In an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Prime Minister Ahmadou Alhaminou Mohamed Lo delivered his General Policy Declaration (DPG), as required by Article 55 of the Constitution. This came just over three months after his appointment on May 25, 2026, by President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, and the formation of his government on June 1.
Having previously served as Secretary General of the Government and then Minister of State in charge of the Senegal 2050 Agenda, the Prime Minister immediately asserted continuity with his predecessor, Ousmane Sonko, who has since become President of the National Assembly. “Nothing changes, the course will be maintained,” he stressed, reaffirming the seven ruptures of the previous DPG and the ‘Senegal 2050’ framework as the sole compass. Only the method will evolve, he clarified, structured around six principles: prioritizing, financing differently, executing, measuring, dialoguing, and accounting.
The Prime Minister offered an unflinching assessment of public finances. The consolidated public sector debt stood at approximately 132% of GDP at the end of 2024, exceeding 23,500 billion CFA francs, with a deficit revised to 13.7% of GDP. In 2025, growth outside hydrocarbons was limited to 2.2%, and the budget deficit was 6.4%. Faced with this situation, which he said was exacerbated by the outbreak of a war in February 2026 between Iran, the United States, and Israel, five successive downgrades of the sovereign rating were recorded by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Ahmadou Alhaminou Lo confirmed that a technical agreement was reached on September 1, 2026, with the International Monetary Fund’s services on a new program focusing on investment and transparency. He insisted that no conditionality exceeds the commitments already made in the presidential program “Diomaye President.” He also detailed a Senegal Debt Treatment Plan (PTDS), announced on September 1 and “almost finalized,” aimed at extending maturities and reducing the average cost of debt, with support from the IMF, the World Bank, and official creditors. Clearing arrears to the private sector, estimated at 1,956 billion CFA francs at the end of March 2025, is also among immediate priorities.
The Prime Minister additionally announced a reform of energy subsidies, with costs reduced to under 1% of GDP by 2029, focusing on the most vulnerable households and targeting a 30% reduction in the price of electricity per kilowatt-hour by 2030. He set a goal of covering one million poor and vulnerable households with a social safety net by 2027, with a budget envelope doubled to 140 billion CFA francs. In housing, the ambition is to deliver at least 30,000 units per year, addressing an estimated deficit of 500,000 homes.
The head of government also addressed several sensitive issues: ongoing investigations into events between February 2021 and February 2024, the review of mining and oil contracts, land audits along the coast and state domains, and the Yakaar-Teranga case—a gas field whose contract expires in July 2026, with $55 million in compensation expected by the state. On the diplomatic and security front, he recalled the end, since July 2025, of any foreign military presence on Senegalese soil.
A series of so-called “catalytic” projects were presented as pivotal for the decade: Yakaar-Teranga gas development, a national gas network, modernization of refining (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, an urban project worth 500 billion CFA francs in Ouakam.
Ahmadou Alhaminou Lo concluded by placing institutional, macroeconomic, and social stability as the “compass needle” of his action, while calling for a shared effort from Senegalese citizens based on tax compliance, 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.
