Madar (Dakar) - Senegal's Minister of Energy and Petroleum, El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf, on Monday, 19 October 2026 urged unions at the national electricity company SENELEC to hold off their threatened strike while the president decides whether to pay a bonus linked to the company's profits, the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) reported.
"The answer to the demand is not negative, but the authorities must be given time to gather all the elements on which a decision will be based," he told a government press briefing on the social climate.
Diouf said he inherited the file when he took office on 1 June, the bonus having been paid the previous year. SENELEC's board chairman had sent the head of state a request justifying the payment on the basis of the company's performance, while the presidency's services produced technical and financial arguments questioning it.
An arbitration at the ministry produced a consensus on the amounts and the principle of payment, and its conclusions were sent to the president, "the only one empowered to take the final decision". The lack of a decision so far is neither a refusal nor a final acceptance, he said, adding that the president's time for reflection and decision "is not bound by any deadline".
The minister asked workers to bear in mind the context, recalling supply disruptions in September that he said interrupted the public service for 18 days, and to ensure continuity of service ahead of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
