A recent conference in Dakar, focusing on the ongoing debt crisis, saw a notable absence from Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who was scheduled to preside. Justice Minister Yacine Fall explained his non-attendance was due to illness.

Stepping in for the Prime Minister, Ayib Daffé, who leads the parliamentary group of the ruling African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), articulated the urgent need to expand perspectives and move beyond conventional wisdom. This statement implicitly challenged the International Monetary Fund’s (FMI) proposal for Senegal’s debt restructuring, which involves renegotiating loan terms when repayment becomes impossible – an option the government in Dakar has rejected.

The imperative for new solutions

Economists present at the conference unanimously asserted that Senegal’s external debt is unsustainable, a position that contrasts with previous official assurances. They stressed the critical importance of rapidly identifying viable solutions. Economist Souleymane Bah highlighted that the nation’s current state revenues are insufficient to cover both the principal and interest payments on its foreign obligations. He explained that the usual practice of borrowing more to repay existing debt is not a sustainable path, especially with continuously rising interest rates, underscoring the necessity for alternative strategies.

The core objective of this conference, organized by the Ideas Africa Network think tank, was precisely to explore these alternative solutions, as they contend that the FMI’s approach offers no genuine remedy for Senegal’s economic challenges.

Ndongo Samba Sylla, an economist and researcher with Ideas Africa Network, criticized the FMI’s methodology as being antithetical to economic transformation. He described it as a purely accounting-based, pro-creditor stance. According to Sylla, the FMI’s primary goal is to facilitate further lending, ensuring that a country signals its capacity to borrow again and satisfy creditors, rather than fostering investments that drive genuine economic transformation.

Among the innovative avenues discussed were reforming the monetary system, considering a departure from the Franc CFA, and advocating for the cancellation of certain debts deemed “illegitimate.” These illegitimate debts are characterized as having been contracted under opaque circumstances by the preceding administration, without proper declaration.

However, a potential inconsistency within the current governing duo emerged. While experts in Dakar, under the nominal patronage of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, deliberated on solutions independent of the International Monetary Fund, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was simultaneously in Nairobi, Kenya, meeting with FMI Director Kristalina Georgieva. This meeting, however, did not yield any immediate breakthroughs.