far, page-16

Interesting articles below on Senegal. Theres a lot of cashed up countries including Suadi Arabia, Iran US & China that are throwing a lot of money at Senegal. Some of these countries may prefer the new FAR name.

Im sure these countries are doing this solely to help the people of Senegal & the largely unexplored West African Coast shelf oil play off Senegal has no bearing on their generosity at all. IMO any of these groups could be potential JV partners. Love how George Bush's name pops up at the bottom of the article below. Bush had strong ties with HUNT OIL, so still wouldnt rule Hunt out.
The point of this post is to illustrate there are a lot of eyes watching Senegal, and strained relationships between some of these countries may be why ME is tight lipped. IMHOO.
PDYOR.

Ref 1: Saudi Binladin to fund $139m Senegal refinery expansion (by Bloomberg on Saturday, 01 May 2010 http://www.arabianbusiness.com/587209-saudi-binladin-to-spend-139m-expanding-senegal-refinery).

Ref 2:


http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=1551&catID=17

Mutual support deals between Iran and the African nation are annoying the US Dakars main donor of international aid, says Le Monde's Philippe Bernard
Thursday April 22nd 2010
The carpet in the music room in the presidential palace in Dakar would hardly catch the eye, were it not for its inscription. Few visitors to the Senegalese head of state are likely to miss the words: A gift of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To reduce its isolation, Tehran has sealed an alliance, exchanging aid for diplomatic support, with African nations from Mauritania to Zimbabwe, through the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.
Senegal, which Tehran regards as a privileged partner, is the bridgehead in French-speaking Africa. President Abdoulaye Wade is an active partner, making at least one official visit to Iran every year since 2002. The Iranians have oil, equipment and infrastructure to offer Senegal, which has no domestic sources of energy and lacks other commodities. Wade never misses an opportunity to support Iran.
Welcoming Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Dakar last November, Wade said: If someone asked me if Id hidden an atomic bomb in the basement, I wouldnt need to prove my innocence. The burden of proof would be on the person making the charges. In the case of Iran, nothing has been proven so far ... As long as Iran defends its freedom and independence by saying it is not enriching uranium for military purposes, Senegal will stand beside it.
When the UN Human Rights Council votes in May on the application by an Iranian candidate for full membership of the council, Senegal will be among the advocates. During the councils periodic review of Iran, Senegals representative made his position clear, enthusiastically hailing new progress in the efforts deployed by Iran to promote and protect human rights.
No one in Senegal is shocked by such an indulgent attitude, justified by solidarity between Muslims; support for Irans right to nuclear power is a popular cause, says a senior official. Although Muslim practice in Senegal is different from the Iranian brand of Shia Islam, Wade has broken with the tradition of religious neutrality. His son Karim organised the 2008 summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Dakar in 2008. Senegal is heavily dependent on western aid, so supporting Tehran is seen as a way of asserting sovereignty.
Senegal is free to choose its friends, says Bamba Ndiaye, the presidents spokesman, citing his countrys determination to finish the job of gaining its independence as justification for links with China, India, Brazil and Iran. By choosing Iran we are primarily looking after our interests, says foreign minister Madick Niang. But we also want to act as a moderator between our Iranian friend and the international community.
Tehran has promised to contribute to the construction of a hydrocarbons storage facility, which is meant to turn Dakar into an oil hub for western Africa. An agreement on oil supplies at a slight discount is also being negotiated with Tehran. But these schemes have been in the pipeline since 2006 and have yet to make progress. Irans most substantial investment is a car assembly plant at This, 70km from Dakar, which was opened in 2008 by the Iranian manufacturer Khodro. The vehicles, marketed under the Samand brand, are supposed to replace Dakars taxis. But they use so much petrol that they have proved a poor investment.
Senegals links with Iran irritate Washington. Last September, after years of negotiations, an agreement was signed in Washington allocating $540m in aid to Senegal from the Millennium Challenge Account, a fund set up by George Bush for poor but virtuous countries. Two months after receiving final approval from Hillary Clinton in person, Wade again welcomed Ahmadinejad, endorsing Irans right to nuclear power.