The outcome of Senegal’s legislative elections, in which President Macky Sall’s coalition lost its majority, potentially curb Sall’s rumored ambitions for a constitutionally prohibited third term. But the runup to the polls put the spotlight on the state of democracy in a West African country regarded as a regional outlier.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is set to leave office next year after having served two terms, recently declared that he will leave the country “in a better place” than he found it. But his claim is at odds with the situation across the country, including a deepening insecurity that now grips Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to West Africa this week was billed by Paris as his latest effort to reshape France’s relations with its former colonies in Africa. But the visit’s short-term fanfare is unlikely to blunt deepening opposition to France or slow down its declining influence in the region.
