Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the government on Friday, a move that adds to uncertainty as the country faces a debt crisis and ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund.
A statement read on state media said all ministers had been dismissed, with the outgoing government tasked with handling day-to-day affairs, according to Oumar Samba Ba, secretary-general of the presidency.
The decision follows months of tension between the two former allies. Sonko, a prominent figure with strong youth support, backed Faye in the 2024 election after being barred from running due to a defamation conviction.
After the announcement, Sonko posted on social media that he would sleep with a light heart at his residence in the Keur Gorgui neighborhood.
The split comes as Senegal deals with economic pressure. The IMF froze its $1.8 billion lending program after the discovery of misreported debt, which pushed the country’s end-2024 debt to 132 percent of GDP. Faye’s decision raises the risk of further delays in reaching a new agreement with the fund.
Finance Minister Cheikh Diba told parliament earlier on Friday that Senegal expects to resume talks with the IMF in the week of June 8 and hopes to reach agreement on key points by June 30. He also warned that the fuel subsidy bill could exceed the 2026 budget allocation by up to 1.15 trillion CFA francs if oil prices rise to $115 per barrel, and said Sonko had rejected a proposal to raise fuel prices.
Sonko had opposed debt restructuring that he said the IMF was advocating, while Faye has been less vocal on the issue. The two men were both jailed ahead of the 2024 election and released 10 days before the vote, which Faye won with 54 percent.
Sonko said in March that he would be willing to take his Pastef party out of government and return to opposition if Faye departed from the party’s agenda. Pastef holds a majority in the National Assembly, meaning the split could complicate governance and the passage of reforms needed for IMF support.
Last month lawmakers approved changes to the electoral code that could allow Sonko to run for president in 2029. As prime minister, Sonko led an audit of Senegal’s resource deals and revoked 71 mining licenses in March, saying renegotiation of oil and gas contracts would lower domestic energy prices and help stabilize public finances.
