The Port Autonome de Dakar (PAD) experienced two significant events on Thursday, September 18, 2025: the validation of the Repositioning Plan by the Board of Directors (CA) and the election of staff representatives, after a 19-year hiatus. These advances, hailed as "important markers in the history of the PAD," reflect the visionary leadership of the Director General, Mr. Waly Diouf Bodiang, appointed in May 2024, who is leading a systemic transformation aligned with Vision Senegal 2050.

Chaired by Professor Mouhamadou Ngounda Mboup, the Board of Directors adopted the Repositioning Plan and the new organizational chart, resulting from an inclusive process launched in February 2025. This plan, "the company's compass for the next five years," aims for internal modernization and rationalization, bearing the imprint of the port workers themselves. The Board also approved the payment of the growth and performance bonus, as well as the support of temporary workers in activity and suspended fixed-term contracts.

These measures, initiated by Bodiang, were "strongly welcomed by the Autonomous Union of Workers of the Autonomous Port of Dakar (SATPAD)", one of the largest in the company. At the same time, the election of staff representatives, the first since 2006, took place without incident from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., bringing together five lists (SATPAD, SNTPS, SMPAD, SYNACEMPOS and SYNACEMPOS FC) in a "calm, transparent and respectful of democratic rules" climate.

Bodiang, which has placed social dialogue at the heart of its priorities – via monthly meetings institutionalized every first Friday – thus puts an end to an unprecedented situation, strengthening the voice of workers.

These achievements are part of a spectacular recovery in the PAD since May 2024. In the first half of 2025, net achievements reached 42.11 billion FCFA, an increase of 16% (+5.95 billion) compared to 2024. Overall traffic jumped by 24%, cumulatively to 6.92 million tonnes compared to 5.58 million last year (+1.34 million tonnes), despite monetary tightening and geopolitical tensions. "This leadership and vision of transformation have enabled the PAD to be positioned as a national port authority within the framework of the National Port Strategy validated last July in Saly," notes the press release, confirming its central role – 95% of customs revenue (25% of the State budget) – as coordinator of port centers (decree 2023-353), driving force of a regional maritime hub and leader of modernization, including the flagship Ndayane project.

In less than two years, Bodiang has breathed new life into the project, repositioning the PAD as an essential hub in Africa, serving the Senegalese economy and Vision 2050.