Senegal's new left-wing president will likely slow-walk his planned overhaul of the oil and gas sector, but this could force his government to scale back its economic agenda, which could stoke tensions within the ruling party in the medium term. On April 2, 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye was inaugurated as Senegal's new president after winning the country's March 24 presidential election in a landslide against the incumbent party's candidate Amadou Ba. On the campaign trail, left-wing Faye capitalized on Senegalese citizens' widespread discontent with outgoing President Macky Sall by pledging to boost Senegal's economic development via greater state intervention. Key among those pledges was the renegotiation of Senegal's existing energy contracts with international oil and gas companies to maximize oil revenues for the Senegalese state. On April 3, just a day after being sworn in, Faye demonstrated his commitment to deliver upon his pledges by announcing that his government would...
