Washington: Bassirou Diomaye Faye pleads Senegal’s cause to the IMF, the World Bank and American investors

In less than forty-eight hours, the President of the Republic Bassirou Diomaye Faye held numerous meetings in Washington, from September 13 to 15, with major international financial institutions and representatives of the American private sector. Highlight of this trip: her interview with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, this Tuesday, September 15, at the institution’s headquarters.

This meeting is a continuation of the technical agreement concluded on September 1 between Dakar and the IMF services, relating to a new three-year program backed by the Extended Credit Facility, amounting to $2.2 billion. This agreement follows several months of budgetary tensions, after the new power revealed, upon taking office, the real extent of the country’s debt, well above the reference thresholds of international financial institutions.

According to the Presidency, this choice of transparency had an immediate cost, but made it possible to initiate recovery measures without delay: mobilization of revenue, rationalization of expenditure, broadening of the tax base and strengthening of governance, while preventing the country from defaulting.

The technical agreement must now be approved by the IMF Executive Board. According to the presidency, the two parties “welcomed the work accomplished” and share the desire to move quickly towards this approval, in order to ease the liquidity constraints weighing on the country.
The social aspect of the program highlighted
The Head of State insisted that the budgetary recovery would not be to the detriment of the most vulnerable populations. Several social measures are being put forward by the presidency: the doubling of family security grants, the maintenance of student grants, the consolidation of universal health coverage, as well as the payment of arrears owed to private companies.

The reform of energy subsidies will be gradual and more targeted. The presidency emphasizes that today, almost two thirds of this subsidy benefits the 20% of wealthiest households, an imbalance that the government intends to correct.

The American private sector is courting Dakar

The day before his meeting with the IMF, on September 14, President Faye devoted his morning to three hearings with representatives of the American business world: the Cybastion company, the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Council on Africa. According to the presidency, these meetings were requested by the American organizations themselves.

Before these interlocutors, the Head of State defended a line of economic “sovereignty”, summed up by a formula addressed to the Cybastion delegation: we cannot sit on a gold mine and extend our hand. Senegal, he argued, intends to establish “win-win” partnerships, where the investor finds profitability while leaving the country control of its development.

On a concrete level, an American company has committed around $300 million to the digital sector, while the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Council on Africa have reaffirmed their interest in the Senegalese market.
The World Bank confirms its support
Also on September 14, President Faye met with the President of the World Bank Group. The institution confirmed its support for financing Senegalese public policies for the years to come. The discussions focused in particular on the creation of jobs for young people, presented by the presidency as the country’s main demographic asset, as well as on the development of economic corridors and better territorial distribution of growth.

Mission timeline

– August 6, 2026: Signature in Dakar of three agreements with the World Bank Group.

– August 19 to September 1, 2026: IMF staff mission to Dakar.

– September 1, 2026: Technical agreement between the Senegalese government and the IMF.
– September 13, 2026: Departure of the President for Washington.

– September 14, 2026: Hearings with Cybastion, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Corporate Council on Africa, then interview with the World Bank.

– September 15, 2026: Interview with the Managing Director of the IMF; departure for Abu Dhabi.

– September 17, 2026 (to come): Interview with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, before returning to Dakar the same day.

Heading for Abu Dhabi

The presidential mission does not stop in Washington. Arriving in Abu Dhabi on September 16, Bassirou Diomaye Faye must be received there the next day by the UAE president. While the American stage was focused on financial confidence and partnership with institutions and the private sector, the passage through the United Arab Emirates is, according to the presidency, more in the register of productive investment, with a partner counted among the leading global financing centers.

OBN