DAKAR, Senegal — A whole bunch of staff, union members and opposition supporters marched in Senegal’s capital Dakar on Wednesday to protest what they are saying are damaged authorities guarantees and a worsening cost-of-living, because the nation is stricken by a extreme debt disaster.
The protest was organized by the nation’s principal labor unions and the Entrance for the Protection of Democracy and the Republic, also referred to as FDR, opposition coalition.
Mody Guiro, secretary-general of the Nationwide Confederation of Senegalese Employees, the nation’s largest labor union, mentioned the federal government had betrayed a deal final 12 months that had frozen strikes in trade for guarantees of higher wages and dealing circumstances. Authorities say a document debt disaster inherited from the earlier administration has left the federal government with little cash to spend.
Protesters sporting purple scarfs and union hats held indicators demanding that the federal government rehires laid off public sector staff and lowers revenue taxes. Some chanted slogans calling for the ousting of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
The West African nation’s authorities, led by Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, got here to energy in April 2024, promising to hold out formidable reforms, which included preventing corruption, creating jobs for younger individuals and maximizing the nation’s pure useful resource advantages.
However the ruling PASTEF social gathering’s reform agenda has run into obstacles. A 2025 authorities audit revealed a larger-than-reported debt of $13 billion attributed to the earlier administration. Talks with the Worldwide Financial Fund over a brand new monetary program have stalled because the nation’s fiscal outlook worsens.
Senegal’s debt-to-GDP ratio has surged to roughly 132%, one of many highest in Africa.
The nation’s financial difficulties have deepened the every day struggles of many individuals, with younger Senegalese among the many hardest hit. About 75% of the nation’s inhabitants is underneath 35.
Final February, protests at Senegal’s prime public college over unpaid monetary help have been met with a violent response by safety forces, resulting in the demise of a pupil.
“The nation is at a standstill. It’s important that the federal government finds options to revive Senegal’s economic system as an alternative of selecting fights all over the place,” mentioned Mohamed Fall, a youth activist on the protest on Wednesday.
One other protester, Pape Laobe Samb, is certainly one of greater than 700 staff of the port of Dakar which were laid off since early 2025, because the Senegalese authorities strikes to overtake state establishments.
“This isn’t what they promised individuals. They mentioned they have been going to create jobs and develop the nation however they did the exact opposite,” Samb, who labored greater than 12 years on the port earlier than being let go, instructed The Related Press.
The port’s director, who was appointed shortly after President Faye got here to energy, has described the motion as a purge of irregular contracts inherited from the earlier administration. Unions disagree, arguing the employees focused have been largely these related to the earlier authorities, and that the firings have been illegal.
___
Observe AP’s Africa protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
