ASERGATE : Jean-Michel Sène face aux 37 milliards, l'heure de vérité a sonné !
Faced with public pressure, Jean-Michel Sène has been summoned to the transparency tribunal. Just hours before the highly anticipated press conference of the Director General of the Senegalese Rural Electrification Agency (ASER), the time for truth has come. At the heart of the concerns: the use of the 37 billion CFA francs allocated to rural electrification.
Amid persistent uncertainties, questions about which villages have actually been electrified, and the controversial role of the developer AEE Power Spain, this meeting is seen as a credibility test for the Director General and his institution. Beyond the technical rhetoric, the Senegalese people are demanding concrete figures, as the so-called "37 billion" affair continues to make headlines and fuel debates on public procurement governance.
The roots of "ASERGATE"
The case stems from a rural electrification contract signed on February 23, 2024, between ASER and the Spanish company AEE Power. This ambitious project, totaling 91.97 billion FCFA, was intended to electrify 1,740 villages across the regions of Kaffrine, Kédougou, Louga, Saint-Louis, and Tambacounda. To guarantee the execution of this contract, the National Credit and Guarantee Company (Sonac) issued three guarantees on March 20, 2024, for a combined amount of 37 billion FCFA. It is precisely this guarantee that is now at the heart of the controversy.
The criticisms, led primarily by MP and former minister Thierno Alassane Sall, denounce a complete lack of transparency. According to the parliamentarian, who has embarked on a "Leral Tour" (Tour of Light) to verify the progress of the work, the 37 billion CFA francs have "vanished." His field visits, notably to Louga and Birkilane, paint a damning picture: villages plunged into darkness, "ghost construction sites" where only a few poles without wires have been erected. "Of the ten villages visited, not one has been electrified. The people have seen neither construction nor equipment," insisted the leader of the Republic of Values (RV).
Battle of numbers and procedures
Faced with these accusations, the initial response from ASER and the Ministry of Finance was technical. An official note dated June 17, 2025, clarified that the 37 billion FCFA did not represent a sum disbursed to the promoters, but rather the amount of the guarantees issued, with the actual insurance premium amounting to 947 million FCFA.
Jean-Michel Sène, who welcomed the Supreme Court's decision overturning the ARCOP's suspension of the project, sees it as a "victory for the law" and denounces maneuvers aimed at discrediting the agency. However, the role of the Spanish developer AEE Power complicates matters. While the contract was awarded to AEE Power EPC (Spain), the involvement of its subsidiary AEE Power Senegal, headed by Saïdou Kane, is creating significant tensions. The Spanish parent company has even filed a complaint against Saïdou Kane for "forgery and use of forged documents" related to invoices totaling 1.4 billion CFA francs, accusing him of identity theft.
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In addition to these interferences, questions are being raised about the role of intermediaries and the financing channels. Thierno Alassane Sall's party claims that a government delegation recently traveled to Spain, where partners allegedly demanded justifications for the use of the 37 billion CFA franc advance. "Eighteen months after the disbursement, the implementation level should be at least 40%, representing approximately 600 villages. Where are they?" asks the RV.
Today, Jean-Michel Sène must face the press with detailed, documented answers. The stakes go beyond administrative matters: for ASER, it's about restoring its damaged credibility, and for the government, it's about proving that the promised "time for truth" is more than just an empty slogan.
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