MEDI1TV Afrique : Entretien spécial avec Mamadou Tangara, ministre des Affaires étrangères de Gambie - 01/12/2024
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, I am delighted to see you again for a new interview on Mediain TV.
00:17Mediain TV takes its headquarters today at the Palace of Arts and Culture in Tangier
00:23on the occasion of the 16th edition of the International Med Days Forum.
00:28A 16th edition that has chosen this year as a theme
00:33sovereignty and resilience towards a new global balance.
00:39Several very high-level personalities, heads of state, heads of government,
00:45ministers, international leaders, political decision-makers,
00:49but not only, 250 very high-level personalities,
00:536,000 people who attend roundtables, debates on major issues,
01:00issues of global geopolitics.
01:03Africa is obviously at the heart of the reflection,
01:07and in particular African continental integration.
01:11So what are the local, regional issues?
01:15What are the levers to progress towards this continental agenda?
01:21I have the pleasure of receiving in this interview
01:24one of the most important personalities who participate in these debates.
01:28I want to name Mr. Minister Tangaram Amadou,
01:33Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gambia.
01:36Welcome to you.
01:37Thank you very much, Naya.
01:39It is always a pleasure to come and entertain with you on this beautiful channel that is Mediain.
01:46Sovereignty and resilience towards a new global balance.
01:51What inspires you?
01:52This new theme chosen by the Met Days forum,
01:56a forum that you have known for a long time.
02:00The theme of this year resonates perfectly with Gambia,
02:07given the fact that this question of sovereignty has arisen in Gambia
02:14since the first days of independence.
02:17There is, by the way, an American writer, a reporter,
02:20who said that Gambia could not be held as a geopolitical entity.
02:25It is not feasible.
02:27You know very well the position of Gambia,
02:30which is a country within Senegal.
02:33So I often say that it is a nation with states
02:36whose destinies are inextricably linked,
02:40so we have to work together.
02:43When I talk about sovereignty, I also think of solidarity,
02:48not sovereignty in rivalry,
02:51because today we need each other.
02:54And we need this existing solidarity so that we can move forward together.
02:59We don't choose our neighbors.
03:02I often say that geography dictates its laws to diplomacy,
03:07so we have to cohabit with our neighbors,
03:10to find ways to live in harmony,
03:13and to wish happiness to our neighbor,
03:16because the neighbor's happiness can only be your happiness.
03:19But if you wish, even in a village or in a concession,
03:22that the other person's house burns,
03:24when it burns, it cannot be repaired.
03:27So sovereignty, but in an existing solidarity.
03:30I think I see Morocco as an example, a good example,
03:36especially after the landslides,
03:40we saw this existing solidarity of the Moroccan people in sovereignty.
03:44And I salute, by the way, the vision of His Majesty King Mohamed VI,
03:51because it was a moment when we saw all the Moroccans
03:55rallying behind their king to come and help the sinister.
04:01That was a good example of solidarity in a sovereign way.
04:06In a sovereign way.
04:08It's very interesting, this idea of geography dictating diplomacy to men.
04:14The African continent, the African countries, have a common destiny.
04:22That's what we hear when we listen to you, Mr. Minister.
04:27You salute the Moroccan model, you celebrate this acting solidarity
04:33and this south-south cooperation.
04:35It may also be the occasion, since you mentioned the Kingdom of Morocco,
04:39to come back to these structural projects,
04:42these major structural projects, the most recent.
04:45And you are directly concerned.
04:47The Republic of Gambia is directly concerned.
04:50It is the royal initiative of the Atlantic front,
04:53which concerns 23 riverine countries of the Atlantic front
04:58and which also has the vocation to unclog,
05:02and here we are talking about solidarity, the countries of the Sahel.
05:06Absolutely, because Morocco has taken this beautiful initiative,
05:10given the fact that we don't all have the same means.
05:14And I think that in this spirit of south-south cooperation
05:18and existing solidarity, as I call it,
05:20Morocco has thought about making sure that we can mutualize our means
05:24to face the challenges.
05:26You know, a long time ago, the stories of Peracherie were very far-fetched,
05:30but we have seen that it is getting closer to our coast.
05:32So we must not wait for the fire to be announced to play the firefighters.
05:38This diplomacy of firefighters, we must know how to overcome this.
05:41So we must know how to anticipate.
05:43And it is in this spirit of anticipation that Morocco has come up with this initiative,
05:49to which Gabi is effectively participating.
05:52And it is also a way to unclog the other countries that are a bit far away.
05:57Because I always say that in our region, especially in this front,
06:01and a bit everywhere else,
06:03what affects one directly affects others indirectly, in one way or another.
