The Prime Minister of Senegal, Ousmane Sonko, has cancelled his first official trip to France, scheduled for 23 September.
Invited to an investor forum organised by a French investment bank, BPI France, set for 23 September, Senegal's Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko declined the invitation, citing scheduling constraints.
He will be represented at the event by a member of his government.
This was to be his first official trip to France.
In a statement published on social media on 3 September, and on the Prime Minister's website, Sonko expressed "his sincere thanks to BPI France" for the invitation sent by mail and dated 22 July 2025, to participate as a guest of honour in the 11th edition of Bpifrance Inno Génération (BIG) in Paris,
He added that"a scheduling impediment" has made it impossible to attend in person.
Other trips
In the same statement, Sonko announced two other official trips however: one to the United Arab Emirates, from 8 to 12 September, and another to Italy, where he will meet with the Senegalese diaspora, on 13 and 14 September.
The Senegalese prime minister will also welcome his French counterpart to Dakar as part of the Intergovernmental Seminar (SIG), a joint initiative announced by the two countries. The dates remain to be confirmed as it is not clear who the French prime minister will be.
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France and Senegal
Newspapers' columnists wrote it might not be appropriate for the prime minister to go to Paris after President Faye went less than a month ago on 27 August.
Faye met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, and they agreed on the need to "renew" and "strengthen" the relationship between France and Senegal.
He himself took part in key business meetings, the Rencontres des Entrepreneurs de France (REF), where he sought to convince French business leaders to reinvest in his country.
"Senegal offers you an expanding market, recognised political stability and opportunities in strategic sectors with high potential," Faye even said in a public address.
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While it is unclear what scheduling problem has led to the cancellation, Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the same dates and protocol requires that the head of state and the prime minister can not be outside Senegal at the same time.
A Senegalese political analyst told our correspondent that this cancellation could also simply be a reflection of Sonko's political views, given his sovereignist discourse and his strong positions on France in recent years.
(with newswires)
