Senegal faces debt dispute with France while strengthening financial crime oversight

France’s Treasury sent a February letter to Senegal demanding repayment of €20‑30 million in overdue obligations, including debts to the French Development Agency, as part of a broader dispute over Senegal’s sovereign debt restructuring. Paris is urging Senegal to accept the International Monetary Fund’s proposed debt‑restructuring plan, which the Senegalese government has resisted.

In parallel, Senegal has bolstered its financial‑crime monitoring framework. After being removed from the FATF grey list in October 2024, the country’s Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financières (CENTIF) reported 866 suspicious transaction declarations and forwarded 37 cases to the judicial pool in 2025. The agency highlighted growing risks from fintech services and crypto‑assets, stressing the need for vigilant oversight to preserve financial sovereignty.

These developments underscore Senegal’s dual challenge: navigating external debt pressures while enhancing internal mechanisms to detect and deter money‑laundering and related financial crimes.