Senegal gets its first prime miner since 2019

Senegalese President Macky Sall reinstated the post of prime miner on Saturday, appointing Amadou Ba, the former economy miner, in the post.
It comes at a time when the West African country is struggling with economic hardship, partly stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and global fallout linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sall said the new prime miner would be responsible for addressing the rising cost of living.
“Measures to reduce the cost of living and support employment and entrepreneurship for young people, the fight against floods and costly rents will remain the highest of priorities for me,” Sall said in a speech broadcast on Friday ahead of the appointment.
Ba echoed these statements on Saturday. “The major priorities that the president has outlined include improving household purchasing power, taming inflation, security, housing, vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship.”
Ba would also lead a new cabinet formed after parliamentary elections narrowly won Sall’s ruling coalition .
Sall scrapped the position of prime miner in 2019. The opposition and parts of civil society denounced his move as an attempt to seize greater power.
Concerns over his rule pers, and some have accused him of wanting to break the two-term limit and run again in 2024.