Year 1 of Minister Cheikh Niang: The experience of field diplomacy serving the influence of Senegal

On September 16, 2025, the President of the Republic, HE Bassirou Diomaye FAYE, entrusted Ambassador Cheikh NIANG with the Ministry of African Integration, Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, replacing Madame Yassine FALL.

A year after this appointment, the results of this career diplomat, the third to access this high office after Messrs. Seydina Oumar Sy and Mankeur Ndiaye, are illustrated by a clear doctrine: proactive diplomacy on the ground backed by major institutional achievements.

Field diplomacy

On October 24, 2025, barely a month after taking office, the Minister made his first official trip to Banjul, in the sister Republic of Gambia, as part of a regional tour continuing in Nouakchott then Bissau, a choice of agenda immediately reflecting the priority given to local and good neighborly diplomacy.

In one year, the Minister has made official visits to eighteen countries covering all strategic geopolitical circles: United States, Nigeria, Gambia, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Angola, Rwanda, Qatar, Egypt, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, Spain, Algeria, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Denmark, Gabon and, recently, the United Arab Emirates.

This geographical network, which covers both the immediate West African neighborhood, the major capitals of the Gulf, Europe and southern and East Africa, reflects an assumed desire to place Senegal in all the diplomatic circles that count.

In addition to these trips, there is a dense schedule of bilateral meetings, held in Dakar or on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, including Croatia, Mauritania, Rwanda, Burundi, Venezuela, Liechtenstein, the Bahamas, Palestine, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Colombia, Morocco, Turkey, France and South Africa, a network of partners covering all regions of the world, from the Caribbean to the Middle East. through Europe.

Major institutional achievements

This movement diplomacy is accompanied by tangible institutional results:

• The reconquest of a strategic seat within ECOWAS. At the end of 2025, Senegal managed to secure the Presidency of the Organization Commission, with the appointment of General Birame Diop for a four-year term, followed by the election of the President of the Republic to the current presidency of the Conference of Heads of State in July 2026.

• The successful organization of the 10th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa (April 20-21, 2026) confirms Senegal as a privileged place for geostrategic issues.

• The final settlement of the United Nations House file, strengthening Senegal’s multilateral anchoring.

• The opening of the AIBD Kessoukhatt Diplomatic Honor Room, a reference work meeting international standards.

• The holding of the first edition of Diaspora Day, a strong moment of recognition and mobilization of Senegalese people abroad.

• The launch of a five-year program to modernize the diplomatic and consular network, requested by the Head of State in April 2026, backed by a 2026 ministerial budget of 67.58 billion CFA francs.

• The resolution of the case of Senegalese supporters detained in Morocco after CAN 2025, obtained without compromising the excellent Senegalese-Moroccan relationship.

• Assumed good neighborly diplomacy, focused on easing tensions between the Alliance of Sahel States and the rest of ECOWAS.

• The confirmation of presidential confidence, with the reappointment of the Minister within the government of Mr. Ahmadou Al Aminou LO, on June 1, 2026.

Regarding the applications, we can retain:

✓ the election of Ms. Fatimata Diallo as a member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, on April 8, 2026, in New York;

✓ the election of Senegal by consensus to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in June 2026, in New York;

✓ the re-election of Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, on June 15, 2026, in New York;

✓ the designation of Senegal to host the 24th International Congress and Exhibition of the African Water and Sanitation Association (AAEA) in 2028;

✓ the election of Mr. Birame SENE, Magistrate, Director General of Elections, at the head of the French-speaking Electoral Skills Network (RECEF), on June 12, 2026;

✓ the appointment of Mr. Malick NDIAYE as First Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, during the 17th Conference of Presidents of the African Region, held in Lomé (Togo), in April 2026;

✓ the election of Mrs. Hélène SARR to the position of Judge at the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) of OHADA, during the 61st Session of the Council of Ministers of the Organization, held on July 27 and 28, 2026, in Lomé;

✓ the appointment of Professor Cheikh MBOW, Director General of the Ecological Monitoring Center (CSE), as President of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCDD), on August 17, 2026, in Mongolia, on the occasion of COP17;

✓ the appointment of El Hadj Ibrahima DIENE as Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and, at the same time, Head of the African Mission to Support the Stabilization of Somalia.

These results, expressing a laudatory assessment, reflect the international credibility of Senegal, the quality of the profiles presented as well as the effectiveness of the diplomatic steps undertaken by the Department and the MDCs.

As part of the assistance and protection of Senegalese Abroad, the AIBD Reception, Orientation and Monitoring Office (BAOS) welcomed 729 compatriots, including 622 men, 57 women and 50 children, from Italy, Tunisia, Niger, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya, Mali, Kenya, Spain and, more recently, 88 of our compatriots in South Africa, where xenophobic demonstrations affected African communities.

Coming out of retirement to put his expertise back at the service of the Nation, Minister Cheikh NIANG claims a technocratic and apolitical approach, at the exclusive service of the State, with a more assertive defense of the sovereign interests of Dakar, without renouncing openness towards all international partners.

Year 1 of Minister Cheikh Niang reads like a stage of reconquest: return to the continental forefront, calming of sensitive issues, densification of the network of partners and modernization of diplomatic and consular tools.

The challenge of year 2 promises to be multiple

It will first be a question of transforming these institutional achievements into tangible results for Senegalese people abroad and for the positioning of Senegal in the major regional and international balances.

It will then be up to Senegalese diplomacy to make the organization of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (October 31-November 13, 2026), a first on the African continent, a catalyst for our soft power, by consolidating the image of a Senegal that is open, hospitable and capable of organizing major international events, in order to sustainably make the country a host country for international sports competitions.

Economic diplomacy will, moreover, be called upon to play a leading role in supporting Senegal’s debt treatment plan, by consolidating the confidence of bilateral and multilateral partners and by mobilizing the entire diplomatic and consular network in the service of the country’s macroeconomic stability.

But also and above all, it will be necessary to strengthen the human, material and financial resources of Ministry agents, both at central level and in diplomatic and consular missions, which remain the linchpin of any ambitious foreign policy.

Sheikh Matar FALL

Chancellor of Foreign Affairs