COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING OF WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025 COUNCIL OF MINISTERS - 2025 APRIL 23 The Head of State, His Excellency Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar FAYE, presided over the weekly Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at the Palace of the Republic. At the start of his address, the President of the Republic extended the Nation’s condolences and expressed his compassion to the Catholic community following the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. Pope Francis was a man of faith and peace, deeply committed to social justice, particularly in defending the most vulnerable. In the context of Easter celebrations, he conveyed his warm congratulations to the Christian community and prayed for a Senegal of peace, prosperity, and solidarity. The Head of State addressed the issue of advancing research and innovation within the national transformation agenda. The ambition for a sovereign, just, and prosperous Senegal places research, development, and innovation at the core of public policy design and implementation. To this end, he instructed the Minister in charge of Research and Innovation to finalize, by the end of June 2025, a comprehensive mapping of research and innovation, detailing available infrastructure and equipment, as well as the national human capital engaged in the public and private sectors. The President directed the Prime Minister, the Minister of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, and the Ministers responsible for Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs to validate, by the end of August 2025, a national research and innovation policy document involving public and private stakeholders, academics, researchers, industrialists, and other relevant parties. He also tasked the Prime Minister with ensuring coherence and oversight of ministerial investment programs in research, promoting innovation, and aligning them with the country’s sectoral needs. The Head of State emphasized the critical importance of leveraging research outcomes and innovation capacities in sectoral policy frameworks, industrial, digital, and technological strategies, as well as in programs and projects. He further highlighted the importance of state support for creating technology companies and research laboratories, adequately strengthening engineering schools and research institutes, and providing tailored funding and support for research and innovation development. To this effect, the President instructed the Prime Minister, the Minister in charge of Research, and the Minister of Finance and Budget to streamline all public funding and grants for research under a National Fund for Research and Innovation Development, with new mechanisms for resource mobilization and allocation through performance-based contracts with clear, targeted objectives. In this regard, he directed the Prime Minister to establish a National Research and Innovation Council to implement a new, endogenous research and innovation policy aligned with the highest international standards. To conclude this topic, he commended the remarkable participation of the Senegalese delegation at the 50th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, held from April 9 to 13, 2025, and extended his heartfelt congratulations to the award winners. The President revisited the issue of enhancing Senegal’s attractiveness and optimizing transparent procedures to accelerate program and project implementation. The competitiveness and appeal of the national economy are top priorities. He instructed the Government that the effective deployment of the National Transformation Agenda requires perfect mastery of administrative and procurement procedures, as well as all actions to ensure the timely completion of infrastructure, programs, and projects funded through the state budget and public-private partnerships. He also tasked the Prime Minister with finalizing reforms to the Investment Code and ensuring public institutions process credible private investment files swiftly, transparently, and in line with the priorities of the Senegal 2050 Vision. In the same vein, he called on the Prime Minister to work on certifying procedures, particularly within the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARCOP) and the Central Public Procurement Directorate (DCMP), to expedite file processing while ensuring transparency. The Head of State reiterated to the Government, trade unions, employers’ organizations, and all the nation’s vital forces his unwavering commitment to dialogue and consultation as a governance method. In the context of strengthening tripartite social dialogue (State, Employers, Unions), he instructed the Minister in charge of Labor to provide an update on the process of concluding the National Pact for Social Stability, the handling of trade union demands ahead of Labor Day on May 1, 2025, and the insights and recommendations from the 2024 labor market statistics report. Finally, the President informed the Council that he will preside over the opening ceremony of the fourth Social Conference on Thursday, April 24, 2025, themed around youth employability and employment. At the start of his address, the Prime Minister emphasized that ongoing accountability operations, in line with the President’s electoral commitments, are a democratic