French Charge d’affaires, Joel Godeau, has revealed that his country will support the extension of the mandate of the ECOMIG mission in The Gambia.
He made this revelation at the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, where the two diplomats also discussed bilateral matters.
Minister Tangara also appealed to France government for issuing of long term visas to Gambians traveling on official and business trips to France.
He further appealed for the two sides to work on the establishment of French visa processing centre in the country in order to prevent Gambians traveling to Senegal for visa processing which is time consuming and costly.
The two top Diplomats also discussed on the forthcoming Africa – France summit due to be held in France from 4th to 6th June 2020 in Bordeaux. The French Charge d’affaires informed the Minister regarding the arrival in Dakar of the new French Ambassador.
Godeau who was at the ministry to seek for an update on the repatriation of Gambians abroad especially Europe was informed by minister Tangara that modalities are to be worked out with partners regarding the repatriation of Gambians abroad given that the moratorium placed by the government of The Gambia is to be expired at the end January 2020.
The two top Diplomats also discussed on the forthcoming Africa – France summit due to be held in France from 4th to 6th June 2020 in Bordeaux. The French Charge d’affaires informed the Minister regarding the arrival in Dakar of the new French Ambassador.
He sorted the Minister’s intervention to facilitate the early presentation of Letters of Credence to President Adama Barrow.
In his response, Minister Tangara said he would liaise with Office of the President to see how he can facilitate the presentation of Letters of Credence before end of January 2020.
It may be recalled that the French government designated The Gambia as a priority country for French Official Development Assistance (ODA) after the advent of the new democratic dispensation in January 2017 that ushered in President Adama Barrow as President of the Republic of The Gambia. During the International Donor Conference on Gambia in Brussels, France announced 50 million euro financing package that will run until 2022.