In a special session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, Prime Minister Ahmadou Alhaminou Mohamed Lo delivered his General Policy Statement (DPG) as required by Article 55 of the Constitution. This came just over three months after his appointment on 25 May 2026 by President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye and the formation of his government on 1 June.
Having previously served as Secretary-General of the Government and then Minister of State for the Senegal 2050 Agenda, the Prime Minister immediately embraced continuity with his predecessor, Ousmane Sonko, who has since become President of the National Assembly. “Nothing changes, the course will be maintained,” he affirmed, reiterating the seven breaks of the previous DPG and the ‘Senegal 2050’ framework as the guiding compass. Only the approach will shift, he clarified, built around six principles: prioritise, finance differently, execute, measure, engage in dialogue, and ensure accountability.
The Prime Minister gave a blunt assessment of public finances. The consolidated public sector debt stood at around 132% of GDP at the end of 2024, equivalent to more than 23,500 billion CFA francs, with a deficit revised to 13.7% of GDP. In 2025, growth excluding hydrocarbons was limited to 2.2%, and the budget deficit was 6.4%. He attributed the worsening situation partly to the outbreak of war between Iran, the United States, and Israel in February 2026, which led to five successive downgrades of the sovereign rating by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Ahmadou Alhaminou Lo confirmed that a technical agreement was reached on 1 September 2026 with the International Monetary Fund’s services for a new programme focused on investment and transparency, stressing that no conditionality exceeds commitments already made under the ‘Diomaye President’ programme. He also outlined a Senegal Debt Treatment Plan (PTDS), announced on 1 September and “almost finalised,” aimed at extending maturities and reducing 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 the end of March 2025, is also among immediate priorities.
The Prime Minister also announced a reform of energy subsidies, with costs reduced to below 1% of GDP by 2029, focusing support on the most vulnerable households, and aiming for a 30% reduction in the price per kilowatt-hour of electricity by 2030. He set a target of covering one million poor and vulnerable households with a social safety net by 2027, with a doubled budget allocation of 140 billion CFA francs. In housing, the stated goal is to deliver at least 30,000 units annually to address the estimated deficit of 500,000 homes.
The head of government also touched on 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 dollars in compensation expected by the state. On the diplomatic and security front, he recalled that since July 2025, there has been no foreign military presence on Senegalese soil.
A series of so-called “catalytic” projects were presented as key to the decade: the Yakaar-Teranga gas development, a national gas network, modernisation of the refinery (SAR 2), the Kédougou mining hub, the Great 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 actions, while calling for a shared effort from Senegalese citizens based on 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 chair himself.