imperative. He noted that such exercises must go hand in hand with actions to build a strong, sovereign, and prosperous nation through a national resurgence to address numerous challenges amid critical public finance conditions. To this end, he informed the Council that the Government will soon present to the Senegalese people and technical and financial partners a structured, detailed, and costed recovery plan aligned with the National Systemic Transformation Agenda. The Prime Minister then focused on addressing the issue of street children and public begging and vagrancy in general. Regarding street children, he expressed the Government’s deep concern over this serious violation of children’s rights, as guaranteed by Senegal’s Constitution and various international texts. He recalled Senegal’s initiatives, such as the “Child Protection Strategy,” the “Zero Street Children” Project, and the “Daara Modernization Program,” which have not yielded the expected results. A new paradigm is thus needed within the Senegal 2050 Vision, which places children’s futures at the heart of promoting quality human capital and social equity. The goal is to permanently remove children from the streets and ensure their socio-economic reintegration. In this regard, the Prime Minister submitted a proposal from the Minister of Family and Solidarity to the President for organizing a National Conference on Early Childhood to propose concrete, sustainable, and context-appropriate solutions in synergy with all stakeholders, based on identifying obstacles to eradicating the phenomenon of street children. Based on the President’s directives, he instructed the Minister of Family and Solidarity to make appropriate arrangements for the successful organization of this conference, in collaboration with the Ministers of Justice, Health and Social Action, Education, and Interior and Public Security. Addressing public begging and vagrancy, the Prime Minister deplored their persistence despite dissuasive legal frameworks and dedicated bodies. He recalled relevant legal provisions criminalizing begging, vagrancy, and the exploitation of others’ begging, as well as protecting victims and endangered children. On this basis, he tasked the Ministers of Justice, Family, Interior and Public Security, Armed Forces, and Foreign Affairs with submitting, by the end of October 2025, a response strategy for the President’s approval. This strategy should cover, among others: Child begging, through operationalizing the Special Minor Protection Brigade to identify parents or guardians of minors found on the streets for prosecution; Foreign begging, through consultation mechanisms with countries of origin for the organized return of their nationals and the application of deportation measures upon conviction. MINISTERIAL COMMUNICATIONS: The Minister of Vocational and Technical Training, Government Spokesperson, reported on the progress of construction and equipment projects for vocational training centers; The Minister of Industry and Commerce addressed PROMOGEN and efforts to combat market fires; The Minister of Labor, Employment, and Institutional Relations discussed the fourth Social Conference on employment and employability in Senegal, preparations for International Labor Day, and progress on the Social Stability Pact. LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY TEXTS: The Council reviewed and adopted: A draft decree establishing and setting the organization and functioning rules for the Support Committee for Steering the National Higher Education, Research, and Innovation Transformation Agenda (CAP-ANTESRI); A draft decree on the commercialization of food for infants and young children. INDIVIDUAL MEASURES: The President of the Republic made the following decisions: At the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs: Mr. Mouhamed KONATE, Foreign Affairs Advisor, payroll number 606 883 I, appointed Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, replacing Mr. Malick DIOUF, called to other duties; Mr. Babacar BA, Civil Administrator, payroll number 611 532 B, appointed Director of African Integration and Pan-Africanism at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, and Head of the ECOWAS National Office; Mr. Talla GUEYE, Foreign Affairs Advisor, payroll number 624 531 E, appointed Director of African Bilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs; Mr. Mamadou Mounsir NDIAYE, Foreign Affairs Advisor, payroll number 624 499 D, appointed Director of International Organizations 4 at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, replacing Mr. Pierre FAYE, called to other duties; Ms. Cathy DIAGNE THIOYE, Foreign Affairs Advisor, payroll number 624 487 E, appointed Director of Asia, Pacific, and Middle East at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, replacing Mr. Ousmane DIOP, called to other duties; Mr. Abdoulaye KEITA, Foreign Affairs Advisor, payroll number 624 500 C, appointed Director of Europe, America, and Oceania at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, replacing Mr. Ousmane Camara DIONGUE, called to other duties; Mr. El Hadji Abdoul Karim CISSE, Economist with a Master’s in Statistical and Econometric Methods, appointed Director of Senegalese Abroad at the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs. Minister of Vocational and Technical Training, Government Spokesperson, Amadou Moustapha Njekk SARRE