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PoliticsSenegal

Senegal gets first prime minister since 2019

September 17, 2022

Amadou Ba will be the new premier after Senegalese President Macky Sall decided to reestablish the position three years after abolishing the role.

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Senegal's Prime Minister Amadou Ba pictured at a press conference in 2022
Ba was finance minister before he was appointed foreign minister in 2019Image: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/REUTERS

Senegalese President Macky Sall reinstated the post of prime minister on Saturday, appointing Amadou Ba, the former economy minister, in the post.

It comes at a time when the West African country is struggling with economic hardship, partly stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and global fallout linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sall said the new prime minister would be responsible for addressing the rising cost of living.

"Measures to reduce the cost of living and support employment and entrepreneurship for young people, the fight against floods and costly rents will remain the highest of priorities for me," Sall said in a speech broadcast on Friday ahead of the appointment.

Ba echoed these statements on Saturday. "The major priorities that the president has outlined include improving household purchasing power, taming inflation, security, housing, vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship."

Ba would also lead a new cabinet formed after parliamentary elections narrowly won by Sall's ruling coalition .

Sall scrapped the position of prime minister in 2019. The opposition and parts of civil society denounced his move as an attempt to seize greater power.

Concerns over his rule persist, and some have accused him of wanting to break the two-term limit and run again in 2024.

lo/aw (AFP, Reuters)