Senegal Secures $2.2B IMF Deal and Expands Energy Partnerships

Senegal reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund on September 2, 2026, for a $2.2 billion financing program to stabilize public finances, alongside expanding its international energy and trade partnerships in Dakar.

The proposed 36-month Extended Credit Facility, equivalent to roughly 475% of Senegal’s IMF quota, aims to bolster the country’s economic and financial reform program through 2029. Approval from IMF management and the Executive Board remains pending final corrective measures and financial assurances from development partners.

Addressing the objective of the economic strategy, IMF African Department Division Chief Mercedes Vera-Martin detailed the structural priorities under the proposed framework.

“Key reforms under the IMF-supported program aim to restore the sustainability of public finances while protecting vulnerable households. The fiscal strategy focuses on strengthening domestic resource mobilization and streamline expenditure, while reinforcing social safety nets, particularly through targeted cash transfers,” Vera-Martin said.

Alongside multilateral financial negotiations, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye met with executive leadership from energy conglomerate Sahara Group and Société Africaine de Raffinage at the Presidential Palace in Dakar to reinforce national supply security.

President Faye commended the energy company’s sustained involvement in backing domestic refining operations and market stability.

“We appreciate Sahara’s dynamism, flexibility and constructive partnership with SAR, particularly its support in helping secure the country’s energy requirements amid challenging global market conditions,” President Faye said.

In response, Sahara Group Executive Director Wale Ajibade reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting Senegal’s infrastructure and long-term economic development goals.

“Senegal has been an important partner for Sahara over the years, and we remain committed to deploying our expertise, infrastructure, financing capabilities and operational experience in ways that support the country’s energy ambitions. We are encouraged by the progress being made and look forward to deepening our partnership with SAR and other stakeholders across the energy value chain,” Ajibade said.

SAR Managing Director Mamadou Abib Diop emphasized that joint operations continue to ensure critical crude oil supplies and structural support for the national energy grid.

“Sahara Energy has invested significantly in Senegal over the years and remains a major and reliable partner. We are focused on strengthening our collaboration with Sahara to provide Senegal with greater flexibility in addressing the needs of the energy sector,” Diop said.

Senegal also formally acceded to the Establishment Agreement of the Fund for Export Development in Africa, the impact equity subsidiary of Afreximbank. The accession brings FEDA’s total continental membership to 24 nations, expanding funding pipelines for local processing, logistics, and manufacturing value chains.

Evaluating the continental impact of expanding member participation, Afreximbank and FEDA Board Chairman Dr. George Elombi emphasized the strategic necessity of domestic capital deployment.

“These latest membership milestones demonstrate the growing confidence of African governments in the institutions they own and control and their commitment to building strong institutions capable of mobilising and deploying African capital for Africa’s development. As the Afreximbank Group pursues its African industrialisation agenda, FEDA’s equity and quasi-equity instruments will become critical to executing strategic industrial projects at national and regional levels. The growing membership of the fund will, therefore, help to catalyse such investments across the continent,” Elombi said.

FEDA Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Assiak highlighted that the expanded geographical scope allows the fund to address critical infrastructure needs directly.

“FEDA’s continued membership growth significantly expands the markets in which we can pursue our mandate and build stronger partnerships with governments and the private sector. Senegal, Liberia, Angola and Zimbabwe each offer compelling opportunities for investment across strategic sectors of their economies. We look forward to translating this expanded footprint into investments that strengthen local and regional value chains, support competitive African businesses and deliver sustainable economic impact,” Assiak said.

Parallel to large-scale infrastructure and financial developments, community health initiatives continue to address grassroots economic challenges in rural areas. At the Center for Malnourished Children in Vélingara, founded on September 13, 1993, Polish missionary Sister Chrysologa Mnich of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo has provided care to approximately 20,000 children facing severe acute malnutrition.

Reflecting on the early structural constraints faced by the facility during its initial launch, Sister Chrysologa recalled the operational scale of the center.

“At first, there were only two small rooms: one served as an office and a warehouse, and the other held 8 beds. And this was for 30 applicants!” Sr. Chrysologa said.

The missionary explained that treating severe dehydration and malnutrition required comprehensive engagement with families traveling long distances from remote villages.

“When I was working as a nurse in the Vélingara clinic, mothers often came to us with their children. The babies were in critical condition. After visiting Kolda, I saw a Сenter for malnourished children opened by our sisters there.

I realized that Vélingara needed such a center too,” Sr. Chrysologa said.

She noted the essential support received during critical operational shortages that allowed the health post to remain open.

“I didn’t always have food for the children, but that was exactly when God would place someone in my path,” Sr. Chrysologa said.

Describing an emergency case involving a critically underweight infant brought to the clinic, Sister Chrysologa shared the medical intervention that saved the child’s life.

“We spent a lot of time changing their habits and beliefs. These women live in harsh conditions in villages with no clean water. Some traveled a hundred kilometers by bicycle just to reach us,” Sr. Chrysologa said.

She recounted the dialogue with the young mother during the critical stabilization period.

“One day, a 16-year-old Muslim mother from the Konyagi tribe came. She had given birth to twins; the boy died, and the girl was barely breathing, cold, weighing just 600 grams. The mother whispered through her tears, ‘Néné Soukabé, help me!’

I told her, ‘We will pray, you and I. We will do everything we can.’ I tried to warm the infant and managed to insert a feeding tube.

The mother expressed milk, and I injected it with a syringe. Two months later, the little girl weighed 3 kilograms and could nurse on her own. It was a miracle.

Six years later, I saw that girl again. Her mother pointed at me: ‘Look, that is Néné Soukabé, she saved you,'” Sr. Chrysologa said.

Looking toward future expansion plans for regional healthcare access, Sister Chrysologa outlined her long-term objective for the facility.

“I dream that this Center will become a pediatric hospital, and that there will be no more starving children in the world,” Sr. Chrysologa said.