Until 2004 Australia's High Commissioner to Nigeria was accredited to Senegal (along with Ghana and the Gambia).[2] Bob Whitty held this position from January 2001, followed by Iain Cameron Dickie from February 2004.[2] In 2004 an Australian High Commission was opened in Ghana,[3] and the High Commissioner was accredited to Senegal (along with Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone and Togo).[4] Jonathan Richardson was the first High Commissioner in this role,[3] then William Williams held the position until February 2012, when he was replaced by Joanna Adamson.[4]
Senegal is currently accredited to Australia through its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.[5]
It was announced in May 2012 that Australia would establish an embassy in Dakar, Senegal,[6] which would be the first Australian embassy in a French-speaking African nation.[7] This promise helped to deliver African votes for Australia to obtain a seat on the United Nations Security Council in October 2012.[8] In May 2013, the promise was indefinitely delayed due to budget cuts at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the Gillard Government.[8]
↑Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013, ‘Senegal – Merchandise Exports, Country and Country Groups, FOB Value’, table 14a, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, cat. no. 5368.0, ABS, Canberra, December, column 191.
