Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Friday unveiled a new economic recovery plan designed to stabilize the country’s finances by relying overwhelmingly on domestic funding while steering clear of new external borrowing.
The program comes as Senegal struggles with the financial fallout of billions of dollars in undisclosed debts left by the previous administration. Those hidden liabilities prompted the International Monetary Fund to suspend its lending program earlier this year.
Under the plan, 90% of financing will come from domestic resources, with only a small portion sought from international partners.
“We will only seek external partners for the asset recycling portion,” Sonko said at the launch event in Dakar, stressing that the government’s priority is to fund development using internal revenue and reduce dependency on foreign debt.
The announcement follows Senegal’s entry into the club of oil and gas producers last year, a development that the government hopes will help restore fiscal stability and investor confidence.