{"id":120256,"date":"2026-05-26T04:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120256"},"modified":"2026-05-26T04:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T04:55:00","slug":"senegals-faye-names-economist-lo-as-new-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120256","title":{"rendered":"Senegal\u2019s Faye names economist Lo as new prime minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 48 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Senegal \u200cPresident Bassirou Diomaye Faye named a seasoned economist as prime minister on Monday, three days after\u00a0dismissing the old government\u00a0led by a firebrand populist who had spoken out against debt restructuring.<\/p>\n

The new prime minister, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, \u200bformerly served as head of the Senegal branch of the Central Bank of West African \u200bStates.<\/p>\n

Appearing on state television to announce his appointment, Lo said he wanted to reassure the local private sector and foreign investors, even as he acknowledged Senegal\u2019s difficult financial position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must all be aware of the state of emergency our country currently \u200bfinds itself in. In particular, the state of public finances and its impact on the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenegal is a safe and reliable country and intends to remain so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0International Monetary Fund\u00a0froze Senegal\u2019s $1.8 billion lending program following the discovery \u200bof misreported debt, pushing the country\u2019s end-2024 debt level to 132% of its economic output.<\/p>\n

\u200bOusmane Sonko, the outgoing prime minister, had opposed any\u00a0restructuring of the debt, estimated at $13 billion, which he said the IMF \u200cwas \u2060advocating, while Faye has been less vocal on the issue.<\/p>\n

Faye fired Sonko, the man who helped the president\u2019s political rise, on Friday after months of mounting tensions.<\/p>\n

POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY<\/h2>\n

In March, Sonko warned he could take the ruling Pastef party, which dominates the National Assembly, into opposition if the president strayed from the party\u2019s agenda, a threat that looms over the government\u2019s ability to pass any reforms needed to unlock IMF support.<\/p>\n

The National Assembly is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss \u201creintegrating\u201d Sonko as a \u200blawmaker. The resignation of the\u00a0National Assembly speaker\u00a0on Sunday has fueled speculation Sonko \u200bhimself could \u2060fill the role.<\/p>\n

In his remarks on Monday, Lo said his appointment did not signal a retreat from Senegal\u2019s commitment to \u201csystemic transformation\u201d under Faye, but instead reflected a new approach aligned with the president\u2019s \u2060vision.<\/p>\n

\u200bHe also offered conciliatory words to Sonko, praising the record of the government he led, including an economic recovery plan announced last year that relied heavily on domestic funding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Senegal \u200cPresident Bassirou Diomaye Faye named a seasoned economist as prime minister on Monday, three days after dismissing the old government led by a firebrand populist who had spoken out against debt restructuring.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,18256,10,9,3699],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-faye","category-politics","category-popular","category-senegal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}