On 23 June 2026, H.E. Ms. Nipa Nirannoot, Ambassador-designate of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Senegal, paid a courtesy call on Mr. Alioune Badara DIONE, Minister of Microfinance and the Social and Solidarity Economy of the Republic of Senegal, at the Government Administrative Center of Senegal, at the invitation of the Minister.

The Ambassador congratulated Mr. DIONE on his reappointment as Minister in the current Cabinet. She also noted that Mr. DIONE had previously participated in a training program organised by the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy at Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai Province, in 2017.

The Minister recalled his impressive experience during the training program in Thailand and explained that he had drawn upon the concepts of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and the New Theory Agriculture to develop the concept of the “Immediate Economy,” adapting these principles to the Senegalese context. He expressed his determination to establish a learning centre dedicated to this approach, which is aligned with the national reform agenda, Vision Senegal 2050, particularly in the areas of food security, human resource development, employment promotion, well-being, and strengthening the self-reliance of the Senegalese people.

The two sides exchanged information and views extensively on social enterprises, grassroots financing and microfinance models, cooperative operations, and the application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in the Senegalese context. The Ambassador invited the Minister to consider visiting Thailand to participate in the Thailand-Africa Development Forum (TADF), which is organised annually by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, with a view to further advancing practical cooperation between Thailand and Senegal in the development of grassroots and community-based economies.