Sonko hailed the appointment calling it a break from the past.
“The government set up here on April 5 is a breakaway government… that embodies the project, a systemic transformation voted for by the Senegalese people,” he said.
The cabinet was approved by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, who was inaugurated on Tuesday and appointed Sonko, a key backer, as prime minister. Faye succeeded President Macky Sall, whose 12-year presidency saw a rising wave of public discontent.
The cabinet will be closely watched after Faye made radical campaign promises such as dropping the CFA franc West African common currency. He has slightly backtracked on that pledge, but this week the former tax inspector promised an audit of the oil, gas and mining sectors.
Key appointments include Cheikh Diba as finance minister. Diba was previously the finance ministry’s director of budget programming. Abdourahmane Sarr was named economy minister.
The oil and energy ministry, a strategic position in a country that is due to start producing oil and gas in 2024, will be headed by Birame Souleye Diop. Souleye Diop was vice president of Sonko and Faye’s now dissolved Pastef party.
Two generals were named interior and defense ministers. Ousmane Diagne, a former public prosecutor at the Dakar Court of Appeal, becomes justice minister.
The government included four women, who were handed the portfolios of foreign affairs, fisheries, family and youth and culture.
Sonko said on Friday the government’s priorities would include employment for young people, lowering the cost of living and protecting human rights.
Sonko, 49, spearheaded Senegal’s anti-establishment movement but endorsed Faye on the presidential ballot after he was barred from running himself due to a defamation conviction.
Senegal is facing a host of major challenges, including an official unemployment rate of 20 percent.
