Senegal's ASER Scandal: $60 M Rural Electrification Funds Allegedly Misused

Senegal’s Agency for Rural Electrification (ASER) is at the centre of a major corruption controversy. Former minister and opposition leader Thierno Alassane Sall claims that more than 37 billion CFA francs (about 56 million euros) paid to the Spanish contractor AEE Power EPC for electrifying roughly 1 600 villages have been diverted to accounts in Spain, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya and other destinations.

According to Sall, bank statements supplied to the Spanish courts show that after an initial advance of 28 million euros on 11 June 2024, the balance fell from €22 020 to under €2 000 within 48 days, with large transfers to 139 Spanish bank accounts, Senegalese entities (including the state‑backed SONAC) and a Chinese cable supplier. The project has seen no tangible on‑the‑ground work, and the funds are said to have been used to cover guarantees rather than to purchase equipment.

Sall has lodged a complaint with Senegal’s Financial Judicial Pole and urged Spanish investigators to compel AEE Power EPC to disclose the full use of the money. He also accuses former prime minister Ousmane Sonko and current authorities of “conscious and deliberate complicity” in protecting the contractors. The scandal threatens the credibility of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s administration, which campaigned on transparency, and has drawn attention from international donors and the World Bank.

Spanish courts have ordered AEE Power EPC to produce detailed accounts, and the dossier is being examined by both Senegalese and Spanish judicial bodies, highlighting the cross‑border dimension of the alleged misappropriation.