Latest news with #BassirouDiomayeFaye
Morocco World
5 days ago
- Business
- Morocco World
ACWA Power to Build $800 Million Renewable-Powered Desalination Plant in Senegal
Rabat – Desalination company ACWA Power has announced a large-scale seawater desalination project in West Africa, seeking to provide up to 400,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day to Senegal's Dakar and surrounding areas. Valued at $800 million, the Grade-Cote project is part of the company's 'commitment to Africa's energy transition,' AQWA Power said in a statement, describing the initiative as a major step toward helping Senegal attain water security. The company signed the agreement in a ceremony that took place at the Presidential Palace in Dakar. Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye attended the signing ceremony alongside high-level officials, including Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, Minister of Water and Sanitation. A high-level Saudi delegation also attended the ceremony, including Saad bin Abdullah Al-Nafaie, Saudi ambassador to Senegal, among several other representatives. 'The Grande-Cote project is the most ambitious desalination initiative ever launched in West Africa,' the statement said, stressing that the project will be developed into two phases. The first financial closing is expected by 2026. The full commercial operation is expected in 2031, the statement said, emphasizing that one of the key features of the project is its complete reliance on green electricity supplied by Senegal's national grid. 'This makes Grande-Cote one of the few large-scale desalination plants in the world to operate entirely on renewable energy,' the statement said. Raad Al Saady, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of ACWA Power, commented on the signing of the agreement, describing it as a crucial step in the collaboration with Senegal. 'It reflects our deep commitment to sustainable development and our role as a trusted partner in addressing global water challenges,' he said. Senegal is among the countries that face a water shortage. In 2022, the World Bank said that current water withdrawals are projected to increase by 3o to 60 % by 2035. 'The Dakar area is especially at risk, concentrating 50 percent of Senegal's GDP production and close to half its population, and will need to diversify water sources and improve cross-sectoral coordination,' the World Bank said.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Explainer: Senegal's billions in hidden debt, and why it is an IMF headache
DAKAR/LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Senegal is grappling with billions of dollars in debt that was hidden by the previous administration - a problem for the cash-strapped country whose Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is expected to present a comprehensive economic recovery plan next week. The issue has also raised questions for the International Monetary Fund, which at the time had been monitoring Senegal's finances under a loan programme. What is the debt, why have the figures changed and what is next for Senegal and the IMF? In September 2024, Senegal said an audit of government finances, which had been ordered by newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, put the end-2023 budget deficit at over 10%, significantly wider than the 5% reported by the previous administration. Faye's government ordered a further audit, and the IMF froze Senegal's three-year, $1.8 billion credit facility, which had been agreed in June 2023. Since then, Senegalese authorities have worked to determine the full scale of the debt and keep the government running in the face of curtailed resources and a lack of access to IMF funds or international bond markets. It is unclear how the off-books borrowing was spent. Current Prime Minister Sonko has accused the previous government of corruption, and there are some ongoing court cases related to alleged theft of COVID-19 funds. A Court of Auditors review in February calculated that overall debt at the end of 2023 was equivalent to 99.7% of Senegal's gross domestic product, well above the previous figure of 74.41%. That new total implied hidden borrowing of around $7 billion. But in June, provisional figures put central government debt of around 23.2 trillion CFA francs ($41.73 billion) by end-2024, a more than 27% increase from end-2023. This translates to a 119% debt-to-GDP ratio, according to Barclay's economist Michael Kafe, who said on June 30 that the new figure presented "new risks to the debt trajectory and likely complicates on-going talks with the IMF." S&P Global Ratings, in its downgrade of Senegal's credit rating this month, pegged hidden debts at around $13 billion and the ratio at 118%. This would make Senegal one of the most indebted countries in Africa, placing it in a small, unenviable club alongside Zambia, Cape Verde and Sudan. Senegal is not the first case of hidden debt. Mozambique's infamous "tuna bond" scandal is the most recent high-profile example in Africa. But at roughly $3 billion, Mozambique's secret debt is dwarfed by Senegal's. The IMF, which has come under fire for not catching the off-books lending, did not comment when contacted by Reuters, but it has previously said it will review what happened once it has all the information. In the meantime, the IMF's executive board must approve either a waiver for misreporting or order Senegal to pay back previous programme disbursements. With a waiver, Senegal can negotiate a new programme. Few expect the IMF to order Senegal to repay, which would effectively punish the current government's transparency. But negotiations have taken longer than expected. Senegal had hoped for a new programme by June. The IMF said a decision on the waiver was unlikely before June or July. In a June 14 statement, the government said it had shared all the results from its "reconciliation exercise" with the IMF. Sources expect action on a waiver in September, though the IMF could discuss Senegal earlier. An IMF spokesperson said the board would consider the data misreporting "in due course". Prime Minister Sonko has said next week's economic recovery plan will "tell the Senegalese how to get