Sonko uncovers 279 billion cfa in dormant assets amid stalled Senegal infrastructure projects

During a high-level interministerial meeting in Dakar, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko revealed alarming findings from a sweeping national infrastructure audit. The assessment uncovered 245 stalled public construction projects, collectively representing a frozen investment of 279 billion West African CFA francs.

These dormant assets stem from projects either abandoned mid-construction or completed but left unused, creating cascading economic challenges. According to Sonko, financial constraints emerged as the primary obstacle, though technical and administrative hurdles also contributed significantly to the impasse.

‘’The failure to anticipate operational requirements during project design has led to catastrophic resource waste,’’ Sonko stated, emphasizing that some completed infrastructure remains idle due to missing critical connections like electricity or water supply networks. ‘’We cannot justify constructing roads, bridges or buildings without ensuring their functionality.’’

The Prime Minister traced the roots of these delays to ‘’negligence, incompetence and systemic laxity,’’ which he described as the ‘’deadly triad’’ behind delivery failures. To address the crisis, Sonko announced the formation of a dedicated interministerial committee under his direct supervision to finalize and expand the inventory audit.

Immediate actions include:

• Mandatory zero-tolerance policy toward project delays and abandonment
• Implementation of technical anticipation measures for infrastructure utility connections
• Comprehensive reassessment of the current project backlog to identify additional dormant assets

‘’This situation demands radical transformation in how we plan, execute and monitor public projects,’’ Sonko asserted. ‘’From today forward, every delay will be treated as an emergency, and every abandoned asset will be converted into productive infrastructure.’’