MP Anta Babacar Ngom, president of the Alternative for Citizen Succession (ARC) party and former candidate in the 2024 presidential election, addressed her supporters this Saturday, November 15, 2025, at the Teacher Training Ground, starting at 4:00 p.m., in a clear and firm speech directed at the government.
She began by calling for a de-escalation of tensions to allow for dialogue with international partners: “Let’s lower the tension so that discussions with our partners… and their international institutions can take place. The time has come if we want to find a solution.” More emphatically, she stressed her commitment to the principle of sovereignty: “They (the government), like us, believe in sovereignty. Living off what we grow, knowing what we possess, using it, transforming it in our own country—we agree with that.”
However, she nuanced this perspective, which she sometimes considers unrealistic: “But… there’s also the idea that, if you’re left to your own devices, you can manage on your own, living in self-sufficiency… If you’re not careful, you’ll lose yourself, because here (in this world), nobody is suicidal in this country.” She asserts that the goal is not the pursuit of isolated self-sufficiency but meaningful work: “What we want is to work, and for that work to be useful… That’s where the challenge lies.”
Anta Babacar Ngom then turned her attention to the private sector, which she describes as the state’s “best ally” in the country’s current situation: “I therefore call on the current government to work more closely with the private sector, both formal and informal. At this stage in the country’s development, I believe the private sector is its best ally.” She praised the commitment of Senegalese business leaders: “They take their money, their assets, their hopes, and invest them here in Senegal. And they don’t flee when everyone else is fleeing elsewhere. They work, they create jobs for thousands of Senegalese, and they support millions of people in the population.” She concluded by appealing to the government: “The government must engage in dialogue with its private sector. They have the capacity to invest if the government supports them. And believe me, only Senegal interests them… and I know what I’m talking about.”
This speech comes amid a political context marked by growing tension between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Since Sonko’s appointment as head of government in April 2024, following Faye’s election, their partnership has gradually devolved into confrontation. According to several analyses, the conflict is illustrated in particular by the president’s dismissal of the coordinator of the presidential coalition, a decision to which Sonko’s party reacted sharply.
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