Prime Minister Sonko advocates for new autonomous body to manage Senegal’s markets

In Dakar, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko recently highlighted the critical state of Senegal’s markets, pointing to their widespread dilapidation and significant security vulnerabilities. He expressed a strong desire for the establishment of an independent administrative structure specifically tasked with their management.

Government spokesperson Marie Rose Faye reported that Prime Minister Sonko’s observations confirmed the advanced age and major safety risks characterizing commercial facilities across the nation.

Between 2013 and 2024, a concerning total of 53 markets have been affected by one or more fire incidents, a statistic the Prime Minister underscored through Ms. Faye.

Mr. Sonko’s comprehensive diagnostic, detailed in the latest Council of Ministers communiqué, revealed profound challenges spanning technical, infrastructural, organizational, environmental, and sanitary aspects of these vital market spaces.

While acknowledging the progress made by the Market Modernization and Management Program (PROMOGEM), the Prime Minister, as conveyed by Marie Rose Faye, noted that PROMOGEM has formulated a strategic development plan covering the period from 2025 to 2029.

This ambitious governmental plan aims for the comprehensive restructuring of 528 existing markets and the construction of 67 new, modern market facilities.

Ms. Faye further indicated that the Prime Minister championed solutions designed to provide PROMOGEM with enhanced functional agility, greater budgetary efficiency, and an improved capacity to attract innovative financing streams.

Specifically, Ousmane Sonko proposed an ‘institutional transformation’ for PROMOGEM, envisioning its evolution into an entity endowed with full administrative and financial autonomy. This transformation would be supported by a substantial financial allocation of 57.5 billion CFA francs over four years, allocated from the state’s public investment plan.

He subsequently tasked the relevant ministers, including those overseeing Industry and Commerce, and Finance and Budget, with the crucial mission of conceptualizing and implementing a nationwide network of contemporary markets.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Sonko urged them to ensure the stringent management of these commercial assets, emphasizing collaborative oversight by both local territorial authorities and the national private sector.