POPULAR OUSMANE SONKO IS SENEGAL'S NEW PM

Newly sworn-in President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has tapped his mentor and popular opposition figure, Ousmane Sonko, as Sénégal's prime minister. This comes just a few years after a mass movement engulfed the small West African country, protesting undemocratic practices and French economic control.

Sonko caught public attention in 2016 as a whistleblowing tax inspector, who alleged a Canadian company was operating in Sénégal to evade $8.9 million in taxes.

In 2019, Sonko placed third in an election, running against then-incumbent President Macky Sall. The 49-year-old distinguished himself by railing against the neo-colonial West African CFA franc currency and French domination of the economy.

In 2021, Sonko was arrested and charged with rape, a move many saw as political repression. This sparked mass protests that led to youth and workers pouring into the streets. In 2023, a court dismissed the rape charge, instead convicting Sonko of corrupting Senegal's youth.

Last year, Sall announced he would not run for office and the Senegalese Constitutional Council maintained Sonko was also disqualified from running. Sonko endorsed 44-year-old Faye, who won the 24 March election and was sworn in as president on 2 April.