Malick Mbaye, the consecration of a customs journey
The appointment of Malick Mbaye as head of the General Directorate of Customs marks a journey built exclusively at the heart of the customs administration.
The handover ceremony between the outgoing Director General of Customs, Babacar Mbaye, and his successor, Malick Mbaye, was held on Thursday October 1, 2026. The ceremony took place in the presence of Inspectors General of Finance, heads of services and numerous executives from the Customs Administration. This handover marks the arrival at the helm of a senior civil servant who knows the institution he is now called upon to lead.
An exceptional senior Customs inspector, Malick Mbaye knows the house inside out. Appointed Director General of Customs by decree n°2026-1724 of September 21, 2026, Malick Mbaye arrives with an essentially technical profile. He has served in operational services, including regulatory, international cooperation, intelligence and investigations functions.
Holder of a master’s degree in Economic Analysis and Policies from the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, he joined the corps of Customs Inspectors and Officers in 2002 upon leaving the National School of Administration (ENA). He started as an inspector-editor at the Directorate of Studies and Legislation, before joining the Dakar-Port Nord Customs Office as an auditor.
This first experience will quickly be supplemented by responsibilities in the study and analysis services. In 2006, he took charge of the Office of Economic Studies and Analysis, then directed, from 2007 to 2009, the Office of Nomenclature and Taxation. Two functions which will help to build its expertise in particularly sensitive areas of customs activity.
In 2011, he became Assistant to the Director of Regulation and International Cooperation. Two years later, he took charge of the Customs Office at Dakar-Yoff Airport. He will then head the Dakar-Pétroles Customs Office, within the structure responsible for petroleum products and specialized units.
Expertise that goes beyond the national framework
His career took on a new dimension in 2016 when he was appointed Director of Regulation and International Cooperation. In this position, he represents the customs administration in ECOWAS meetings and technical committees. Its expertise then goes beyond the national framework. Accredited expert of the World Customs Organization (WCO) on the Harmonized System, he is also among the experts who participated in the development of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff.
This international dimension constitutes one of the strong markers of its profile. It demonstrates a mastery of the technical instruments which structure commercial exchanges. In 2020, Malick Mbaye was appointed head of the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigations. It takes up the challenge, in an environment marked by the sophistication of smuggling networks and the increasing complexity of international trade. It focuses in particular on strengthening the administration’s analysis tools and means of control. When the organizational reform transformed this directorate into the Customs Investigation Directorate, he retained responsibility from January 2023.
It is therefore a man who knows both the field, the offices, the regulations and international cooperation who takes command of Senegalese Customs.
The Editorial Staff With FDS TV/Senegalese Customs
