Senegal rejects IMF debt-restructuring proposal
Senegal has rejected a debt-restructuring proposal put forward by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The West African country’s prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, said following the plan would amount to a national “disgrace.”
Sonko made the remarks at a rally in the capital, Dakar, on Sunday, days after the Washington-based lender concluded a two-week mission to Senegal without a new financing deal.
Senegal’s public debt has risen to over $11 billion amid the discovery of $7 billion in undeclared loans. The IMF has since frozen a $1.8 billion lending facility to the former French colony, citing misreporting and hidden debt.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who came to power in April 2024, has blamed his predecessor, Macky Sall, for the debt crisis.
Speaking at the ruling PASTEF party rally on Sunday, the prime minister reiterated that stance, arguing that accepting restructuring would imply malfeasance by the new government.
“What the IMF is proposing is a restructuring of this abysmal debt that Macky Sall’s party has burdened us with,” he said, adding that Faye’s government opposes “a restructuring because it would be a disgrace for Senegal.”
On Thursday, the IMF said its team held “constructive discussions” with Senegalese authorities during the mission and that talks would continue to finalize a new IMF-supported program. It said the focus was on fiscal sustainability, debt management, and governance.
Sonko said Dakar told the IMF that Senegal “is a country of dignity, a country of pride,” and that “the Senegalese people will rise to the occasion and take responsibility.”
Sonko unveiled an economic recovery plan in August, pledging to finance 90% of the initiative through domestic resources.
The disagreement in Dakar reflects a wave of resistance to IMF-led programs in Africa. In 2023, Tunisian President Kais Saied rejected IMF “diktats,” stalling a $1.9 billion bailout tied to subsidy cuts, and in 2024 Kenyan President William Ruto withdrew an IMF-backed finance bill after deadly youth-led protests.
