The Head of State, His Excellency, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar FAYE chaired, this Wednesday, September 3, 2025, the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, at the Palace of the Republic.

At the beginning of his communication, the President of the Republic extended his warm congratulations to the Islamic Umah, in particular the Muslim community of Senegal, on the occasion of Maouloud, marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which will be celebrated on the night of Thursday, September 4 to Friday, September 5, 2025. He greeted all religious leaders of Senegal and asked the Government to ensure the smooth running of Gamou in all localities of the country.

The President of the Republic also congratulated and expressed his gratitude and best wishes for health to the general caliphs, particularly that of Tidianes, Serigne Babacar SY Mansour, for his warm welcome, his prayers and his message of encouragement during his courtesy visit to Tivaouane, in prelude to Gamou. He reminded the Government of the role and fundamental place of the Cult and religious notables in the economic and social life of the country. Therefore, he asked the Prime Minister to strengthen, in 2026, the budgetary resources allocated to the Cult and to continue efforts to modernize religious cities through sectoral infrastructure programs, aimed at improving the living environment of the populations and the faithful.

The validation by the Council of Ministers on July 30, 2025, and the launch on August ¹ , 2025, of the Economic and Social Recovery Plan (PRES) mark a major turning point in the implementation of the Patriotic Project for the systemic transformation of Senegal around the triptych: Sovereignty, Justice and Prosperity. The Head of State asked the Prime Minister, Project Manager, to constantly ensure the timely execution of all components of the Plan, accompanied by the expected operational reforms. In this regard, he indicated to the Prime Minister the importance of finalizing, with each Ministry, the flagship projects and reforms and of initiating the programming for the adoption of all the legislative and regulatory texts necessary to achieve the priorities and objectives of the National Transformation Agenda.

The President of the Republic welcomed the continued efforts to consolidate public accounts and control public finances, with the significant increase in budgetary resources, the rationalization of all state operating expenses, the reorganization of administrations and the parastatal sector in particular, as well as the stabilization of public debt. In this regard, he informed the Council that priority programs and actions must be included in the 2026 Finance Bill, which will be submitted to the National Assembly for the next budget session, to be carefully prepared by the ministers. Furthermore, he emphasized the imperative of sustainably establishing the sovereign foundations of productive investment and a sustained revival of the national economy with the development of the national private sector and the establishment of incentives promoting the establishment of true "National Champions" in all economic sectors, the conditions for initiating the new job creation policy. In the same vein, he asked the Minister of Industry and Trade to accelerate the deployment of the new industrial strategy in conjunction with the national program of

Agropoles and the activation of the Territorial Poles already prefigured. These notable transformations should begin to materialize effectively before the end of 2025.

Senegal's economic transformation is a collective objective, built around quality dialogue between the State and the private sector and the development of the potential of our territories. This is why the Head of State attaches paramount importance to the competitiveness of the national economy through the new investment code in perspective, the control of energy costs, the predictability and efficiency of the tax and customs system. He emphasized the importance he attaches to the sustainable development of our urban environment as well as the attractiveness of the national territory to foreign direct investments, envisaged by several friendly countries and other partners of Senegal. He expressed his commitment to strengthening the institutional and incentive framework for promoting a business environment of the highest standards, but also to the support and financing system for businesses, SMEs/SMIs in particular. In this dynamic, he attaches importance to the careful examination and optimization of cooperation and partnership projects, but above all, to the good organization of the Invest in Senegal Forum, planned for October 7 and 8, 2025 in Dakar with concrete and tangible results expected, within the framework of the acceleration of economic growth (excluding hydrocarbons) and the deployment of the Recovery Plan.

The President of the Republic returned to the issue of strengthening transparency and public governance. He welcomed the vote by the National Assembly of four (4) decisive laws in the constructive spirit of "Jub, Jubal, Jubanti", guiding principles of our governance. These are the laws on access to information, whistleblowers, the National Office for the Fight against Corruption, and the declaration of assets. He congratulated the deputies for the vote on these fundamental texts aimed at consolidating transparency, in accordance with our political commitments and the Project for a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal. He asked the public authorities, all political actors, the vital forces of the Nation, to take ownership, with a high sense of responsibility, of these major texts thus consolidating public governance in Senegal.

The Head of State returned to the adaptation of flood prevention and management systems. Government action is strongly influenced by flood management. In this regard, he asked the Prime Minister to constantly ensure the rapid deployment of national solidarity, flood prevention and management systems at the national level. Particular attention should be paid to structurally sensitive localities (Touba, Kaolack, etc.) and to villages and municipalities bordering the Senegal and Gambia rivers. In view of increasingly noticeable disruptions and climate change, he informed the Prime Minister of the need to finalize, with the Ministries, public authorities and stakeholders involved, a National Flood Prevention and Management Program by 2035 with reinforced "Sanitation/Wastewater/Rainwater" and "Development and Urban Planning" components. He invited stakeholders, in particular, to draw lessons from the evaluation of the implementation of the ten-year flood control program, initiated in 2012. In the same vein, he invited the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation, supplemented by the Ministers responsible for the Interior, Family and Solidarity, and Infrastructure, to provide a weekly update in the Council of Ministers on the rainfall situation and flood management.

