Dakar stands to lose much more than a water desalination contract in this affair.

The President of the Republic’s Director of Cabinet will not forget his latest trip to Saudi Arabia anytime soon. Le Quotidien has learned that the eminent mathematician Minister Mary Teuw Niane received a major lesson in diplomacy the hard way. Having left in a hurry, almost the day after the announcement of the unilateral termination of the contract to build the seawater desalination plant with Acwa Power, Mr Niane’s mission was to make the Saudis, Senegal’s major partners, swallow the pill.  Unfortunately, on the Senegalese side, they did not take the time to review the lessons of diplomacy before embarking on this affair. So much so that one wonders what Senegal will have to do to mend relations between the two countries.

Stripped of his security and privileges: Macky’s Misery

In view of the incident created by the termination of the contract, diplomats well-versed in relations with Arab countries point out that, if it could not send our Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Palace could have sent a diplomat well-versed in dealing with Arab countries. These diplomats pointed out that the latter would have understood, simply by the composition of his hosts during the audience, what the content of the exchanges would be. They also explained: “Mary Teuw Niane left for Saudi Arabia with a special message from the President of the Republic to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. In this message, the Senegalese President reiterated ‘the exceptional and solid relations between Senegal and Saudi Arabia. It was also an opportunity for Bassirou Diomaye Faye to reassure the Saudi authorities of his desire to strengthen relations between the two countries and to do better than his predecessors.”

And it was at this point that MTN failed to decipher the etiquette: ‘In Saudi Arabia, the tradition of royal protocol dictates that when you are the bearer of an important message intended for His Majesty King Salman, you are received either by the Sovereign himself, by the Crown Prince or, if you are unable to attend, by his Cabinet. Unfortunately, however, Mary Teuw Niane was received by the Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs, Waleed Abdulkarim El Khereiji. The latter comes second in the order of protocol after the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  This is undoubtedly an act of reciprocity that explains the new position of the Saudi authorities vis-à-vis the new Senegalese authorities. It is a consequence of the ‘abusive’termination of the Acwa Power contract.’ The meeting took place on Tuesday 6 August 2024 at 3:30 pm (Saudi time) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh City, King Saud Road.

Read the column – The ruins of the Republic, the media in agony: roller coaster of emotions

In addition to this mistake, the Senegalese envoy made a major blunder. “Mary Teuw Niane was not very diplomatic. He didn’t choose the language he used in his exchanges with the Saudi diplomat. Speaking of relations between the two countries, he raised the issue of Acwa Power. Attempting to justify the unilateral termination of this contract, he declared that it was not a decision against Saudi Arabia. Mary Teuw argue that the contract had been terminated on suspicion of corruption. With these words, the Saudi diplomat felt offended by the Senegalese authority. It was this same diplomat, Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs Waleed Abdulkarim El Khereiji, who came to Senegal to negotiate the Acwa Power contract. At the time, he was received by President Macky Sall on Monday 27 November 2023. Mary Teuw Niane did not stop there, saying that the project was not a priority for Senegal. Quite naturally, the Saudi minister’s reaction was cold.”

People familiar with Middle Eastern relations feared that Senegal had missed the boat with this deal. It is important to remember that Acwa Power operates in 13 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Asia. The company’s name has never been mentioned or implicated in corruption or similar practices. The breaking of the contract by the new Senegalese authorities is a stab in the back for the Saudis, who value their image and that of their companies around the world.  They have invested in multi-billion dollar projects in Africa. These include the $1.2 billion Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project in South Africa and the $8 billion Neom Green Project. The Saudis have also built the largest solar power plants in Africa, including Noor 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Morocco, and Hassyan IWP in Dubai, at a cost of almost a billion dollars. Based in Saudi Arabia, Acwa Power has regional offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, Baku, Beijing, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Jakarta, Amman, Rabat, Muscat, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Tashkent and Hanoi. It invests in, develops, co-owns and operates a portfolio of 82 projects capable of generating 55.1 Gw of electricity. The company already produces 8 million m3/day of desalinated water. Together with its operating subsidiaries, it employs around 4,000 people in projects located in 13 different countries. Their projects in operation are estimated at 85.7 billion dollars. This is a serious company that values its reputation and image. That’s why the contract with Senegal took more than two years to negotiate. How dare they talk about corruption?

It is an offence that the Saudis have not forgiven. And the Senegalese authorities risk paying dearly for it.

Moreover, when Mary Teuw Niane wanted to meet the Chairman of Acwa Power, Mohammad Abdullah Abunay-yan, the latter closed his doors to him, as did the Managing Director, Marco Arcelli. It was as if an order was given. The Saudis’ reciprocity was so strong that the President Diomaye Faye ‘s Director of Cabinet, was not accompanied to the airport by a senior Saudi authority.  Senegalese embassy staff who were much annoyed by the climate accompanied him to the airport. This is the first time since 1960 that a senior Senegalese authority was frostily welcomed. Mary Teuw Niane however received dates and Zam Zam water as gifts.

By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH