Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal have set up a joint committee to implement and monitor the decisions and recommendations of the meetings of their Joint High Commission for Cooperation.
The two countries, through their Ministries of Foreign Affairs, reviewed cooperation agreements from July 31 to August 1, 2024, in Abidjan, on the occasion of the 10th session of the Ivorian-Senegalese Joint Cooperation Commission.
Of the 12 agreements concluded, 11 were signed. The Ivorian delegation was led by Léon Kacou Adom, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Ivorians Living Abroad, and the Senegalese delegation by Yassine Fall, Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs.
A cooperation agreement signed in the economic field aims to give new impetus to economic cooperation between the two countries by
identifying new partnership opportunities to increase trade and create a more inclusive and stable economic environment.
The two parties have signed a Convention on Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters, which covers in particular mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters, in accordance with their respective national legislation.
Under the Convention, mutual assistance applies to the service of summonses and other judicial documents or proceedings, the gathering of evidence by means of letters rotatory, and the enforcement of orders, regulations and arbitral awards.
The two countries have also signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance. In criminal matters, the parties provide each other with
wide possible assistance in matters relating to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences and in all proceedings within the jurisdiction of their respective judicial authority
An extradition agreement was also signed. Its purpose is to define the conditions under which the parties will surrender to each other persons prosecuted for a criminal offence or sought by the competent authorities for the enforcement of a sentence.
A Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons has been signed, which obliges the parties to cooperate closely in the transfer of
sentenced persons. A person sentenced in the territory of one party may be transferred to the territory of the other party to serve the sentence imposed.
The 10th session of the Ivorian-Senegalese Joint Commission for Cooperation was preceded by a meeting of the group of experts from
both countries to examine political, economic, financial and educational issues.
The group of experts from both countries also discussed cultural and social cooperation, as well as sports, transport and telecommunications, agriculture and fisheries.
This review provided an opportunity to assess performance in these areas of cooperation in terms of implementation of existing agreements and to explore other areas of cooperation with a view to diversifying them.
At the bilateral level, the two Ministers welcomed the high quality of the relations of friendship and cooperation between Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal and reaffirmed their shared desire to work towards strengthening them for the benefit of both peoples.
In this regard, they urged their respective delegations to examine in depth the instruments of cooperation with a view to consolidating them so as to make them the basis of a dynamic and mutually beneficial partnership that will serve as a reference in the sub-region and in Africa.
At the end of the meeting, the two West African countries agreed to hold the 11th session of the Ivorian-Senegalese Joint Commission
for Cooperation in Senegal, on a date to be determined through diplomatic channels.
AP/lb/GIK/APA