Senegal's leader Macky Sall has won the presidential election in the West African country. The 57-year-old incumbent received 58.3 percent of the votes in the poll last Sunday, the electoral commission said. His main challenger, the former head of government Idrissa Seck (59), therefore received 20.5 percent. This provisional result has yet to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court. Two popular opposition candidates were not eligible to vote.
According to a UN index, the majority Muslim country is one of the 30 poorest countries in the world. The average income is less than $ 200 a month, the life expectancy is 67 years according to the World Bank. In Germany it is 81.
Sall, in office since 2012, promised a continuation of his policy in the run-up to the election, combining modernization of the infrastructure with strengthening the social network for the poorer population. Only recently was elected in Nigeria, it came to violence and deaths.
Senegal, on the other hand, is considered a stable democracy. The economy of the former French colony has developed positively since Sall came to power in 2012. The president can point to a strong economic growth of last seven percent, projects such as the construction of an airport and an expansion of the power grids are praised by international donors such as local elite.
However, his critics accuse him of the sharp rise in public debt. Many infrastructure projects were financed with foreign money.