On Tuesday, 8 September 2026, Senegal’s National Assembly convened in an extraordinary session as Prime Minister Ahmadou Alhaminou Mohamed Lo delivered his General Policy Declaration (DPG), fulfilling the requirements of Article 55 of the Constitution. The address came just over three months after President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye appointed him on 25 May 2026, with his government taking office on 1 June.
A former Secretary-General of the Government and later Minister of State for the Senegal 2050 Agenda, the Prime Minister began by asserting continuity with his predecessor, Ousmane Sonko, who has since become President of the National Assembly. ‘Nothing changes, the course will be maintained,’ Lo insisted, reaffirming the seven ruptures outlined in the previous DPG and positioning the ‘Senegal 2050’ framework as the sole guiding compass. The only adjustment, he clarified, would be in methodology, now structured around six principles: prioritisation, alternative financing, execution, measurement, dialogue, and accountability.
Turning to public finances, the Prime Minister delivered a candid assessment. By the end of 2024, the consolidated public sector debt had reached approximately 132% of GDP, exceeding 23,500 billion CFA francs, with a revised deficit of 13.7% of GDP. In 2025, non-hydrocarbon growth slowed to 2.2%, while the budget deficit stood at 6.4%. This situation, worsened by the outbreak of war between Iran, the United States, and Israel in February 2026, led to five successive downgrades of Senegal’s sovereign rating by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Lo confirmed that on 1 September 2026, a technical agreement was reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new programme centred on investment and transparency. He stressed that none of the conditions would exceed commitments already made under the presidential programme ‘Diomaye Président’. Additionally, he outlined the Debt Treatment Plan for Senegal (PTDS), announced on 1 September and ‘almost finalised’, which seeks to extend maturities and reduce the average cost of debt with support from the IMF, the World Bank, and official creditors. Clearing arrears owed to the private sector, estimated at 1,956 billion CFA francs as of end-March 2025, is also among immediate priorities.
The Prime Minister also announced a reform of energy subsidies, aiming to reduce their cost to less than 1% of GDP by 2029 while targeting the most vulnerable households. A key goal is a 30% reduction in the price of electricity per kilowatt-hour by 2030. He set an objective of covering one million poor and vulnerable households with a social safety net by 2027, supported by a doubled budget allocation of 140 billion CFA francs. On housing, the government aims to deliver at least 30,000 units annually to address an estimated deficit of 500,000 homes.
Addressing sensitive dossiers, Lo mentioned ongoing investigations into events between February 2021 and February 2024, a review of mining and oil contracts, land audits along the coast and state domains, and the Yakaar-Teranga gas field, whose contract expires in July 2026, with 55 million dollars in indemnities expected by the state. On diplomatic and security matters, he underscored that since July 2025, Senegal has been free of any foreign military presence on its soil.
A series of ‘catalytic’ projects were presented as cornerstones for the decade: the Yakaar-Teranga gas development, a national gas network, modernisation of the refinery (SAR 2), the Kédougou mining hub, the Grand Water Transfer, a new Dakar-Tambacounda-Kidira railway line, four new regional hospitals, and the Dakar Millenium Center, a 500 billion CFA franc urban project in Ouakam.
Concluding, Ahmadou Alhaminou Lo placed institutional, macroeconomic, and social stability as ‘the needle of the compass’ for his action, urging Senegalese citizens to share the effort through fiscal civism, local consumption, and volunteerism. ‘This Government does not ask to be judged on its intentions, but on its effectiveness and results,’ he declared, promising quarterly execution reviews that he will personally chair.