Senegal's Diomaye Faye Posts Mixed Scorecard After Year in Office

Since his historic election, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye's record is mixed.

Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko promised a reset of the economy, a war on corruption and food sovereignty.

His opponents say Faye's government has not shown enough ambition while supporters express confidence in his vision.

“The project is so far good," said a youthful resident of Dakar.

''We're confident it is going to work. But they have to accept criticism,'' he added.

But not everyone agrees.

“We haven't seen any of the promises from the government [implemented],'' said one motorcycle taxi driver.

''They had asked us to fight by promising young people projects and assuring us that there would be work. But we haven't seen anything yet,” he argued.

Since his election, Faye has made interventions to reduce food inflation, conducted an audit of the previous government and launched a plan to revitalize agriculture.

But the opposition says it is not enough.

“This is indeed a disappointment. Insofar as the referential document is concerned, there are no projects they have launched that actually emanate from their referential called Senegal Vision 2050. I think that, for the time being, we need to find mechanisms to revive our economy,” said Mouhamdou M. Mane, a leader in the opposition.

The government headed by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has launched a major campaign to clean up the administration, reduce waste and optimize public finances.

“I consider the balance sheet to be generally positive. When you look at two laws, justice, which was a bit of a weak point, and which was much criticized, he organized a conference on justice,'' said political analyst Mamadou Thior.

Whatever the outcome of Faye's first year in power, the Senegalese still expect more from his government, especially on the social and economic fronts.