Aldiouma Sow, Minister-Counsellor: “It is up to the President, with regard to the Constitution, to ensure national unity and guarantee peace and social cohesion”

Minister-advisor to the President of the Republic and coordinator of the political, civil society and unions pole within the Presidential Cabinet, Aldiouma Sow returns in this interview to the speech to the Nation of the Head of State and the results of the year 2025. For him, “when the President of the Republic makes a call for unity and national reconciliation, it is not an option, it is the execution of a moral and legal obligation”. On the announced constitutional reforms, Mr. Sow emphasizes that they “will bring great progress to our political system”. Member of the Pastef Political Bureau, Aldiouma Sow, also considers that 12 years after the creation of their party, colossal efforts will have to be made in terms of leadership training for executives and activists.

What assessment do you draw from the year 2025?

We can describe the year 2025 as the year of purchasing power. The latter experienced an unprecedented strengthening due to a significant drop in the price level of consumer products. According to the Head of State, these reductions allowed households to save more than 342.5 billion FCfa. This shows that reducing the cost of living is the priority of the Head of State and his Government. And this despite a very complicated budgetary and financial context on the macroeconomic level.
Moreover, we can say that the year 2025 was the year of investment which allowed the State to make achievements in several sectors of capital importance for our economy, namely agriculture and industry. Thus, investments made in agriculture have made it possible to increase cereal production to a record level.
Indeed, the relaunch of Sonacos has not only created jobs (2,300, according to the Head of State), but it inaugurates a new era for our economy which now sees a clear extension between the productive sector and the transformative sector. This has the merit of both relieving producers and addressing the nagging issue of youth unemployment. We can also note the multiple investments made in infrastructure, particularly in education with the construction of 2,401 classrooms, 1,389 administrative blocks, 1,112 hygiene blocks and 8 new Iseps. The same efforts were noted in the health sector with the construction of 34 health centers and the purchase of 76 medical ambulances.
In addition, the efforts made in infrastructure have enabled, in 2025, the construction of 280 kilometers of road, 100 kilometers of rural roads and 86 reconnected localities.

Finally, investments made in rural electrification allowed 831,799 people to access electricity for the first time. It must be emphasized that if these achievements were able to see the light of day, it is thanks to the efforts to recover the public accounts started in 2024 and which continued in 2025. These recovery efforts, which did not spare the Single National Register which saw its number increased to more than a million households, enabled the impetus of a new investment dynamic of which the year 2026 must be the catalyst.

However, the president spoke in his speech to the Nation of a trying year. In your opinion, what should be done for better economic performance and a revival of the economy for the benefit of the populations?

We must continue the recovery dynamic already underway in 2024 while accelerating it in all sectors. This involves taking into account the triptych, quality, cost and deadlines in accordance with the requirement set by the Head of State in terms of infrastructure in his speech laying the foundation stone of Lynac (Nation-Army High School for Quality and Ethics) of Adéane.
Reductions in the prices of basic foodstuffs and electricity for vulnerable households must be continued to support the purchasing power of the population. The government also plans to intensify investments in the social sectors (education and health) as well as in infrastructure, rural water supply, agriculture and agropolis construction. These investments will create value for the population but also generate surplus revenue for the State.

How do you assess President Bassirou Diomaye’s call for unity and reconciliation?

He is in his role given his presidential oath and his position in the institutional architecture of the Republic. It is up to him under the Constitution to ensure national unity and guarantee peace and social cohesion. So when the President of the Republic calls for unity and national reconciliation, it is not an option, it is the execution of a moral and legal obligation.

The Head of State also announced institutional reforms which will have to be materialized by the National Assembly, in particular the reform of the Ceni, the revision of the Electoral Code, of the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

In your opinion, will these reforms improve our democratic system and our electoral process?

These reforms will bring great progress to our political system because they will consolidate the plural character of our democracy, bring transparency to the management of the electoral process, bring more visibility and readability to the political game and promote the confidence of political actors in the election management bodies.
In addition, they will mark the advent of a new era in the management of public action. Indeed, they will establish the institutionalization of citizen participation in the development, implementation and evaluation of public policies.

Pastef has just celebrated its 12th anniversary. In your opinion, how should your party approach the year 2026 to better prepare for the next electoral events?

The party must continue the work of structuring and massification in accordance with the latest instruction given by the president of Pastef to all authorities, whether central or grassroots.

At the same time, I consider that colossal efforts will have to be made in terms of training for executives and grassroots activists.
The same efforts will have to be made to establish discipline and combat the incivism noted among a certain fringe of our activist base and maintained by individuals with ulterior motives and dubious political profiles, without proven organic connection with Party authorities and who only exist in networks and in opaque media.

Interview conducted by Oumar KANDÉ