The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, has invited the African states to Dakar to look at ways to develop more competitive, integrated agricultural networks. The Senegalese leader presided over the opening of the high-level conference on Africa's agricultural transformation on Wednesday, under the patronage of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In order to achieve a real transformation of African agriculture from now to 2025, the Senegalese leader believes that it is important to achieve a change in pattern in the agricultural policies implemented across the continent. Macky Sall also congratulated the AfDB on its initiative to bring the whole of Africa together in Dakar for a high-level conference on agricultural development. He also called for a change in the way agriculture is financed in Africa.

In his speech, President Sall called on the AfDB to focus its efforts on certain key areas such as providing electricity to rural areas, self-sufficiency and the fight against hunger, industrialisation and improvement of rural life, as well as the expansion of basic social services.

"Agriculture is the backbone of African development," Macky Sall told the audience of more than 600 people gathered from across the continent and the world.