarations but by the ability of both capitals to translate this diplomatic meeting into financial projects, actual investments, skills transfers, and job creation.
