Former Senegalese President Macky Sall at the launch of the African Leaders Debt Relief Initiative, Cape Town, South Africa, February 27, 2025. GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP
Not once has Macky Sall returned to Senegal since April 3, 2024, the day after his successor Bassirou Diomaye Faye took office. That day, Sall left Dakar and settled in Marrakech, and has since kept his distance from the country he led for 12 years (2012 – 2024). "It is customary, according to republican tradition, for a former head of state to step back in order to allow the new authorities to act fully," he explained to Le Monde in a written exchange.
A year and a half later, the former leader appears to be pursuing an international career but has not neglected defending his two terms in office, which have come under fire from the new president, as well as his prime minister, Ousmane Sonko.
According to his close associates, Sall − who in September 2024 succeeded Ban Ki-moon as head of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) − has devoted most of his time to speaking at international summits: on September 22 in New York at the summit on public-private partnerships; on September 29 in Washington, at the headquarters of the think tank Atlantic Council, where he sits on the International Advisory Board; and on October 1 in Riyadh, where he spoke at the Global Cybersecurity Forum.
