On Friday, a presidential assistant announced on state media that all government ministers had been fired. For now, the old team will temporarily handle basic daily tasks.

The decision follows months of growing tensions between Faye and Sonko.

Sonko is a popular leader with a lot of young followers. He couldn't run in the 2024 election because of a legal issue, so he supported Faye instead. However, even though they used to be close partners, the two men have recently grown apart.

The political fallout comes at a critical time for Senegal's economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently froze a $1.8 billion lending programme following the discovery of misreported debt hidden by the previous government. This hidden borrowing pushed Senegal's end-2024 debt level to 132 per cent of its economic output.

Faye’s sudden move now raises the risk of further delays in reaching a new agreement with the IMF.

Earlier on Friday, before Sonko’s dismissal, Finance Minister Cheikh Diba had told parliament that the government expects to resume talks with the IMF in the "week of June 8" and hopes to reach an agreement on key points by "June 30."

The breakdown of the leadership duo marks a major shift in Senegal's political landscape.

Sonko was a popular opposition leader under the previous administration of President Macky Sall, whose decision to delay the 2024 election urged widespread public conflict.

Both Faye and Sonko are former tax officials who were jailed ahead of the 2024 election. They were released just 10 days before the rescheduled contest, which Faye went on to win with 54 percent of the vote before appointing Sonko as prime minister.

Now that Sonko is out of the job, it remains unclear what his next steps will be. In March, he stated he would be willing to "take his Pastef party out of the government and return to opposition if Faye departed from the party’s agenda."

Because the Pastef party dominates the National Assembly, Sonko's departure could severely complicate governance and the passage of legislative reforms needed to secure vital IMF support.

Last month, politicians overwhelmingly approved electoral code changes that could pave the way for Sonko to run for president in 2029.