Senegal Denies It Used Covert Methods to Raise Debt in 2025

Senegal raised debt last year using opaque derivative instruments in a process that the nation’s finance ministry defended as transparent.

The seven so-called total return swap operations were carried out through domestic bond auctions between April and November 2025 as part of a broader strategy to lower funding costs and diversify the country’s investor base, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The proceeds were used to cover financing needs last year, and not for any 2026 obligations, it said.