DAKAR, March 31, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - When Bassirou Diomaye Faye is sworn in on 
Tuesday after winning Senegal's presidential election on a wave of change, 
the challenges he faces seem as tough as the expectations are high.

AFP takes a look at the intentions of the anti-establishment leader. 

- Priority projects -

Faye set out his priorities in his first public statements after his election 
victory: Lower the cost of living, fight corruption, and ensure national 
reconciliation.

Despite three tense years and deadly unrest, he made a first step on the path 
to reconciliation by meeting outgoing president Macky Sall on Thursday, just 
days after Faye's release from jail.

He noted that Sall's "vigilance and commitment had guaranteed a free, 
democratic and transparent vote".

Faye has promised to restore national "sovereignty", to renegotiate oil and 
gas contracts, and to improve fishing rights.

He wants to leave the CFA franc, seeing in the regional currency a French 
colonial legacy, and to invest more in agriculture with the aim of reaching 
food self-sufficiency.

But for Dakar university economist Mame Mor Sene, the biggest challenge will 
be job creation.

Official figures put the unemployment rate at 20 percent in a country where 
75 percent of the population of 18 million is under the age of 35.

The situation is deemed so bad by many youths that they have been fleeing 
poverty in increasing numbers, joining the waves of migrants trying to reach 
Europe.

- Why will it be so difficult? -

"Resolving the unemployment problem will take time and will not be easy," 
Sene said. "The whole structure of the economy needs to be changed."

He said huge investments would be required for the industrial sector in an 
economy that has long been built on services.

Sene suggested that Faye should not try to take sole responsibility for 
creating new jobs, saying instead that the government should work with the 
private sector and invest in human capital to nurture a business-friendly 
environment.

Buffeted by the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Senegal's economy has 
suffered from the external shocks, with the cost of basic goods and rents 
skyrocketing.

Voters are expecting results fast, however, and Sene cautioned that "they 
will need to be patient".

"Everything will not be sorted out from one day to the next."

- What can happen quickly? -

The first big test will be to foster a "favourable environment and to restore 
confidence between the Senegalese", which was lost under President Macky 
Sall, according to Sene.

Faye sought to reassure investors that Senegal "will remain a friendly 
country and a sure and reliable ally for any partner that engages with us in 
virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation".

Political analyst El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye said Faye needed to offer the 
electorate early proof of his intentions by "quickly lowering the price of 
basic products" such as rice, oil and electricity.

Institutional reforms and the fight against corruption through the creation 
of a national financial prosecutor could also be put in place swiftly.

Faye will have to decide whether to dissolve the National Assembly that was 
elected in September 2022, in which his party does not have a majority.

Under the Senegalese constitution the assembly must first complete two years, 
which would enable new elections from mid-November.

Faye's first government "will be made up of men and women of merit and 
virtue... from at home and from the diaspora who are known for their 
competence, integrity and patriotism", Mbaye said.