Senegal's OFNAC: No Loophole for Second Asset Declaration

• The Senegalese government has been debating the expansion of asset declaration requirements since summer 2025.
• Only 1,695 out of 3,023 individuals subject to the requirement had declared their assets by mid-August 2026.
• The lack of transparency has led to reputational damage and potential legal consequences for public officials in Senegal.
• The asset declaration requirement is rooted in an American scandal and has since become a global standard of good governance.

The question of how many ministers, agency directors, or local elected officials in Senegal have actually disclosed their assets before taking office remains unanswered.

The Senegalese government has been debating the expansion of the asset declaration requirement to new categories of public officials since summer 2025. This debate is centered around the implementation of a long-standing international norm aimed at preventing corruption, but its local application has yet to convince many. The question of how many ministers, agency directors, or local elected officials in Senegal have actually disclosed their assets before taking office remains unanswered. This issue is not trivial and is at the heart of a national debate relaunched by a series of legislative reforms and repeated statements from politicians and civil society actors denouncing the proliferation of 'multimillionaires' in public administration.

The asset declaration requirement has its roots in an American scandal. In 1978, under President Jimmy Carter, the US Congress adopted the Ethics in Government Act, which for the first time required high-ranking officials from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to publish their financial interests annually. This precedent inspired a wave of international conventions that made asset declaration a global standard of good governance. The African Union's Convention on the Prevention and Fight against Corruption, adopted in Maputo in 2003, explicitly requires public agents to declare their assets at the beginning, during, and end of their functions. Similarly, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2003, calls for each state party to establish measures obliging its public agents to report any external activity, placement, or substantial asset that could give rise to a conflict of interest.

The Senegalese government's failure to ensure timely and accurate disclosure of assets by public officials has led to reputational damage and potential legal consequences. The recent numbers published by the Office National de lutte contre la Corruption (OFNAC) reveal that out of 3,023 individuals subject to the requirement, only 1,695 had actually declared their assets by mid-August 2026. This lack of transparency has sparked a renewed debate on the need for public officials in Senegal to ensure timely and accurate disclosure of their assets.

This development highlights the need for public officials in Senegal to ensure timely and accurate disclosure of their assets, as failure to do so can lead to reputational damage and potential legal consequences.

Source: Original reporting via Le Monde