Through resolution 79/230 of its 79th General Assembly, the UN announced the removal of Senegal from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The culmination of a long process, which required several evaluation reports; in 2018, 2021 and March 2024. So, during the upheavals and agitations of the political agenda, senior officials that an ignorant person calls « the system », worked seriously for the State and in the name of the general interest. In its resolution, the UN General Assembly announced that the Economic and Social Council had subscribed to the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy to remove Senegal from the category of least developed countries.

In simple language, Senegal has made giant leaps in economic terms. We are far from the boasting of the newcomers who have seen only ruin and desolation as the results of a « system » that escapes their intellectual vacuity.

The document also informs us that « a five-year preparatory period was necessary for all countries recommended for reclassification during the 2024 triennial review, so that they could effectively prepare for a smooth transition. » This opens a five-year period to definitively confirm Senegal’s transition from a poor country to a middle-income country. Finally, the UN states that « for a country, being removed from the category of least developed countries is a major event, which means that it has made good progress towards achieving at least part of its development objectives. »

Around a vision of progress, twenty-seven projects and seventeen reforms, and the highlighting of six sectoral battles to be won, the results are tangible, to the point that the easy criticism, because it is lapidary and low-cost, rather targeted « the immaterial balance sheet », a refrain repeated by insignificant lapdogs to, in essence, say nothing.

President Wade, whom I was not in phase with, was right to call the Senegalese to work. It is through continuous effort, far from the noise and excesses of adults who live on the internet and the schemers of the hushed lounges of the seaside that one transforms one’s country. A leader does not lock himself in quarrels of grocers and squabbles about the sex of angels; he does not spend most of his time insulting his adversaries and threatening to send them « to rot in prison ». He should show less aplomb in invective and more in the expression of a serious vision, which surpasses the time of his mandates. Holding a broomstick to scour sandy alleys cannot be the insurmountable horizon of politics. Lending oneself to it in a curiously ostentatious manner, in a joyful constancy that borders on idleness, questions: it is to admit one’s incomprehensible lack of culture, one’s pitiful ignorance of our History, one’s unforgivable incompetence in understanding this Nation whose responsibility is to be at the forefront of the world’s changes.

This withdrawal of Senegal from the list of LDCs is certainly excellent news. Nevertheless, it is worrying, if we consider our context. It now remains to continue the work during the probationary period to definitively position our country on the ramp of emergence.

Furthermore, for me, the UN decision calls for three readings.

First, it is the positive sanction of a policy implemented for twelve years, with boldness and courage to transform the structure of our economy, to get out of the miserabilist mantra of poverty reduction to move towards an ambition of economic take-off in social inclusion and solidarity.

My second reading concerns the choice to remain within a democratic framework that enshrines the plurality of opinions. It is now common to read from intellectuals and some various writers that democracy is not conducive to economic progress.                                  

Often, the Rwandan model is agitated by obscuring many parameters and, above all, by trivializing the hell of authoritarianism for those who live it. This false truth that feeds all the excesses and coups d’état in the Sahel has a serious responsibility on the state of our countries.

Intellectuals, with total irresponsibility, celebrate putsches in the name of illiberalism or worse, anti-France. Senegal is progressing while maintaining an imperfect but solid democratic framework. To convince ourselves of the relevance of our choice, we must take a look at the Russian valets of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger… Senegal has managed to avoid the perilous path taken by our Sahelian neighbors. It confirms once again that private investment, the engine of growth, needs political stability and legal security. Senegal offers both aspects, in accordance with the choice made for democracy, which cannot tolerate insurrection as a means of seizing power.

Finally, my last thought goes to the theorists of a « ruined state ». Those who had the delicacy not to celebrate the first barrel of oil or the first cubic meter of gas, much less the commissioning of the BRT. The same people who warned the world about the falsification of public accounts by their own administration see their rhetoric contradicted by the facts every day. But like Sisyphus, they never tire of trying to sully our country. Do they love it deep down?

The latest proof is the astonishing press release from the minister, who could be said to be a stranger to the affairs of her Department. She considers the press release bringing the good news from the UN as “allegations”, in an attempt to discredit her country and deny its economic progress. Who can imagine the Cambodian government issuing a press release to contradict the UN and deny economic progress recognized by the only organization in the world with a universal vocation? They will have spared us nothing, and this is only the beginning… As the silky British say: “The show must go on.”

Post-Scriptum : My thoughts are with Mamadou Moustapha Bâ, who served our country with talent, commitment and loyalty. This immense servant of the Senegalese State would have deserved to learn this good news. With his collaborators, he managed our public accounts with a dexterity that built a resilient and now conquering post-Covid-19 Senegalese economy.

By Hamidou ANNE – hamidou.anne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH