{"id":35406,"date":"2026-05-26T09:06:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35406"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:06:47","slug":"senegals-faye-names-economist-lo-as-new-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/senegals-faye-names-economist-lo-as-new-prime-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal&#8217;s Faye names Economist Lo as new Prime Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>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<div><\/div>\n<div>The new Prime Minister, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, \u200bformerly served as head of the Senegal branch of the Central Bank of West African \u200bStates.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Appearing on state television for the announcement of his appointment, Lo \u2060said he wanted to reassure the local private sector and foreign investors even as he acknowledged \u200bSenegal&#8217;s difficult financial position.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;We 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,&#8221; he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Senegal is a safe and reliable country and intends to remain so.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The International Monetary Fund froze Senegal&#8217;s $1.8 billion lending program following the discovery \u200bof misreported debt, pushing the country&#8217;s end-2024 debt level to 132% of its economic output.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u200bOusmane Sonko, the outgoing prime minister, had opposed any restructuring of the debt, estimated at $13 billion, which he said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) \u200cwas \u2060advocating, while Faye has been less vocal on the issue.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Faye fired Sonko, the man who helped the president&#8217;s political rise, on Friday after months of mounting tensions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In March, Sonko warned he could take the ruling Pastef party, which dominates the National Assembly, into opposition if the president strayed from the \u200bparty&#8217;s agenda, a threat \u200bthat looms over the \u2060government&#8217;s ability to pass any reforms needed to unlock IMF support.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The National Assembly is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss &#8220;reintegrating&#8221; Sonko as a \u200blawmaker. The resignation of the National Assembly speaker on Sunday has fueled speculation Sonko \u200bhimself could \u2060fill the role.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In his remarks on Monday, Lo said his appointment did not signal a retreat from Senegal&#8217;s commitment to &#8220;systemic transformation&#8221; under Faye, but instead reflected a new approach aligned with the president&#8217;s \u2060vision.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u200bHe also offered conciliatory words for Sonko, praising the record \u200bof the government he led, including an economic recovery plan announced last year that featured a heavy reliance on domestic \u200bfunding.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35407,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-35406","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Senegal \u200cPresident names a seasoned Economist as Prime Minister","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35408,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35406\/revisions\/35408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}