For several months, former Senegalese President Macky Sall has left the suspense hanging over a potential candidacy for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations, vacant at the end of 2026. A possibility that divides in his country where his opponents criticize his record in terms of democracy and financial management.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 4:20 p.m.
Will Macky Sall be a candidate to head the UN? For several months, the rumor has been growing, fueled by the person himself. “I will not rule it out if people believe that I can modestly make my contribution to restore the image of the UN” he declared in September 2025 on the online media H5 Motivation.
Based in Marrakech since the end of his second term, the former Senegalese president has not yet formalized his candidacy. But the subject returned to the table unexpectedly at the beginning of February thanks to the official visit of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to Congo.
“The exchanges made it possible to address African diplomatic news, in particular the candidacy of the former Senegalese president, Macky Sall, for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations” declared the Congolese authorities, believing that this “can be the subject of the support of all African states”.
A statement that has caused a lot of ink to flow in Senegal, reviving the divide between the supporters of the former president and those of the new power.
A credible application?
Information around a potential candidacy of Macky Sall had first leaked through the press. At the end of May 2025, the Africa Intelligence media reported on a meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Macky Sall two months earlier at the Élysée to discuss this possibility.
Questioned on this subject four months later, Macky Sall did not hide his interest in the position. “My personal experience, from local to regional to global, should be able to allow me (…) to help build a new, re-founded organization, in light of the difficulties that the UN has today,” he declared on the H5 Motivation YouTube channel. “I think I have the capacity to be able to speak to everyone” he continued, conditioning his candidacy on “the will” of the member countries of the Security Council, Senegal, Africa and “the Islamic world”.
The former president then emphasized that “many people, organizations and countries” wanted his candidacy. An assertion deemed credible by Alioune Tine, president of the Afrikajom Center think tank. “Macky Sall has had a diplomacy of real influence in Africa and in the world. He is close to Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin and the Gulf countries.”
International lobbying
In this context, the declaration of the Congolese presidency, seeming to validate in advance the candidacy of Macky Sall, raised many questions in Senegal.
Nothing surprising, judges a former advisor to the former president contacted by France 24. "To run, Macky Sall must gather as much international support as possible. Given the very poor relations between the former president and the current Senegalese government, it is not surprising that this discussion is taking place at the level of African heads of state."
In October 2025, one of them had already openly declared that he was campaigning for Macky Sall for president of the UN. Umaro Sissoco Embaló, then president of Guinea-Bissau, sang the praises of his elder in an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine, describing him as “checking all the boxes”. Ironically, the latter has since joined Macky Sall in his Moroccan exile, exfiltrated after the military coup in his country.
“Intense lobbies are working today to ensure that Macky Sall is a candidate, in Africa and around the world,” says one of his close supporters, according to whom the subject was discussed with Emmanuel Macron but also with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who “is not indifferent to it,” he specifies.
Paved obstacle course
To convince the fifteen members of the Security Council - and in particular the five permanent members who can use their veto (United States, China, Russia, United Kingdom, France) - the former Senegalese president has a few cards to show.
In addition to his twelve years as president of Senegal (2012 - 2024), Macky Sall has held several high international positions: current president of the African Union (2022 to 2023), special envoy of the Paris Pact for People and the Planet (4P, appointed by Emmanuel Macron in 2023) and co-director of the international thinktank Global Center on Adaptation (GCA, since 2023), alongside former UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
But several obstacles remain. In theory, the UN General Secretariat should return to Latin America, according to the practice of rotation by continent, even if this is not a formal rule. Some Member States are also calling for a woman to be chosen, although there is no consensus on this idea.
Read alsoThe selection process for the next head of the UN is launched
Controversy in Senegal
Finally, within his own country, Macky Sall's candidacy divides. While some see it as a chance to promote Senegal, and by extension Africa, on the international scene, others are determined to block it.
“Mr Macky Sall is disqualified in view of his record in terms of human rights and democracy” asserts Seydi Gassama, the representative of the NGO Amnesty International in Senegal.
“He used institutions and in particular the justice system to push aside his adversaries. More than 65 people died during demonstrations repressed by the police,” he continues. “Appointing Macky Sall at the head of an organization whose role is to protect peace, security, development and human rights would be a very bad signal.”
From 2021 to 2024, during Macky Sall's second term, Senegal went through a deep political crisis, punctuated by violence, linked to the arrest and then conviction, notably for "corruption of youth", of former opponent Ousmane Sonko, leader of Pastef.
In power since April 2024, the duo Bassirou Diomaye Faye – Ousmane Sonko promised to “shed light” on the human losses during these demonstrations. He also accuses Macky Sall of having disguised the public accounts to hide a debt of nearly 7 billion dollars. A cover-up denied by the former president but confirmed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Read alsoIn Senegal, ex-president Macky Sall will be summoned to court
For the moment neither Bassirou Diomaye Faye nor Ousmane Sonko have commented on Macky Sall's potential candidacy for the UN.
Some personalities from Pastef expressed their firm opposition, such as deputy Guy Marius Sagna, for whom support from Senegal would be "a betrayal of our martyrs". “A useless speculation,” replied Minister Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic Bentaleb Sow, describing this possibility as inconceivable.
However, the debate does not seem completely closed within the presidential camp. Alhousseynou Ba, member of the Diomaye President coalition, published an article to support this candidacy in the name of "the greater good of the nation and the continent".
Contacted by France 24, the presidency of Senegal declined to comment.
The subject is expected to be debated at the African Union (AU) summit, scheduled for February 11-15, 2026 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On February 7, three days after his return from Congo, Bassirou Diomaye Sonko announced that he would not attend the meeting of African heads of state. He will be represented there by his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
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