4 October 2012. PenzaNews. Successful democratic alternation in Senegal, when Macky Sall, former Prime Minister and opposition leader replaced Abdoulaye Wade as the head of the Senegalese State, was triggered by a major political, economic and social crisis. This is the opinion expressed by Felwine Sarr, the Dean of the faculty of Economy at the University Gaston Berger, in his article “Senegal 2012 and Beyond: Economic and Political Challenges” published in the foreign media.

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“After 12 years in office, in spite of some realizations in terms of infrastructure in the region of Dakar and a significant increase of the raw percentage of children in full-time education in primary school the assessment of the liberal regime of Abdoulaye Wade is widely negative and the report states a failure in almost all domains,” the expert stated.

In his opinion, the regime of the former president was characterized by an increase of youth unemployment rate, crisis of the educational system, energy crisis which impacts negatively on the economic performances of the country, and considerable decline in transparency and good governance.

“It was the population and the civil society’s strong desire of a new social order that allowed the political change. In this context, the new government will have to take up the challenge to change the paradigm in terms of economic and institutional governance,” Felwine Sarr emphasized.

The expert added that the challenges facing the new government are important and the emergencies multiple.

“One of the first tasks of the new government will be to identify the priorities and the appropriate levers of an effective action. The first challenge will be to accelerate the economic growth and, above all, to modify its structure. To ensure the economic prosperity and a greater welfare of its populations, Senegal has to establish a pro-poor growth approach. That is a growth which supplies income to the poor people, impacts the regions where they live, affects the factors of productions that they use, mainly the labor factor,” the analyst said.

Considering the depth of the rural poverty, boosting the growth of agricultural sector, from his point of view, is a priority.

“Senegal continues to strongly depend on the import of rice – 800 thousand tons per year – and wheat – 300 thousand tons per year – to feed its population, while it arranges potentialities in terms of farmlands to ensure food self-sufficiency,” Felwine Sarr explained.

In addition, he stressed that all this requires good macroeconomic policies, structural reforms to diversify the Senegalese economy, its revenue streams, and limit its vulnerability to exogenous shocks. Moreover, the creation of wealth cannot be made without finding long-lasting solutions for the question of energy supply.

“The question of youth education and employment is as well a priority. With a 49% unemployment rate, affecting mainly young people, generating jobs requires, at first, an increase in the productivity of the Senegalese economy which is still very weak; then profound reform of the educational system to better adapt it to the market needs by strengthening professional fields in the upper and secondary education,” said the Dean of the faculty of Economy at the University Gaston Berger.

Another priority, according to the expert, is to strengthen the rule of law.

“Reforms are expected to guarantee a better balance of power between the executive, the legislative and the judicial, to avoid the excesses of hyper-presidentialism of the former regime,” said Felwine Sarr and added that weaknesses in the Senegalese constitutional text allowed Abdoulaye Wade to compete for a third election to which he was not entitled, and to make it valid by a yes-men Constitutional Council.

According to the analyst, a constitutional revision, reinforcing the text and registering in the marble the principle of the political alternation in an irreversible way is urgent. Similarly, the implementation of a more independent constitutional court, which will see to the respect and the immunity of the respect for the fundamental text of the Senegalese republic are priority acts that must be put in place.

“Senegal due to its geostrategic position has always played a leading role in the sub-region of West Africa and its diplomatic weight has always been more significant than its economic weight. The country has never experienced a Military coup and underwent two democratic alternations without major clashes. Senegal also was highly involved in the resolution of internal political conflicts in Africa. In a context of strong political instability of the countries which surround it President Sall has to ensure a leadership in terms of good governance and democracy,” said the expert and stressed that Senegal should contribute by its diplomatic action to strengthen the political stability in its sub-region.

In particular, Felwine Sarr suggested that the government of Macky Sall would have to manage the diplomatic tension with its Mauritanian neighbors about the situation of negro-Africans in the Mauritanian society and stabilize the conflict in Casamance. Furthermore, considering the experience of the Senegalese army with a mission of preserving the peace, it is expected of the Senegalese government to play a leading role in an intervention force of the ECOWAS having as its mission to free the North of Mali, to dislodge the Islamists there and to restore the Malian territorial integrity.

“The challenges facing the new government of Macky Sall are multiple, and the government will be judged in its capacity to respond to a strong social demand, its ability to establish another political line, by restoring the rule of law through the empowerment of institutions, which can then ensure a fair democratic game,” the analyst concluded.

The Republic of Senegal is a country in West Africa, which owes its name to the Senegal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is bounded by Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Another country, Gambia, is almost completely enclosed within Senegal, extending from the Atlantic Ocean 300 kilometres inland.

Population is about 14.1 million, about 55% of the population is under 20 years of age.

Senegal mainly gains its resources from the export of some primary products: peanut oil, phosphates, halieutic products.

Senegal’s economy is weak: the country depends on foreign aid. About half of the population lives in poverty.