Senegalese Secretary of State for Culture, Creative Industries and Historical Heritage Dr Bacary Sarr has called for the lifting of sanctions illegally imposed on Zimbabwe and for the removal of immigration laws that restrict the free movement of Africans on the continent.
Speaking at a belated national day cocktail hosted by the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Dakar, Minister Sarr said the thrust of the new Senegalese administration was African integration and South-South cooperation.
South-South cooperation refers to the technical cooperation among developing countries in the Global South.
It is a tool used by the States, international organisations, academics, civil society and the private sector to collaborate and share knowledge, skills and successful initiatives in specific areas such as agricultural development, human rights, urbanisation, health, and climate change, among others.
Dr Sarr said sanctions hindered progress and affected the most vulnerable in society.
In the same vein, he reiterated that restrictive immigration laws in most African countries negatively impacted African integration and trade.
He expressed gratitude to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Dakar for introducing white maize farming in Senegal in collaboration with Fepromas, an association of women farmers dedicated to the production of maize in Senegal. The experiment with white maize farming has been a success and marked a significant step forward in agricultural innovation and food self-sufficiency.
Zimbabwe's 44th Independence anniversary cocktail was purposefully held on May 31 to coincide with the handing over of the Zimbabwe Bird soapstone sculpture to the museum at the African Renaissance Monument in Senegal.
Speaking at the same occasion, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Chido Sanyatwe, said Zimbabwe and Senegal shared a common history of colonialism and that cultural heritage was a huge factor in defining a people. She narrated Zimbabwe's rich cultural history dating back to the Great Zimbabwe civilisation of the 13th Century and the successful Great Munhumutapa Empire.
Deputy Minister Sanyatwe also invited Senegal to deposit any form of artefacts that depicted the country's colonial history and its road to independence in the museum of African Liberation presently under construction in Harare.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Senegal, James Maridadi, said the theme for this year's celebrations, "Friend to all and enemy to none", encapsulated the African spirit of Ubuntu which emphasised cooperation and integration.
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He said Zimbabwe upholds multilateralism and dialogue as a mechanism to resolve differences.
He said in the 2024 cropping season starting in a few weeks, the embassy had identified young men and women that it would cooperate with in the production of maize. Ambassador Maridadi said until the youths have reconnected with their land for commercial food production, then food security in Africa will remain a pipe dream.
He said the youths should drive the agenda that in Africa "we eat only what we produce and that none of the continent's natural resources should ever be exported in their raw state".
In terms of the donation of the Zimbabwe Bird artefact to the museum at the African Renaissance Monument, Ambassador Maridadi said was the beginning of bilateral cooperation in the field of arts and crafts between Zimbabwe and Senegal.
He also expressed keenness to rekindle the cultural exchanges of the 90s when two prominent musicians Youssou Ndour and Ismaeli Lo visited Harare for music concerts courtesy of the Alliance France.
Presently, the Ambassador said he was linking Zimbabwe musicians and radio stations for possible collaborations and simulcasts with their Senegalese counterparts.
