Set to be held on February 25, the election was postponed indefinitely by the decree of incumbent President Macky Sall, who was set to leave office in April after 12 years in power. The move sparked protests across the country, followed by the Constitutional Council of Senegal overturning the decree and scheduling the vote to be held on March 24.
As many as 19 candidates will compete to succeed Sall as president, including former Prime Minister Amadou Ba and veteran Senegalese politician Idrissa Seck, nominated by the pro-government coalition United In Hope, opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who spent most of 2023 under investigation and has recently been released from prison, as well as former Prime Minister Mahammed Dionne and two-time mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall.
The only female candidate is Anta Babacar Ngom, a businesswoman, who runs Senegal’s largest poultry company.