As part of his diplomatic agenda, the President of the Republic informed the Council that he chaired, on Monday, September ^1, 2025, in the presence of his Rwandan counterpart, His Excellency Paul KAGAME, the opening ceremony of the ^19th edition of the African Food Systems Forum under the theme: "African Youth: Spearheading Collaboration, Innovation and Transformation of Food Systems." In the same vein, he congratulated the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock and the Secretary of State for Cooperatives and Farmer Supervision, for the successful organization of this major international meeting.

Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko focused his presentation on the operational implementation of the PRES, his official visit to the Republic of Turkey, the modernization of digital governance, and the Senegalese Digital Economy Acceleration Project (PAENS). He informed the Council that, to ensure the rigorous and efficient implementation of the PRES, four specialized and complementary working groups have been set up within the Prime Minister's Office, with clearly defined and action-oriented mandates. These are the "Reforms" groups, responsible for leading the design, proposal and monitoring of structural reforms essential to our recovery, "Phasing, Budgeting and Risk Analysis", responsible for developing a precise and sequenced timetable, the rigorous allocation of financial resources, as well as the anticipation and mitigation of risks, "Inventory, Validation and Evaluation", in charge of identifying, validating and structuring all initiatives, while defining a robust evaluation framework and clear performance indicators and finally "Communication and Popularization", responsible for developing a transparent and effective communication strategy to ensure full ownership of the plan by all stakeholders: administration, private sector and citizens. In a cross-functional manner, these groups are responsible for ensuring continuous monitoring and evaluation, producing regular reporting for the Council of Ministers and ensuring optimal operational coordination between all stakeholders involved, to achieve the total success of the Plan.

The Prime Minister reviewed the official visit he made to the Republic of Turkey from 6 to 11 August 2025, which resulted in concrete and promising progress for our country. Among the outcomes of this visit, he highlighted: the signing of four strategic cooperation agreements in the military, educational and audiovisual sectors, a clear and ambitious objective of tripling the volume of trade from 400 million to more than one billion US dollars, the organization of an economic forum bringing together around a hundred Senegalese and Turkish business leaders, a testament to the vitality of our economic relations, the mobilization of the highly committed Turkish private sector, ready to invest in structuring projects and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in energy, infrastructure, health, digital technology, agriculture and industry, and finally the mobilization of credit lines to support the Senegal 2050 National Transformation Agenda with Eximbank Türkiye, under revised terms and conditions. He asked the ministers concerned to finalize, without delay, the mechanisms for monitoring and implementing all decisions, in order to quickly materialize these historic commitments. He informed the Council that he will travel to the United Arab Emirates from 8 to 12 September for an official visit.

Given the strategic importance of digital technology for our sovereignty, the Prime Minister has initiated a profound overhaul of its governance. Following a phase of broad consultation, the "GouvNum" system will be strengthened to ensure centralized, dynamic, and coherent governance of state digital projects, serving citizens. The Senegal Digital Economy Acceleration Project (PAENS), funded to the tune of US$150 million by the World Bank, constitutes a major lever for the sustainable digital transformation of our administration and public services. Following a phase of alignment with the National Transformation Agenda and the New Technology Deal, extensions have been suggested, notably to include the Integrated Financial Information Management System (SIGIF).

The Head of Government asked the Ministers in charge of Communication, Health, as well as Finance and Budget, to immediately take all measures within the framework of a coordinated mobilization for a diligent and rigorous execution of this priority project and to apply the guidelines resulting from the meeting he held with the local stakeholders in the project.

The Senegal Gas Network Project (RGS) is a national strategic priority. This essential infrastructure will ensure the transportation, distribution, and strategic development of our natural gas. More than just a project, the RGS is a pillar of our energy sovereignty, essential for controlling energy costs while strengthening the competitiveness of our industry, establishing our energy independence, and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, in accordance with our international commitments. This project fully embodies Senegal's strategic vision, such as "Gas to Power" and "Gas to Industry." The Prime Minister demanded full commitment from all stakeholders, strengthened inter-institutional coordination, and exemplary management, in technical, social, environmental, and financial terms. He emphasized the urgency for each actor to act with the utmost speed so that the RGS quickly generates significant socio-economic benefits for all Senegalese and can deliver its first projects in 2027.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to secure documents from legal proceedings, recalling that he had drawn the Council's attention to the systematic publication of minutes of investigations carried out by the Ministry of Justice and the Interior. He called on the ministries concerned to take greater care to respect the confidentiality of the investigation of various legal cases, by taking all necessary measures to this end.

UNDER THE HEADING OF COMMUNICATIONS FROM MINISTERS:

 

-the Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs made a statement on the draft interministerial decree setting out the conditions for entry of foreigners into Senegal and the formalities relating to the issuance of visas;

-the Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines made a communication on the one hand on the conclusions of the audit of mining titles and the organization of open days and on the other hand on the audit work of civil explosives carried out by his department;

-the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation made a communication on the weekly situation of flood management;

-the Minister of the Civil Service and Public Service Reform made a statement on the status of implementation of civil service reforms and the modernization of public services.

UNDER LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY TEXTS,

 

The Council examined and adopted:

 

-Draft law authorizing the President of the Republic to ratify the military and technical cooperation agreement between the government of the Republic of Senegal and the government of the Republic of Guinea, signed on June 19, 2021 in Accra (Ghana).

-Draft decree establishing and setting the rules for the organization and operation of the general delegation for religious affairs.

The Minister of Vocational and Technical Training,

Government Spokesperson

Amadou Moustapha Njekk SARRE