By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Senegal’s immediate past President, Macky Sall, has intensified his bid for the United Nations Secretary-General. Mr. Sall, who served as the President of Senegal from 2012 to 2024, handed over to an opposition leader, Bassirou Faye, who was elected at 44 years as the youngest President of Senegal.
At the moment, President Macky Sall is the only African candidate bidding to replace the outgoing Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. If successful, Macky would become the third African UN Secretary-General after Boutros Boutros-Ghali from Egypt and Kofi Annan, from Ghana.
In early March, he was nominated by Burundi and was later formally acknowledged by the UN General Assembly Spokesman, La Neice Collins, as a contender for the top administrative job at the UN headquarters in New York. Although there are indications that his country, Senegal, is not supporting the former president’s bid.
However, the 64-year-old former president, aside from being the only African in the race, is considered a formidable contender. Altogether, there are four other candidates in the race so far, including Michelle Bachelet, a former President of Chile, Rafael Grossi, and Virginia Gamba from Argentina, and Rebecca Gryspan from Costa Rica. Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed is suspected of having an interest in the job.
In the meantime, President Macky Sall has positioned himself as a viable and credible candidate of African origin for the UN Secretary-General. When elected, the tenure of the new UN Secretary-General will commence on January 1, 2027.