the country back on its feet, point by point." A new IMF programme would help them finance that plan, but crucially would also give foreign investors confidence to lend again. To get one, however, Senegal must demonstrate how it will return to debt sustainability. Senegal's bonds rallied earlier this month after it said it would rebase its economy for the first time since 2018, which some investors say could push its debt-to-GDP back down into double digits, a potentially more palatable level for the IMF. The government could also attempt to reprofile debt by pushing payments further into the future but is expected to avoid a full restructuring. Senegal - due to its membership in the West African currency union UEMOA - does not have a problem sourcing the hard currency it needs to repay loans. And a restructuring could destabilise some regional banks holding its debt, which would be bad for the region. ($1 = 557.7500 CFA francs)
Bloomberg
18-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Senegal, Saudi Partner Ink New Desalination-Plant Deal After Cost Review
Senegal reached a new agreement with Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power to proceed with a desalination plant after a cost review, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said. He canceled the contract, which was previously valued at $800 million, in July last year due to concerns over high costs, and announced the new pact in a Facebook post.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
France ends permanent troop presence in Senegal
DAKAR, July 17 (Reuters) - France handed over control of its last major military facility in Senegal on Thursday, marking the end of its armed forces' long presence in the West African country and a milestone in a withdrawal from the wider region. The commander of French forces in Africa, General Pascal Ianni, handed over a key to the military camp in Dakar during a ceremony at which a Senegalese flag was raised while military musicians played the national anthem. "Today's transfer of Camp Geille marks a new stage in the evolution of the partnership between our two armed forces," Ianni told reporters. "It is a response to the Senegalese authorities' wish to no longer have permanent foreign forces present on their territory." Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced last year that France's military bases were incompatible with Senegalese sovereignty and would have to be transferred. The two countries agreed to complete that process by the end of the year and it began in March when France handed over two other facilities, also in Dakar. The process has been more amicable than the departure of French soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where military juntas have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies. Chad, an important Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the region, abruptly ended its defence cooperation pact with France last year, forcing its troops to withdraw. With a reduced presence in West and Central Africa, France has said it is planning to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance. Ianni said French forces' presence in Senegal dated back more than two centuries, but that a change was needed to reinvent the partnership. General Mbaye Cisse, head of the Senegalese armed forces general staff, said the new agreement would allow Senegal to continue benefiting from training and information exchanges. "We wish all our comrades and their families a safe return to France," he said, adding that he hoped the long history linking the countries would provide a strong base for cooperation. Former colonial ruler France has faced criticism for stationing soldiers in Senegal long after it gained independence in 1960. Senegal has long demanded that Paris properly investigate a massacre in 1944 of African soldiers who fought for France in World War Two.
CNA
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
France ends permanent troop presence in Senegal
DAKAR: France handed over control of its last major military facility in Senegal on Thursday (Jul 17), marking the end of its armed forces' long presence in the West African country and a milestone in a withdrawal from the wider region. The commander of French forces in Africa, General Pascal Ianni, handed over a key to the military camp in Dakar during a ceremony at which a Senegalese flag was raised while military musicians played the national anthem. "Today's transfer of Camp Geille marks a new stage in the evolution of the partnership between our two armed forces," Ianni told reporters. "It is a response to the Senegalese authorities' wish to no longer have permanent foreign forces present on their territory." Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced last year that France's military bases were incompatible with Senegalese sovereignty and would have to be transferred. The two countries agreed to complete that process by the end of the year and it began in March when France handed over two other facilities, also in Dakar. The process has been more amicable than the departure of French soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where military juntas have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies. Chad, an important Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the region, abruptly ended its defence cooperation pact with France last year, forcing its troops to withdraw. With a reduced presence in West and Central Africa, France has said it is planning to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance. TRAINING TO CONTINUE Ianni said French forces' presence in Senegal dated back more than two centuries, but that a change was needed to reinvent the partnership. General Mbaye Cisse, head of the Senegalese armed forces general staff, said the new agreement would allow Senegal to continue benefiting from training and information exchanges. "We wish all our comrades and their families a safe return to France," he said, adding that he hoped the long history linking the countries would provide a strong base for cooperation. Former colonial ruler France has faced criticism for stationing soldiers in Senegal long after it gained independence in 1960.
