The Senegalese city of Diamniadio became a hotbed of hyper diplomatic activities, on Tuesday, as at least 20 African leaders converged on the futuristic city to witness the investiture of President Macky Sall.
Back in 2012, the then president-elect Macky Sall took his oath of office in Dakar, the capital city, but today’s inauguration was done in the town of Diamniado. The new city is located about 30km from Dakar.
It is a futuristic city which was planned by the president to help take the pressure off the historic capital. It is planned in the long run to revitalize the Senegalese economy.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also the reigning chairman of the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, led the pack of the African leaders that graced the ceremony.
Sall emerged winner of elections held on February 24, 2019, beating four other aspirants with 58% of votes cast. The opponents rejected the results but said they were not going to contest it.
In keeping with the electoral laws, the Constitutional Court on the sixth of March affirmed his poll victory. Sall had 2,555,426 representing 58.26%, Idrissa Seck got 899,556 representing 20.51%.
Ousmane Sonko polled 687,523 or 15.67%, Madické Niang, 65,021 or 1.48% and El Hadji Sall also had 178,613, representing 4.07%, the court said.
The 58-year-old will be serving his final mandate in line with the two-term limit imposed by the constitution. Senegal is one of Africa’s most stable democracies. It has not experienced military intervention since independence in 1960.
Below is the list of African leaders that came to town to witness Macky Sall’s inauguration:
Which African leaders are in town?
- Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
- Sahle Work Zewde, Ethiopia
- Paul Kagame, Rwanda
- Andriy Rajoelina, Madagascar
- Roch March Kabore, Burkina Faso
- Adama Barrow, The Gambia
- Alassane Ouattara, Ivory Coast
- George Weah, Liberia
- Denis Sassou Nguesso, Congo
- Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, Mali
- Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger
- Alpha Conde, Guinea
- Mohammed Ould Abdul Aziz, Mauritania
- Felix Tshisekedi, DR Congo
- Faure Gnassingbe, Togo
- Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone
- Julien Nkoghe Bekale, Gabon Prime Minister
Fast facts about Diamniadio – the futuristic city where today’s inauguration took place:
Back in 2012, the then president-elect Macky Sall took his oath of office in Dakar, the capital city but he is doing so today in the town of Diamniado.
It is a futuristic city which was planned by the president to help take the pressure off the historic capital. It is planned in the long run to revitalize the Senegalese economy.
1 – The new city is located about 30km from Dakar. It is however located in the Dakar region.
2 – The city has a Lake City as part of its suburbs and is close to the Blaise Niagne international airport which is set to become the biggest in the country.
3 – The airport was officially opened in December 2017.
4 – Still under construction, the new city will be connected to Dakar through a 32 km express highway, which will slash the travel time from 90 minutes to half an hour on average.
5 – Diamniadio is also expected to be connected to Dakar by a new railway line, which by 2020 will be part of the link between Dakar and Blaise Diagne International Airport.
6 – The governments expects a population of about 200,000 when it becomes fully functional.
7 – The airport is named after the first African to be elected a lawmaker in France, as far back as 1914.