Five major visions. Ten priority projects. That’s how Thierno Alassane Sall (TAS), President of the party ‘La Republique des Valeurs’ and candidate in the presidential election on 24 March, sums up his programme. Entitled “Reenchanting Senegal,” the programme focuses on key areas such as agriculture, education, democracy, industrialisation and health.
Restoring the credibility of the state
If elected president, the native of Thiès (West) aims firstly to make Senegal the showcase of democracy in West Africa through its institutions, diplomacy and security. To achieve this, two projects have been drawn up. The first aims to restore the credibility and authority of the institutions of the Republic, while the second is designed to strengthen the coordination of services and anticipate geopolitical, criminal and cyberthreat risks.
Industrialisation to enable the processing of raw materials is one of the biggest shortcomings of African countries. In the second part of his plan, Macky Sall’s former Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Opening-up from 2012 to 2014 intends to remedy this by making the land of Teranga the sub-region’s “factory.”
He plans to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the economy and digital transformation by extending internet coverage and deploying advanced technologies (fibre optics, 4G/5G) to ensure equitable access throughout the country, particularly in rural areas.
Dakar suffers from a trade deficit, largely fuelled by massive imports, which exposes it to considerable risks linked to the volatility of the international market. Thierno Alassane Sall therefore proposes to strengthen economic sovereignty by giving priority to national players through projects 4 and 5 of the second axis of his programme. Local private companies will thus be supported through the development of an industrial infrastructure capable of adding value to national resources, thereby contributing to the transformation of the economy.
Health at the heart of its priorities
The well-being and medical care of the Senegalese, in particular, and of the people of the sub-region, in general, are at the heart of Mr. Sall’s programme, which aims to make his country “the hospital of West Africa.”
The former Energy Minister from 2015 to 2017 wants to reduce inequalities in access to health services and place the emphasis on prevention. He also wants to extend coverage and adapt it to new social protection needs.
All this will be backed up by a programme to develop health infrastructure, decentralise responsibility for health, improve maternal and child health, abolish VAT on health services, create a National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM), etc.
A resolutely digital-oriented agriculture
One of President Macky Sall’s objectives when he came to power in 2012 was to make Senegal self-sufficient in food. Despite significant investment in agriculture under his presidency, this objective has not
been achieved.
To meet this challenge, Thierno Alassane Sall is proposing to speed up the upgrading of the sector to boost productivity and achieve food sovereignty. In particular, he advocates the use of digital technology
to improve land management, optimise weather forecasting and develop agricultural marketing channels.
In the fisheries sector, digital technologies will also be used for sustainable management and effective control of fishing activities. The livestock sector will also benefit from the same attention, through the use of digital resources to manage livestock, improve yields and optimise marketing channels.
Training, scientific research and innovation will not be neglected in these different areas. The candidate of ‘La République des Valeurs’plans to develop these in the primary sector, in particular by increasing the number of genetic improvement centres.
Senegal is bearing the full brunt of the adverse effects of climate change. Coastal erosion, soil salinisation and rainfall instability are putting the country’s environment to a severe test. Thierno Alassane Sall therefore wants to put Senegal on a sustainable development path that respects the environment. To achieve this, a green employment strategy has been drawn up, along with a plan for a national energy transition, the creation of urban green lungs, and a programme to protect coastal areas…
A holistic vision of education
In the West African sub-region, the land of Teranga enjoys an undisputed reputation when it comes to education. Dakar is home to the leading French-speaking University in the region, and every year welcomes students from all over the continent to pursue their studies.
If he is elected to the supreme magistracy, the current MP plans to lay the foundations for an integrated knowledge economy, encompassing education, training, research, culture and sport.
Through these different axes, the man who defines his candidacy as “a tribute to the heritage of Senegal, enriched by generations,” hopes to “perpetuate and enhance this heritage, by responding to current needs
through an innovative and ambitious programme.”
Who is Thierno Alassane Sall?
Thierno Alassane Sall was born on 30 November 1963 in Thiès. After his baccalauréat at the city’s largest secondary school, he went on to study in Tunisia at the Ecole Nationale d’Ingenieurs de Sfax, where he
obtained a degree in electronics engineering, specialising in telecommunications. He also obtained a degree in civil aviation engineering from the African School of Meteorology and Civil Aviation (EAMAC) in Niamey, Niger, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.
He began his professional career at the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). In 2012, when Macky Sall came to power, he was appointed Director General of the “Agence de la
Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postese (ARTP), where he demonstrated his commitment to cleaning up the books by reducing his own salary. Shortly afterwards, he was called by President Sall to become Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Opening-up, and then Minister of Energy, a post he held until 2017.
His time in government was marked by actions to clean up the sectors he oversaw, in particular by withdrawing certain exploration permits in the energy sector. In 2017, he founded the Republic of Values and ran unsuccessfully in the presidential election two years later. He was elected as a member of parliament in 2022 following the legislative elections in which he took part as head of the national list of the Aar Senegal (Protect Senegal) coalition. He is now back in the presidential race
ARD/ac/fss/APA