Country profile · West Africa
Senegal
Senegal is a West African country of about 19 million people. It has never had a military coup. In 2025 auditors found that the previous government had hidden much of its debt. Senegal is now seeking relief from its creditors. It began pumping oil in 2024. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former ally Ousmane Sonko split in 2026.
Where Senegal ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Senegal in?
All alliances →Who runs Senegal?
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was born in 1980 in Ndiaganiao and worked as a tax inspector. He was jailed in April 2023 and freed under an amnesty on March 14, 2024, ten days before the presidential election. Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the Pastef party, had been barred from running after a defamation conviction, so Faye ran in his place. He won in the first round with 54.3% and became Senegal's youngest president, aged 44. He named Sonko prime minister. In November 2024 Pastef won 130 of the 165 seats in the National Assembly (chart). The two men fell out. On May 22, 2026 Faye dismissed Sonko and named a central banker, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô, prime minister. Pastef left the government. On May 26 the Assembly elected Sonko as its president. In July 2026 Faye launched his own party, Kiiraay. Senegal has never had a military coup. Power has passed peacefully to the opposition three times, in 2000, 2012 and 2024.
- Pastef (Sonko) 130
- Takku Wallu (Sall) 16
- Jàmm ak Njariñ 7
- Others 12
Photo (August 2025): Cabinet Public Relations Office of Japan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Who are Senegal's allies and rivals?
France ruled Senegal until 1960 and kept troops there after independence. In November 2024 President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said French bases were incompatible with Senegal's sovereignty. On July 17, 2025 France handed back its last base, Camp Geille in Dakar, ending about 65 years of French military presence. In November 2024 President Macron recognized the killing of West African soldiers by French troops at Thiaroye in 1944 as a massacre. France and China are Senegal's two largest government creditors. Senegal has chaired ECOWAS, the West African bloc, since July 2026. In October it hosted the first talks between ECOWAS and the military juntas of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Dakar has long been the main port for landlocked Mali, but jihadist attacks in Mali closed the main road there in 2026. Senegal has 618 troops in The Gambia, which it surrounds. Since January 2026 the United States has suspended most visas for Senegalese. In the south, the Casamance separatist rebellion began in 1982. A peace deal was signed in February 2025.
Allies and partners
Tensions
United StatesMost visas for Senegalese suspended since January 2026- MFDCCasamance separatists since 1982; peace deal in 2025
- Dakar France handed back its last base here, Camp Geille, on July 17, 2025.
- Sangomar Offshore oil field run by Woodside. It began pumping in June 2024 and produced about 100,000 barrels a day in 2025.
- Kidira Border crossing on the main road to Mali. Senegal said in October 2026 the road was closed.
- Casamance Southern region where separatists have fought since 1982. A peace deal was signed in February 2025.
- Senegal
- Partner
Who does Senegal trade with?
Senegal's exports jumped 52% in 2025, to about $10 billion, because of gold, crude oil and refined fuel (ANSD, the statistics office; UN Comtrade). Mali was the biggest buyer, taking 16% of exports, mostly fuel and goods sent by road (chart). Switzerland bought gold, and the Netherlands crude oil. China was the biggest supplier, with 14% of imports, ahead of France and Russia, which sells Senegal fuel. Oil began flowing from the offshore Sangomar field in June 2024. It pumped about 100,000 barrels a day in 2025. The Australian company Woodside owns 82% and the state company Petrosen 18%. Woodside has taken a tax dispute with Senegal to international arbitration. The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field, on the sea border with Mauritania and run by BP, shipped its first liquefied natural gas in April 2025. Senegal also exports phosphoric acid and fish, but fish exports fell in 2025. The economy grew 6.7% in 2025, but outside oil only about 2%.
Goods, 2025, as reported by Senegal. UN Comtrade.
How did Senegal's debt get so big?
In September 2024 the new government said Macky Sall's government had published false figures. In February 2025 the Court of Auditors found that central government debt at the end of 2023 was 99.7% of GDP, not the 74.4% reported, and that the 2023 deficit was 12.3%, not 4.9%. The IMF confirmed loans that had not been reported, worth about 25% of GDP, and froze a $1.8 billion loan program. Sall's camp disputes the findings. Counting state companies, the IMF puts total public debt at about 132% of GDP at the end of 2024. That is one of the highest levels in the world (chart). On September 1, 2026 IMF staff agreed a new $2.2 billion loan, which still needs the IMF board's approval. The same day, Senegal asked its foreign creditors for debt relief. Moody's and S&P cut Senegal's rating deeper into junk, and its bonds traded at about half their face value. Senegal hopes to reach a deal with its creditors by December 2026.
Government debt, share of GDP, 2025
Full ranking →
Venezuela est.308.7%
Japan206.5%
Sudan est.187.6%
Greece145.7%
Italy137.1%- Senegal130.2%
- United States123.9%
France116.0%
IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026
Why do young Senegalese risk the sea to reach Spain?
Half of Senegal's people are under 20. In early 2026, 28% of young people looking for work had no job (ANSD, broad measure). Many young men try to reach Spain's Canary Islands in wooden fishing boats called pirogues. A record 46,843 migrants arrived there in 2024. Senegalese were about a fifth of all migrants who reached Spain by sea that year, though more boats left from Mauritania. Arrivals in the Canaries fell 62% in 2025, but rose again in September and October 2026. The crossing is deadly. Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish migrant-rights group, counted 9,757 dead or missing on the Atlantic route in 2024. The UN counts far fewer. Fishing supports up to 600,000 jobs, counting indirect ones, but catches are falling. An environmental group, EJF, says nearly half of Senegal's fishing boats are owned from abroad, mostly from Spain and China. The EU's fishing deal with Senegal expired in November 2024 after the EU warned it over illegal fishing. Senegalese abroad sent home about $3.7 billion in 2024, about 12% of GDP.