Former Senegalese President Macky Sall recently began a new professional adventure, heading towards the private sector. On November 28, 2024, he formed Semo Holding, a company headquartered in the Guéliz district of Marrakech. This initiative marks a significant turning point in his career, after leaving power in April 2024.
According to the Moroccan magazine ”Le Desk”, Semo Holding aims to serve as a base for developing activities across Africa and beyond, leveraging Mr. Sall’s international network, built throughout his three decades in politics.
Based in Marrakech with his family, Macky Sall intends to use his political experience to create synergies in issue sectors such as the environment, energy and political strategies, where he has already demonstrated competence. The holding structure is strategic: it does not engage in direct commercial activities, but focuses on the financial management of the companies affiliated with it. This allows Macky Sall to maintain influence, while remaining in the background in daily operations.
The choice of Marrakech is not trivial. Although Casablanca, the main economic hub of Morocco, offers attractive tax incentives via Casablanca Finance City, Marrakech offers itself as an interesting development framework. This approach could allow Macky Sall to expand his activities, while remaining close to his country.
Furthermore, after the early legislative elections, the former president withdrew from major responsibilities within the Alliance for the Republic (APR). He is not abandoning the party definitively, but he no longer wishes to occupy leading roles.
This withdrawal, although not definitive, could be seen as a strategic disengagement, illustrating a lack of will to assume strong leadership at a crucial moment for political formation.
A withdrawal from the political scene
However, his involvement in the private sector seems to coincide with a gradual withdrawal from active political life. On October 4, 2024, the former president resigned from his post as special envoy of the Paris Pact for people and the planet, as he announced in a letter to Emmanuel Macron.
This decision came following his appointment as head of the list of the Takku Wallu Senegal opposition coalition for the early legislative elections. This choice to withdraw his diplomatic functions, for fear of a conflict of interest, indicates a desire to concentrate fully on his new political responsibilities.
Unlike Macky Sall, who is heading towards a new adventure in the private sector, his predecessors did not really invest in the professional environment after their departure from power. Abdoulaye Wade, president of Senegal from 2000 to 2012, chose to retire peacefully to Versailles, France. Although his age may partly explain this decision, he also made a few returns to Senegal, to sporadically get involved in political actions. Instead of fully committing to professional projects, he alternated between criticism and support for Macky Sall, illustrating a desire to remain in the political landscape, while avoiding direct engagement.
Abdou Diouf, for his part, was president from 1981 to 2000 and then occupied a leading role in La Francophonie for 12 years. This experience allowed him to reinvent himself on the international scene, becoming an emblematic figure of the French language. After his political retirement, he shared his thoughts through the publication of his memoirs, testifying to a path very different from that of Macky Sall, who seems eager to move towards new challenges.
Léopold Sédar Senghor, first president of Senegal, also followed a path linked to culture and the French language, continuing his commitment to the artistic field. Elected to the French Academy in 1983, Senghor was able to reconnect with the world of the arts, which earned him worldwide recognition.
From then on, Macky Sall’s career seems distinctive. As he prepares to embark on a new career path, his trajectory raises questions: Will he choose to return to politics or pursue a career as a consultant? Its future seems marked by uncertainty, but it clearly differs from the option of complete withdrawal.
As the former president (12 years in power) embarks on this new path, his future remains uncertain. Will he choose the private sector or will he return to politics, to continue to influence the destiny of his country? His decision to gradually withdraw from active political life, while building ties in the business world, could well be seen as an abandonment of his ideals.
So, the question remains: Macky Sall, a man in search of new challenges or a former president in search of lost legitimacy?
Investigation
