• Ousmane Sonko urges Senegalese abroad in Milan to back new diaspora bonds funding the PRES.
• Bonds offer 3–10 year maturities with yields of 6.4%–6.95%, aiming to raise up to 1.8T CFA.
• Senegal turns to its diaspora as debt hits 119% of GDP and IMF support remains suspended.

Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko chose Milan to launch an unprecedented appeal to the diaspora. On September 14, 2025, before a packed audience, he urged Senegalese abroad to subscribe to new “citizen and patriotic bonds” designed to fund the Economic and Social Recovery Plan (PRES). The program, worth a total of 5.667 trillion CFA francs over three years, aims to revive an economy strained by soaring debt and the suspension of IMF support.

Starting September 18, the diaspora bonds will be issued with maturities ranging from 3 to 10 years and interest rates between 6.4% and 6.95%. In Milan, images showed visible enthusiasm, but the true measure of success will be subscription levels. According to one speaker, the diaspora could mobilize as much as 1.8 trillion CFA francs, nearly a third of the first PRES phase.

Targeting the diaspora is backed by solid data. Between 2000 and 2024, Senegal received $41.6 billion in remittances, according to the World Bank, ranking in Africa’s top five. Although ten times less than Nigeria’s inflows, contributions from Senegalese abroad have grown tenfold over the same period. For Dakar, this pool of funds offers a credible alternative to international markets.

To win support, the government is highlighting new measures: easier access to passports and repatriation insurance, expanded housing opportunities, and the creation of an 800 million CFA franc fund in 2025. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye also decreed December 17 as the national day of the Senegalese diaspora.

Yet the campaign comes against a tense backdrop. A “hidden debt,” initially estimated at $7 billion and later raised to $13 billion by S&P Global Ratings, has pushed Senegal’s debt ratio to nearly 119% of GDP. The discovery altered the foundations of the reform program, leading the IMF to suspend its support. At the same time, the downgrade of the sovereign rating is making cheap borrowing on international markets harder.

The government now seeks to turn patriotic attachment into financial leverage. If Senegalese abroad respond en masse, Dakar could secure vital breathing room to restart its economy and restore lenders’ confidence. If not, reliance on expensive debt markets will remain a heavy burden.

Idriss Linge