Senegal

Dakar (AFP) – Members of the Senegal women's national basketball team hustled across the court in central Dakar, dribbling and pivoting as the scuffing noise of their trainers echoed across the empty arena.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Thursday said that France should close all its army bases in the country, noting that it was “incompatible” with Senegal’s national sovereignty. Faye swept to power in the March elections. 

Senegal's prime minister Ousmane Sonko raised the possibility of closing French military bases in the West African country on Thursday in a wide-ranging speech that also touched on the euro-backed CFA franc currency, oil and gas deals and LGBTQ rights.

Left-wing pan-Africanist Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Tuesday became Senegal's youngest president, pledging systemic change after years of deadly turmoil and announcing his mentor, opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, as prime minister.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s win is a triumph for the country’s democracy

Senegal’s little-known, 44-year-old opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye was named the country's next president on Monday, less than two weeks after being released from prison to run in the election.

From a Dakar prison to the presidency, Senegal's anti-establishment Bassirou Diomaye Faye embodies the winning charisma of his mentor and opposition figurehead Ousmane Sonko, who endorsed him as his replacement.

Senegal's governing coalition candidate Amadou Ba on Monday recognised a win by anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the first-round of presidential elections and offered his congratulations, a statement said

Senegal's anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye appeared early Monday to be closing in on victory in a presidential poll that follows several years of unrest and a political crisis, while the governing coalition said it was certain of a second-round vote.

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his second-in-command, presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison in Dakar on Thursday, 10 days before the country's election.

Senegalese presidential candidates launched their shortened campaigns on Saturday, two days after a court confirmed the election would be held on March 24, ending weeks of uncertainty and kick-starting a competition that remains wide open.

Senegalese President Macky Sall has scheduled a delayed presidential election for March 24, the government said on Wednesday, after a top court ruled that a proposal to hold the vote after his mandate expires on April 2 was unconstitutional.

Senegal's President Macky Sall has proposed a general amnesty bill for political protesters arrested since 2021, as he holds talks to end fresh turmoil over delayed elections.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall said Thursday that he will end his term in April as expected, but he didn't give a new date for the presidential election originally scheduled for Sunday, the delay of which has caused widespread protests in the country.

A protest march called on Tuesday against Senegalese President Macky Sall's controversial move to delay this month's presidential poll to December has been postponed after authorities banned it, organisers said.

Senegalese security forces on Friday used tear gas to disperse people attempting to gather in the capital after being urged to mobilise against a last-minute delay of presidential elections.

The vote to delay Senegal's presidential election until December "cannot be considered legitimate", the US state department said, after the move plunged the normally stable West African nation into its worst crisis in decades.

Senegal plunged into crisis as opposition blasts 'democratic bankruptcy'

Jailed Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has submitted his candidacy to contest a February presidential election with the constitutional council despite the state’s refusal to provide him the necessary documents.

A Senegalese opposition politician was on Tuesday charged with committing an offence against the president, his lawyer said, in a case over recent comments he made about President Macky Sall.