President William Ruto will embark on a three-day trip to France and Senegal on Monday, January 23rd, where he will meet with France’s President Emmanuel Macron to discuss key development projects and matters of regional peace and security. The President’s office released a statement on Monday, January 23rd, stating that the President will also be a keynote speaker at a summit in Dakar on food, sovereignty, and resilience, organized by the Africa Development Bank.
The summit comes at a time when Africa is facing serious food security challenges, and it will be an opportunity for leaders in the continent to find ways through which Africa can meet the rising cost of food. The President’s office further noted that the summit is an appropriate forum for Heads of State and other partners to discuss how to exploit Africa’s agricultural potential and the plans and programs that will help scale up production.
This is the first international trip that the President has made since the turn of the year and the eleventh since his inauguration in September 2022. The President has previously toured Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, South Korea and twice to the United States on state visits. However, this is the second trip that the President is making to Europe considering that his first trip since inauguration was to the United Kingdom while attending the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
