Senegalese President Macky Sall sworn in | Policy

DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Tuesday that he will give priority to the environment, youth employment and women's rights in his second term.

In an inaugural speech following a categorical election victory in February, he promised "vigorous" environmental action.

"I call everyone to shape a new Senegal: a neighborhood with cleaner neighborhoods … a Senegal without waste," he said.

During Sall's first tenure, the Senegalese economy grew by more than 6 percent a year, with a modernization program involving the construction of a new airport, highway roads and a city built entirely in the bush. outside the coastal capital, Dakar.

The production of oil and gas from new offshore deposits is expected to maintain the strength of the economy over the next decade.

However, pollution and rising sea levels have raised concerns about climate change and the price of rapid development.

Senegal has long been considered the most stable democracy in the region, with peaceful transitions of power since independence from France in 1960.

But the two most well-known opposition figures were banned from running in February because of alleged corruption convictions for political ends. Sall denies these claims.

More than a dozen African heads of state attended his inauguration.