06:07We can see the crisis in Libya, it was quite far away,
06:11but today we have seen the consequences up to the Sahel,
06:14because it favoured a bit the proliferation of terrorism,
06:19with the weapons that were everywhere.
06:22So at a certain moment, I remember when we disarmed the fighters
06:28at the level of Liberia or Sierra Leone,
06:30we gave them $300 and they offered us the Kalashnikov.
06:33This is no longer the case.
06:35You have a Kalashnikov, you can do business with it,
06:37you can do kidnapping, you can do anything.
06:41We find ourselves in a place where, because of poverty,
06:45of course, terror is fertile for banditry, for terrorism.
06:51And so I think it is important that we can mutualize our means,
06:56and this is what Morocco offers us.
06:58It is in the Moroccan tradition.
07:01I am one of the laureates of Morocco.
07:05I did my first university here in Morocco, in Oujda,
07:09at the Université Mohamed I.
07:11I salute the authorities in passing.
07:14His Majesty Fouad Sendeh had this vision to train African young people
07:20who today, de facto, become ambassadors of Morocco,
07:23because there is this sentimental link with this country.
07:26Because this is where we spent the tender moments of our youth,
07:31so we are very attached to this country.
07:36So we will continue to talk about Morocco and your relationship with Morocco,
07:41but also the relationship of the Republic of Gambia
07:43and also with the Kingdom of Morocco,
07:44since there is another project, a large structural project too,
07:49which will benefit several African countries, including the Republic of Gambia.
07:55It is the project of the Gasoduc Morocco-Nigeria as well.
07:59Because you were talking about the issue of preventing conflicts,
08:04there is no peace, there is no development, there is no economic growth.
08:09This project is promising in this area.
08:13Yes, you know, the sine qua non condition of all development is peace and stability.
08:19And we cannot talk about gas if there is no peace and stability in this area.
08:24And that is why all our efforts go in this direction.
08:29At all levels, visibly or invisibly, discreetly or sometimes very discreetly,
08:38to help resolve conflicts.
08:40I take the case of my country, Gambia.
08:42Many people do not know this, but when there is a political impasse,
08:46Morocco is willing to intervene.
08:48The intervention of Morocco was decisive in the resolution of this latent crisis.
08:58It was done discreetly, but at least we know something about it,
09:02because it was in the centre, and it was very effective.
09:05So, peace and stability is the sine qua non condition,
09:10even so that we can realize this gasoduc dream between Nigeria and Morocco.
09:16Mr. Minister, you said earlier that geography also dictates diplomacy to men and politicians.
09:23The economy also has its own dictates.
09:27And the major issue, I would even say the neuralgic issue of the African continent,
09:31is still its integration.
09:334% of the African GDP for the world GDP.
09:42How can Africa today, in this context of global fragmentation,
09:50progress towards an African integration agenda?
09:56There is a lot to do, I believe, today.
09:58One of the speakers said in one of the debates
10:02that certain local and national considerations had to be put aside
10:07to progress together towards this continental economic integration.
10:11What do you think about this?
10:12We need this integration.
10:15But unfortunately, politicians often speak in bad words.
10:19But in reality, it is very difficult to trade between Africans.
10:24We sometimes prefer to buy very far from us what we can have in Morocco.
10:30So, we must promote this partnership and open borders so that we can trade between us.
10:38Transport and communication are also a very big challenge.
10:42I spoke to a colleague earlier.
10:44In order to come to Gaza, he has to go up to Europe and then come back down.
10:49All these are bottlenecks that must be eliminated
10:56so that we can really integrate.
10:58This economic integration, as I said earlier,
11:01the happiness of the neighbor, the prosperity of the neighbor,
11:04can only be prosperity for us.
11:06As the Malaysians say,
11:10because if the neighbor is at risk, he is happy, he is comfortable,
11:14he does not need to come and invade you or anything.
11:18Today, we have seen with the migratory crisis,
11:21it is a bit the difficulties that push people to leave.
11:25So, let's try to create opportunities where we are.
11:29Let's try to promote this partnership on the side,
11:33in which Morocco is one of the promoters,
11:35so that we can break this vicious circle
11:39and go towards an effective integration of peoples,
11:43so that we learn to know each other better.
11:47This will be the last word,
11:48so that we learn to know each other better,
11:51even if we already know each other.
11:54It was a pleasure to welcome you, Mr. Minister.
11:56Thank you for being with us,
11:58for accepting the invitation of Median TV.
12:00It is always a pleasure to come to Median TV
12:04and congratulations, Nadia,
12:06for the excellent work you are doing.
12:10Thank you very much.
12:12And thank you.
12:13This is the end of this interview.
12:15Thank you for following it.
12:16Excellent.
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