Marrakech – Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye named economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, May 25. The appointment came three days after Faye dismissed Ousmane Sonko from the post following months of escalating tensions between the two former allies.
Lo, a 60-year-old macroeconomist and veteran of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), is a specialist in banking regulation, financial markets, and Islamic finance. He spent nearly four decades at the BCEAO, rising through the ranks to serve as its director for Senegal before being appointed secretary general of the institution in February 2024.
He joined Faye’s government in April 2024 as secretary general and was later promoted to minister of state in charge of overseeing the national development program known as “Sénégal 2050.”
In his first public address from the Presidential Palace in Dakar, Lo struck a tone of reassurance. “We must all be aware of the state of emergency our country currently finds itself in,” he said. “In particular, the state of public finances and its impact on the economy.” He then directed a clear message to the business community: “Senegal is a safe and reliable country and intends to remain so.”
Lo described his appointment not as a shift in direction but as a change in method. “It is not a change of course in Senegal’s systemic transformations,” he announced, “but rather a change of method in institutional coherence and government action, as desired by the head of state.” He added: “I consider this new responsibility a calling.”
The appointment follows one of the most turbulent weeks in Senegalese politics in recent memory. Faye fired Sonko on May 22, ending a partnership that had carried both men to power. The rupture stemmed from deep disagreements over the management of Senegal’s debt crisis. The country’s debt stands at 132% of GDP after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) froze a $1.8 billion lending program due to misreported fiscal data under former President Macky Sall.
Faye favored re-engaging with the IMF on a new support program. Sonko publicly opposed any form of debt restructuring, advocating instead for what he called a sovereignist approach. In March, Sonko went further, threatening to take the ruling Pastef party into opposition if Faye deviated from the party’s agenda. Sonko is now expected to return to the National Assembly as a lawmaker.
The change at the top of the Senegalese government also carried wider diplomatic undertones, particularly in Morocco-Senegal relations. Hours after Sonko’s dismissal, King Mohammed VI announced a royal pardon on May 23 for the remaining Senegalese football fans still imprisoned in Morocco following the chaotic 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Rabat.
The Royal Cabinet said the pardon was granted “on humanitarian grounds” and on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, citing “the long-standing fraternal ties” between the two countries.
President Faye personally welcomed the freed supporters at the airport outside Dakar and publicly thanked the King. “We’re very happy to have them back on Senegalese soil,” he told journalists. He described the decision as one “imbued with clemency and humanity.”
Sonko’s tenure as prime minister had been marked by friction with Rabat. In April, he referred to “55 states” in Africa during a conference in Dakar, a figure that implicitly includes the phantom “Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).” The remark was widely interpreted in Morocco as a provocation, given Senegal’s longstanding recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and its opening of a consulate in Dakhla in 2021.
Lo, by contrast, has shown a far more constructive posture toward Morocco. In an interview published on May 6, he cited Morocco alongside India and the Philippines as a model for how countries should engage their diasporas as economic actors.
“We should give our nationals abroad the same priority and the same regard that we give to foreign direct investors,” he said. “It is worth doing as Morocco, India, and the Philippines have done, with dedicated systems for their citizens residing abroad.”
Presented by multiple sources as a technocrat loyal to Faye rather than a political figure in his own right, Lo is not a member of the Pastef party. Analysts say his appointment signals Faye’s intent to reassert control over the executive while maintaining continuity with the reform agenda that brought both him and Sonko to power.
