A litre of Super fuel costs 990 CFA francs in Senegal, and diesel costs 775 francs. In Bamako, the litre has gone from 800 to 775 CFA francs. In Ouagadougou, gasoline currently costs 850 francs per litre, and diesel is 675 CFA francs. Fuel from Mali, like all refined hydrocarbons destined for this landlocked country, passes through the Port of Dakar, while that from Burkina Faso arrives via Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. Oh! Speaking of which, in Abidjan, gasoline costs 855 CFA francs and diesel 700 CFA francs.

Read the column – Senegalese Press, winning the bitter battles

Senegalese drivers and other users are still wondering why the prices of these refined products are so high in our country, when, unlike Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, Senegal boasts one of the oldest refineries in West Africa, alongside the Sir refinery in Côte d’Ivoire. Internationally, the price of fuel, all products combined, is falling, due to a favourable international economic situation. Almost all West African countries have lowered their prices, driven by this international economic situation. It’s a safe bet that the majority of those who did so didn’t regret it. The most notable exception is Senegal, the « Project » led by Vision 2050, which decided to maintain the tariffs inherited from the time of Macky Sall, when the context was one of war between Ukraine and Russia, which saw the price of a barrel skyrocket. In this country, taxation is particularly heavy on the prices of petroleum products. More than ten years ago, Senegalese oil companies complained that taxation was squeezing consumers and leaving almost no margin for distributors.  To date, not much has changed. Of the litre paid at the pump, oil companies claim to receive less than 10% of the price, while the state coffers, through multiple taxes, collect the bulk of the revenue. This situation has long been the subject of numerous analyses in the Senegalese media.

Read the column – As a letter to The Post

For a long time, the public authorities seemed to be listening to their public opinion and were making some small adjustments to ease the burden on Senegalese consumers. Oddly enough, in this regime that has taken on the mission of creating a « sovereign, just, and prosperous » country, this last term of the profession of faith does not seem close to being realized, as the relative comfort of citizens is beginning to become a mirage. The paradox is that today, Senegal prides itself on having become a gas and oil producing country. While it’s understandable that the government and its partners want to secure their return on investment first and foremost in order to generate profit margins, we would still be justified in asking not to pay more for our fuel than our less well-off neighbours. Especially since when a country’s ambition is to enrich its citizens, it doesn’t implement conditions to impoverish them even further.

Voices are already rising in the corridors of the regime to recall the demands of foreign financial partners, at the forefront of which is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who are constantly asking the State to reduce its standard of living, as well as the elimination of certain subsidies, of which those on energy are the most symbolic, so much so that they have become recurrent over the last twenty years. It would truly be the world upside down if the dictatorial and anti-popular regime of the bloodthirsty Macky Sall, whose hands are stained with the blood of 80 Senegalese martyrs, were the one that most resisted the ukases of its foreign masters, and if the most elected popular regime in the history of Senegal could bow to these unworthy demands. And this is not the only question that can shock.

Having found a country in the fourth basement of its level of development, the patriotic power has asked all citizens to tighten their belts, both literally and figuratively. Civil servants are seeing their benefits cut—except, coincidentally, those of the state tax services—and employees in the public and para-public sectors are finding themselves in the closet if they’re lucky, when they’re not dismissed from the services for various reasons. All this, with the aim of saving. We even saw our Prime Minister lecturing government officials about energy efficiency in government buildings. The recommendations went as far as removing coffee machines from some offices. This is a way of emphasizing that even penny-pinching is a good thing.

At a time when these sacrifices are being demanded of ordinary civil servants, directors are arguing with their predecessors over the purchase of official vehicles costing close to 100 million CFA francs. Ministers are being blacklisted for swapping office furniture in good condition for even more impressive ones, at taxpayer expense. Such behaviour was the subject of harsh criticism from the new authorities, when they were in opposition.

Today, the Speaker of the National Assembly, in response to criticism from his opposition who accused him of preparing to pay for brand new 4X4 vehicles for the Assembly’s deputies, has just responded defiantly: « I fully assume responsibility for the purchase of vehicles for the deputies. » He went so far as to add: « I will not agree to lead an institution that uses taxis or Jakarta. » To top it all off, Mr. Ndiaye has just travelled to the United Arab Emirates on a mission with a large delegation of parliamentarians. It is known that a standard economy-class ticket on Emirates Airlines costs no less than one million CFA francs. It would be interesting to know how many MPs will be accompanying the president of the parliamentary institution in the plane’s business class, and how much the delegation’s stay will cost the Treasury.

Read the column – Encouraging our national captains

Without meaning to insult the elected representatives of the People by believing that their stay in this country would not be useful to the country, one cannot help but recall the directives issued in a circular from the head of government on January 22, regarding travel and missions abroad. If the Assembly is not the government, it nonetheless remains an institution of the Republic. The Prime Minister, for his part, travelled to Ouagadougou with a strong ministerial delegation. Having initiated the spending cuts, one might bet that he did not violate his own directives; even if one might wonder what some of the officials in the delegation were doing. But that is not the most important thing.

If, a year and a month after Pastef came to power, we can compare the state of stagnation of the population with certain lavish spending by those in power, it is because we are trying to see to what extent the path of our hopes still seems distant.

Since 2000, this is the first time that a regime does not seem to make youth employment a priority. Beyond the many criticisms of his governance, we cannot ignore the priority Macky Sall has given to youth employment, to which he has dedicated a ministry and no fewer than three agencies. Wade became famous, among other things, thanks to his promises on youth employment. However, now that young people, some of whom are under thirty, are in power, they seem to forget the millions of others who dream only of landing their first job. It’s true that the real militants have been able to settle down and find jobs for their loved ones. They’re starting to forget about the cost of rent. As soon as he came to power, Macky Sall took the issue head on. When inflation wiped out his first rent cut, the former head of state didn’t hesitate, in November 2022, to reintroduce a new measure to enforce the reduction. And he wanted to impose it by force.

If the former APR leader’s decisions no longer resonated favourably after twelve years of rule, his own mistakes, as well as the wear and tear of power, contributed to this. Not to mention the actions of his opposition and the errors of his supporters. But it still took twelve years for this wear and tear to be felt. The patriotic regime, for its part, is undoubtedly convinced that with its fine handling of its boat, it will be able to reach the shores of Vision 2050 without any pitfalls. Its ship is unsinkable.
By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH