Following an exceptional mobilization in Thiès, President Alioune SARR elaborates on the challenges of the strategic industrial domain of Notto Diobasse, food sovereignty, educational reforms, health, youth and territorial transformation.

Question 1

Mr. President, during your meeting on November 6, 2025, in Thiès, which drew a considerable crowd, you presented the strategic Notto Diobasse Industrial Park and its major impacts on the city and the entire region. What message did you wish to convey following this mobilization?

Alioune SARR:

The message was clear: Thiès is entering a new era.

This territory is becoming a strategic engine for Senegal. The Notto Diobasse Industrial Park will create jobs, attract technology, boost SMEs and reposition Thiès at the center of the national economy.

I also wanted to speak to young people:

"You are not the problem. You are the solution. Your future will now be supported and protected."

She is the one who will bring about this transformation.

Question 2

You said that the Notto Diobasse Industrial Estate represents a national turning point. Why is this project so crucial?

Alioune SARR:

Because it relies on an exceptional territorial ecosystem:

-Kayar oil,

-the attapulgite of Allou Kagne,

-the cement plants of Notto, Diass and Keur Moussa,

-the basalt of Mbousnakh,

-the Mbomboye craft center,

-the ICS, the Niayes, the AIBD and the future Port of Ndayane.

Notto Diobasse thus becomes an integrated industrial hub, capable of driving the entire region.

Thiès will become an industrial capital, a city of innovation, jobs and technology.

Question 3

You emphasized the need to train young people for jobs related to industrialization. How does your vision guarantee real opportunities for them?

Alioune SARR:

It all starts with training.

You cannot exploit gas, process minerals or develop industry without engineers, technicians, agronomists, geologists and computer scientists.

That is why I said in Thiès: our natural resources must finance our human resources.

1. Sustainably fund university scholarships

We are putting in place a robust mechanism based on five levers:

1. The National Scholarship Fund, strengthened and secured.
2. The interest from the Sovereign Wealth Fund is allocated to priority sectors.
3. The micro-tax on petroleum, dedicated to technical and energy training.
4. The savings from the gas-to-power program were reinvested in training.
5. Tax revenues from industrialization, to modernize universities.

2. Investing in strategic sectors. We will prioritize funding for:

-petroleum engineering,

-energy sciences,

-geology and mining,

-industrial maintenance,

-digital technology and automation.

3. A model centered around youth

Never again will we train graduates for a non-existent market. Young people will be the primary beneficiaries of the industrial sector and the new productive economy.

Senegal's true wealth lies in its educated and confident youth.

Question 4

Your rice program aims for 3 million tons to achieve food sovereignty. How will this project improve the lives of families?

 

Alioune SARR:

We propose to develop 200,000 hectares of irrigated land here and now, financed by the State and the private sector through a 30-year concession model combined with the installation in Senegal of industrial units for assembling tractors, trucks and combine harvesters, deployed over 5 years.

This program will:

-to permanently lower the price of rice,

-to eliminate imports,

-to create 2 million jobs,

-to industrialize the processing, storage and logistics,

-to strengthen revenues in all territories.

It is a direct response to the high cost of living and a lever for massive development.

I would like to inform you that in Notto Diobasse, we have been hosting tractor, agricultural machinery, and tricycle assembly units for the past five years. So, it's not an impossible mission.

Question 5

You presented the National Solidarity Medical Assistance as a fundamental pillar. What is its objective?

Alioune SARR:

To ensure that no mother ever again has to forgo treatment for her child due to lack of resources.

This scheme will be funded by:

-the State,

-local authorities,

-a share of oil and gas revenues

It will ensure equitable access to care throughout the country: consultations, medication, emergencies, chronic diseases.

It is a reform of dignity and social justice.

Question 6

You presented the path championed by your party, Alliance for Senegal / Andando Ngir Senegaal, as based on responsibility, stability, method, and productivity. In what way does this approach represent a break with the past for Senegal?

Alioune SARR:

It proposes responsible, stable, methodical and results-oriented governance for the benefit of our fellow citizens.

It is a model that puts work, territorial justice, production and equity at the heart of public action.

Question 7

You have called on young people, women and workers to mobilize. What role should this mobilization play?

Alioune SARR:

This mobilization is essential:

-Youth brings innovation,

-Women ensure social cohesion,

-workers constitute the productive force.

Senegal will not change without a people who stand up to demand a country that educates, that cares, that produces and that moves forward.

Question 8

You stated that industrialization, food sovereignty, and health must become state policies. What role do you intend to play in ensuring their sustainability?

Alioune SARR:

My role, as President of a political party recognized by the laws of the Republic, is to transform these grand national ambitions into concrete, stable, and sustainable public policies. This means enshrining them in our laws, anchoring them in our regulations, and ensuring their implementation by our institutions, in order to meet the real needs of the Senegalese people.

I therefore commend the action of the Government and the Minister of Industry, Dr. Serigne Gueye Diop, for including the Notto Diobasse Industrial Estate in the 2026 Finance Law. This is a strong signal.

Now, the challenge is clear: we must go further. We must consolidate these commitments and make them fully operational. How? Through well-conceived laws, ambitious budgets, mobilized institutions, effective partnerships, and a long-term vision. This is the stability we owe to our youth, our communities, and the industrial future of Senegal.

Question 9

Your speech in Thiès marks a turning point in your national leadership. How do you perceive this citizen-led dynamic?

Alioune SARR:

What I saw in Thiès was a people who want a stable, methodical, productive and just country.

This dynamic is not partisan: it is a national will.

Senegalese people aspire to a new era of dignity, prosperity and fairness.

Thiès showed the way.

The country is ready.