Senegal will hold its rescheduled presidential elections on Sunday, March 24, with just one woman on the presidential ballot out of 18 candidates.
Anta Babacar never stopped campaigning when outgoing President Macky Sall launched a failed bid last month to postpone the poll by 10 months.
After multiple run-ins with police at protests, including an arrest in February, her campaign has taken on a more formal air as she and other presidential candidates rush to make the most of a shortened campaign period.
Babacar, 39, launched the Alternative for the Next Generation of Citizens (ARC) political movement in August 2023.
The daughter of the founding president of Sedima, a leading poultry production group in the West and Central Africa region, she was until recently executive director of the company, which also operates Senegal's Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises.
Babacar says her platform advocates for leadership based on competence, experience and vision, rather than gender, in a bid to overcome traditional barriers in Senegalese politics.
"The question of gender should no longer be an issue. And today, I'm proud to say that I think many Senegalese have outgrown this question.
"The Senegalese want to see a person, man or woman, capable of responding to their concerns," she told Reuters news agency.
If elected, Babacar says her administration will focus on poverty eradication, improvements in education and healthcare, and curbing the causes of illegal migration.
"I’m extremely sensitive to the issue of illegal immigration. As I often say, where are Senegal's young people? Most of them are out at sea, in the Atlantic Ocean. It's staggering, it's chilling. We have a very young population who only want one thing: to recover their dignity, to be able to work to support themselves and their families.”
"It's about giving hope again. I've met so many young people that were ready to go to the ocean, take the ships and die. And they said we prefer to die other than staying in Senegal. And I made a promise. I promised them, I said either way the situation will change."
She is ready to renegotiate fishing agreements that do not benefit Senegal, should she be elected, she told Reuters news agency.
Babacar told Anadolu Agency that she will restructure the economy to achieve sustainable development through large-scale industrialization, supporting sectors like fishing, agriculture, livestock, and tourism.
She further emphasized strengthening the private sector, which acts as "a bridge between the government and the people."
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