The Head of State, His Excellency Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar FAYE, chaired the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at the Palace of the Republic.
At the start of his address, the President of the Republic referred to Decree No. 2025-1430 of September 6, 2025, which appoints the Ministers and Secretaries of State, members of the new Government of the Republic of Senegal.
He expressed his gratitude to the outgoing Ministers who spared no effort in implementing the policy he outlined, under the leadership and coordination of Prime Minister Ousmane SONKO. He congratulated and encouraged the Ministers and Secretaries of State retained in the Government, as well as its new members.
He emphasized that being a Minister or Secretary of State is a primary national responsibility. It is a special position, based on exceptional trust, in the exercise of public duties, serving the population and the general interest. Hence, it is imperative for every Minister or Secretary of State to embody, at all times, the sanctity of the State, the commitment to public service, patriotic dedication, integrity, and efficiency in implementing the Nation’s policy through the optimal deployment of public policies.
The President of the Republic invited the new Government, which held its first Council of Ministers session today, to be an institution of the Republic marked by action. In this exceptional stance, it forms, in the letter and spirit of the Constitution, a collegial and united team, a collective force of proposals and achievements serving the expectations, aspirations, and even demands of our populations.
The Government must embody the patriotic political project endorsed by the Senegalese people. It must materialize this through determination, commitment, mastery of communication, as well as a sense of diligence, quality, efficiency, and proximity in its work. The Head of State urged the new Government to methodically focus on results-oriented management within each ministerial department, intensifying the optimal implementation of the Economic and Social Recovery Plan (PRES), in line with the temporal sequences and operational sectoral strategies of the National Transformation Agenda. He reminded each Minister of the urgency of implementing, under the supervision of the Prime Minister, the programs, projects, reforms, and texts required in the execution of presidential directives. In this regard, he instructed the Minister of Finance and Budget to urgently take all necessary measures, in collaboration with the Minister of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation and sectoral Ministers, to finalize, with the Prime Minister, all arbitrations concerning the draft Finance Law for 2026.
Furthermore, he highlighted to the Government the need to establish a territorial anchoring of ministerial and interministerial actions, in line with the policy of territorializing public policies. It is also, and above all, about relentlessly addressing security issues, as well as pressing social matters concerning education, higher education, health, youth, and improving the purchasing power of the population through controlling the marketing channels and prices of essential goods and products. Finally, he called on the Government to intensify the revival of the national economy, the development of the private sector, productive investments, and entrepreneurship, as well as labor-intensive public works in all sectors, particularly in housing and construction, to promote youth employability and employment: a national priority.
Addressing matters related to the organization of the recent Maouloud, the Head of State emphasized the support for these religious ceremonies. He extended his warm congratulations to the Government, defense and security forces, state services, and the entire Muslim community of Senegal, as well as the General Caliphs, for the excellent conduct of Maouloud celebrations across the national territory. He requested the Minister of the Interior and Public Security to work with relevant public and religious actors to ensure the optimal planning of state interventions in religious cities and during religious and even customary events. He stressed the importance of holding evaluation meetings for the organization of these events, accompanied by recommendations for improvement for future editions.
On another note, the President of the Republic emphasized the issue of revitalizing literacy programs and promoting national languages. He took advantage of the celebration of Literacy Month, which he initiated in 2024, to commend the actors and operators in literacy for their remarkable work across all local authorities in Senegal. He urged the Minister of National Education to intensify, at all levels, the inclusive and optimal implementation of literacy projects and programs, particularly in our national languages, whose mainstreaming in our educational and university systems, as well as in the public and private sectors, remains an essential requirement for achieving the vision of a sovereign, just, and prosperous Senegal.
In one year, Senegal will host the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, a major international event with significant impacts on transportation systems (air, land, maritime), accommodation, and various sectors of economic, social, and cultural life. Therefore, the Head of State invited the Government, particularly the Minister of Youth and Sports, to take all necessary measures with the Organizing Committee (COJOJ), relevant Ministries, and stakeholders to ensure the timely completion of infrastructure and other required arrangements. He emphasized the need to intensify, starting now, thorough preparation of our athletes for this significant competition, the first of its kind in Africa.
MINISTERIAL COMMUNICATIONS:
- The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Livestock presented a report on the status of agricultural inputs for 2025, the forecast for seeds, and an update on the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF).
- The Minister of Water and Sanitation provided a report on the weekly management of floods.
The Council reviewed and adopted:
- The draft Investment Code Law.
- The draft law amending Law No. 2012-31 of December 31, 2012, on the General Tax Code.
- The draft law amending Law No. 2008-46 of September 3, 2008, establishing a fee on access to or use of public telecommunications networks (RUTEL), as amended.
Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, in charge of Relations with Institutions and Government Spokesperson: Marie Rose Khady Fatou FAYE