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00:00 During his campaign, Basirudio Maifi promised change and freedom.
00:07 Now as Senegal's youngest president, he'll have to follow through.
00:11 And he faces multiple challenges.
00:14 In a country shaken by deep political rivalries, Maifi has declared ensuring national reconciliation
00:20 is his first priority.
00:22 "We will work relentlessly and methodically on priority projects, the most important of
00:29 which we consider to be national reconciliation and rebuilding the foundations of our way
00:35 of life, together."
00:39 FAI has already taken a first step on this path by meeting outgoing president Macky Sall
00:44 last week.
00:46 Sall provoked a political crisis in February by suspending the presidential vote weeks
00:51 before its initial date, citing security concerns.
00:55 It sparked protests and clashes that left at least three people dead.
01:00 Another major task will be job creation.
01:03 Official figures put the unemployment rate at 20 percent in a country where three quarters
01:09 of its 18 million people are under the age of 35.
01:13 The situation is thought to be one of the factors pushing more young people to join
01:17 the waves of migrants trying to reach Europe.
01:21 "Have you seen all these young people going into the sea just to get to Europe?
01:26 It's not normal.
01:27 The country is rich.
01:29 We have mineral resources.
01:30 Frankly, we need to exploit these resources and manage them properly, and distribute the
01:36 profit fairly."
01:39 FAI has pledged to restore Senegal's economic sovereignty, hoping to renegotiate oil and
01:45 gas contracts.
01:46 However, analysts doubt whether energy giants like BP and Woodside will agree to shrink
01:51 their share of revenue.
01:53 The new leader also wants to rely less on imports and notably invest more in agriculture
01:59 to reach food self-sufficiency.
02:00 Finally, there's fighting corruption.
02:04 This is one task FAI can begin swiftly by creating a national financial prosecutor.
02:10 He'll also have to decide whether to dissolve the National Assembly that was elected in
02:14 September 2022, in which his party does not have a majority.
02:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]