Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Niger and Benin

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (SENEC) will be travelling to Niger from 6 to 8 February and to Benin on 9 and 10 February.

Under his trip to Niger within the framework of the first Team Europe mission, which will bring together members of the French and Greek Governments and representatives of Spain and Luxembourg, the SENEC will attend the opening session of the First EU-Niger Corporate Forum, which be held in the Mahatma Gandhi Conference Centre in Niamey. Meetings with the Nigerien authorities and representatives of civil society are also scheduled to take place.

Secretary of State Francisco André will also visit the EUCAP Sahel Niger Mission under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) which has been fighting organised crime and terrorism in the country since 2012. He will also visit a photovoltaic power farm and a wastewater treatment station, projects that benefitted from the European Union’s financial assistance.

In Benin, where he will be on Thursday and Friday, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation will be in touch with the local authorities with the aim of relaunching bilateral relations and discuss matters of common interest, such as the situation in the Sahel and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.