The legislative elections, which began in tumult, ended last Sunday in peace and quiet. Pastef, with Ousmane Sonko, won a very large portion of MPs, leaving only the smallest portion to his opponents. One thing that should also be welcomed is that since 2000, the few slight inconsistencies that we note during the polls have never again produced a deep dispute, tending to call into question the sincerity of the vote. This means that the Senegalese in their majority have reached great maturity, and above all, make their choice with full knowledge of the facts.And above all, Senegalese people learn daily to trust our democratic system. If political leaders sometimes vehemently contest the victory of their opponents, they often realize, very quickly, that the sovereign People have no intention of following them on this ground. Because in truth, the said People now expect their prowess on other grounds. Concretely, after his triumph of the weekend, the People expect Ousmane Sonko to use the keys entrusted to him to open the right doors. 

Read the column – Vision Senegal 2050, a glaring lack of ambition!

We have said enough that the change so awaited for 8 months is still awaited. Voters wanted to express their confidence in those they believe are capable of getting them out of the difficult situation in which the country finds itself. For more than a year, the economic situation has been deteriorating; but the arrival in power of Bassirou Diomaye Faye seems to have exacerbated the situation.The current leaders wanted to make citizens believe that Macky Sall and his political orientations were responsible for the slump in which the country found itself. They did not want to believe that, despite the embezzlement and prevarication, the sum of 1000 billion CFA francs injected into the resistance to the economic effects of Covid-19 by Macky Sall allowed the country to resist better than many others in the world. Even the infrastructure works undertaken during the former President’s term of office have been portrayed by his detractors as easy means of embezzling public funds. All this has resulted, according to them, in almost endemic unemployment and an ever-increasing number of attempts to migrate in pirogues heading for the Spanish Canary Islands, seen as the new El Dorado.

Read the column – Public Finances: Beyond the figures

Their most decisive statement was that they only needed to come to power for things to start changing and for the situation in the country to improve. The Senegalese first expected them to do so on the prices of certain food products and on rent, as they had promised. The promises were not easy to keep. Not only did food products not drop as much as consumers had hoped, but above all, the price drops did not last and almost everyday consumer products rise again.

The State wanted to force things and forced distributors to freeze costs, which resulted in the scarcity of certain products. Some producers, for their part, have started to struggle, as they are having such a hard time coping with the pressure imposed on them by the State to sell almost at a loss. Millers, sugar producers, as well as other processors, are suffocating as much because they cannot pass on the truth of the prices on their productions, while the State offers them no compensation.  At the beginning of the year, millers were ordered to lower the price of flour to 15,200, instead of 19,200 CFA francs, to avoid an increase in the price of bread. Forced to comply, these industrialists find that the lifting of customs duties barely covers their costs.But at least they have not yet reached the point of laying off staff, like in the construction sector. Companies in the sector were the first to feel the blow of the measures to suspend construction decided by the State. To date, several construction sites are at a standstill, because the government is still verifying the validity of certain title deeds on certain sites on the national territory. In addition, those who had contracts with the State under the old regime are still unable to recover their funds. Employers’ organizations are talking about more than 300 billion CFA francs owed to companies in the sector. Others, in private, are talking about nearly 500 billion, and some have put their workers on technical unemployment. The outlook in the sector is bleak.

Read the column – The « Project » in La La Land

It is in these circumstances that Madiambal Diagne, former General Administrator of the Avenir Communication Group, revealed that Senegal found itself in default of payment of its external debt on November 15. Mr. Diagne adds in his post on Twitter that the Minister of Finance was able to pay part of the 130 billion and negotiate a deferral for one month. A situation so unprecedented that it sends a worrying message.Since its independence, Senegal has always ensured that it complies with two things in terms of public finances: the payment of the external debt and the payment of salaries in the civil service. If we end up having problems meeting one of these deadlines, what guarantee do we have that we will be able to meet the other? This situation arises at a time when the public authorities are having difficulty meeting other deadlines.Despite abundant rainfall, the agricultural campaign is not looking good. The peanuts that were supposed to be banned from export will finally be able to be sold abroad, since they cannot be processed locally. Rice production will also not be as high as thought, at a time when the Valley’s horticulturists are wondering whether the time is still right to make major investments.In this entire economic and social environment, technical and financial partners want to see things clearly, while Vision 2050, which seeks to distance itself from the PSE, is still slow to be implemented. The IMF is waiting for the audit of public finances launched by the Court of Auditors to study a new program with the State. The hydrocarbons sector, scalded by the audits on contracts signed under Macky Sall, has stopped its machines. Even Woodside is not sure of continuing its exploitation of Sangomar.Sonko stressed that the Senegalese people will be the first beneficiaries of the wealth of their soil and subsoil, and even of their marine coastline. The government and its advocates are trying to transform into a victory the decision of the European Commission not to renegotiate another contract on fishing licenses. Time will tell who was right. In the meantime, Senegalese citizens, hit by unemployment and precariousness, do not have much time to wait. And the Prime Minister knows it. He only has 5 years to keep his promises.
By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH / Serigne S. DIAGNE