NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (April 27, 2016) — St. Kitts and Nevis Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Mark Brantley, is in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa, seeking to deepen the Federation’s relations with key African countries, while attending a three-day Atlantic Strategy Group (ASG) Conference which ends on April 27, 2016.

 

Mr. Brantley has made engagement with African countries a major foreign policy objective in a move to expand  St. Kitts and Nevis’ diplomatic footprint on  what he describes as a growing continent, with which the Federation shares a  strong historical and cultural bond.

 

The Foreign Affairs Minister who accepted an invitation to attend the ASG Conference, joined 50 top political leaders, private sector officials and leading thinkers from across the wider Atlantic basin. The event is co-organised by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, the Institut Panafricain de Stratégies and the OCP Policy Center.

 

During the Conference, Mr. Brantley joined Pedro Pires former Prime Minister and President of Cape Verde Islands and Chair of the Institut Panafricain des Stratégies to discuss the role and place of small island states in an evolving Atlantic space marked by South-South Cooperation,  climate change, energy, trade and investment, inclusive growth and security.

 

While in Dakar, Minister Brantley met with Foreign Minister of Senegal His Excellency Mankeur Ndiaye to formalise diplomatic relations to pave the way for exploring opportunities in tourism, people-to-people contact through a reciprocal visa waiver regime and commercial and cultural linkages.

 

Minister Brantley is accompanied by Eustace Wallace, Counsellor at the St. Kitts and Nevis High Commission in London.