After meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall in Dakar, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said automotive ties between the two countries will be bolstered.
Accompanied by an economic delegation, including representatives of Iranian knowledge-based firms and startups as well as entrepreneurs, Zarif visited Dakar on Monday, IRIB News reported.
The top diplomat said, “Iran Khodro has been operating in Senegal for 10 years. The Senegalese president has agreed to implement measures to facilitate activities of the carmaker in the country.”
The Iranian auto company has a joint production deal with Senegal, known as SenIran. Under the JV, Senegal is to operate as a regional export hub for IKCO by selling the JV products to neighboring Guinea and Nigeria. Prior to this, IKCO exported Samand, Dena and Runna models to Senegal.
Zarif says, “Iran is willing to transform Senegal into its regional automotive hub in West Africa.”
According to Zarif, successful talks were also held between Iranian private tech firms and their Senegalese counterparts.
Earlier in March, IKCO announced that it has exported its first shipment of Dena+ cars to Senegal.
IKCO’s locally designed LPG hybrid Dena+ sedan is to be used by law enforcement forces in the West African state.
Dena+ is a four-door sedan with a 1,645cc engine capacity. It has two airbags plus a manual transmission system.
