Debt management 2026-2028: Senegal favors concessional resources

Senegal intends to favor concessional resources in the management of its public debt over the period 2026-2028, according to the medium-term debt management strategy published Thursday by the National Public Debt Committee.

This orientation is based on “the hypothesis of the conclusion of a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), thus opening the possibility of greater mobilization of concessional resources available from traditional donors”, specifies the document.
According to the same source, the stock of external public debt is set, at the end of December 2024, at 16,160.5 billion FCFA, or 81.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This debt is made up of concessional and semi-concessional debts contracted from multilateral and bilateral creditors, representing 51%, and commercial debts estimated at 49%, including 18.3% of Eurobonds and **11.2% of export credits.
The outstanding domestic debt is, for its part, estimated at 7,506 billion FCfa, or 37.7% of GDP over the same period.
The strategy adopted, according to the government, “opens up great prospects for the refinancing of Eurobonds, the repayment of which begins in 2026, on the international market” and would also “reduce the risks likely to arise from recourse to domestic financing alone”.
The document also underlines that the use of external financing up to 50%, as part of a program with the IMF, remains compatible with the development of domestic financing and innovative financing, in particular those linked to the Environment, social and governance (Esg), tested in 2024.
The strategy also encourages the use of public-private partnerships (Ppp), with the announced creation of the National Public-Private Partnership Support Unit (Unapp) and the development of texts governing these contracts.
“It is for this reason that the strategy based on a balanced use of external financing and domestic financing, consistent with an IMF program, constitutes the best way to mobilize funds,” explains the document, stressing that this option will also make it possible to cover the financing needs for 2026.