PARIS — “Israel is part of the family of nations, so it has a role to play in Africa. In partnership. I must say that in several African countries, Israel is working in specific domains such as agriculture, security, defense and other sectors. Now, Israel should take part in this general effort for Africa, because it (Israel) is an important country,” African Union Chief and President of Senegal Macky Sall told Al-Monitor.

In France for the annual Africa Forum organized by the OECD, Sall expressed his hopes for continued Israel engagement in the continent. Talking to Al-Monitor, Sall explained that countries of the world must understand that Africa, too, is important. “We cannot have the Ukrainian war becoming a new burden for the African continent. Unfortunately, the war has created this situation (of a global crisis), and there were also the sanctions. So it's important to remove the constraints related to sanctions that impede on food and fertilizers,” he said.

The statement by Sall on Israel’s role in Africa is significant in view of Sall’s capacity as chief of the African Union and also in view of his capacity as president of Senegal.

As a reminder, Israel achieved last July the status of observer to the organization. After Algeria, South Africa and a few other African countries strongly rejected the move, the African Union decided last February to reexamine objections at its next official meeting in the beginning of 2023. It was a way to preserve Israel’s status of observer while delaying confrontations on the issue for at least a year. A committee including representatives of Algeria, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Nigeria was tasked with preparing recommendations for the next summit.