Now Africa's most indebted country – its debts are estimated at 132% of GDP after a post-election audit exposed US$7 billion in liabilities hidden by former president Macky Sall – it has defaulted on payments to some foreign government creditors with repayments to France believed to have gone beyond the 90-day grace period that defines a ‘technical' default (Dispatches 27/10/25 Hidden loans ramp up debt servicing costs)...

Activists warn that this crisis triggered by the Macky Sall government's concealing of US$7 billion of debts is wrong-footing the Bassirou Diomaye Faye-Ousmane Sonko government...

Having explicitly accused the government of former president Macky Sall of ‘deliberately hiding' some US$7 billion in debt the International Monetary Fund stands ready to help...

Disenchantment is all the deeper after the euphoric electoral uprising of 2024 when President Macky Sall's Benno Bokk Yaakaar alliance was emphatically turfed out following the collapse of his attempt to postpone the polls (Dispatches 6/2/24 Election delay triggers mass protests AC Vol 65 No 4 Fury as Sall's vote delay unleashes mayhem & Vol 65 No 5 After Sall's U-turn elections likely within two weeks)...

NAVIGATING THE DEBT CRISIS Painful choices lie ahead for Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as they try to finalise a deal with the International Monetary Fund on a new programme after the discovery of US$7 billion in hidden debt incurred under former President Macky Sall between 2019 and 2024...

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised the new government for exposing hidden liabilities inherited from the Macky Sall administration...

8 billion economic adjustment programme after a financial review in Dakar uncovered a $7bn fiscal hole created by the predecessor government of President Macky Sall deliberately under-stating the level of the country's indebtedness...

A test case is coming up with the corruption indictments of five former ministers from Macky Sall's administration – including Macky Sall's brother-in-law Amadou Mansour Faye...

The government's handling of the case so far has prompted claims of political bias criticisms that Diomaye Faye and Sonko had levelled at Macky Sall...

Macky Sall's supporters may dismiss the conviction of the ex-ministers as politically motivated...

Ba and Khalifa Sall joined in the national dialogue but the talks were boycotted by Thierno Alassane Sall and Aissata Tall Sall the former foreign and justice minister who now leads Macky Sall's allies in parliament...

One way to bolster public confidence would be to ensure the electoral commission's independence and upgrading the Conseil constitutionnel – the body that upheld democracy last year by ruling that Macky Sall's term had ended and a new president had to be elected (AC Vol 65 No 7 Faye's victory shakes up the region & Vol 65 No 5 After Sall's U-turn elections likely within two weeks)...

As a top official in President Macky Sall's government he may not be assured of support by its successor under President Bassirou Diomaye Faye...