Macky Sall, a former Senegalese president, is continuing to meet with countries bilaterally to shore up support for his candidacy for the top position at the United Nations even as an endorsement from the African Union, or AU, remains out of reach. Burundi, which chairs the AU, backs Sall officially, but that has not led to a continent-wide embrace. Nor does his own country, also a Francophone nation, stand for him.
Sall is among four candidates currently running for UN secretary-general; the others are Michelle Bachelet, Rafael Grossi and Rebeca Grynspan. The General Assembly is holding interactive public dialogues with the candidates on Tuesday, April 21, and the next day. So far, Sall is the only candidate who has not agreed to talk to reporters after his dialogue on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Sall held meetings with some senior African delegates at the AU’s office in New York City. But chasing Africans at their UN base has not produced a concrete pledge of endorsement for Sall’s candidacy, an AU official present at the meetings told PassBlue.
Sall’s conversations in New York City followed an attempt earlier this month, when the AU, the bloc representing the continent’s 54 countries and one territory, Western Sahara, did not endorse Sall as its consensus candidate. Sall, with backing from President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, kick-started the AU’s endorsement mechanism in a process that some of its member states said was rushed and lacked transparency.
At least 20 countries opposed his candidacy either because it failed to follow procedure or AU member states were given limited time to make their positions known. While the road to being formally endorsed by the AU has closed, it has not stopped Sall, 64, from trying to become the next secretary-general.
In his vision statement, which a UN secretary-general candidate is asked to provide, he has written how he will lead the 80-year old organization amid what some experts say is facing institutional distress. “The world is facing a profound crisis. . . and the United Nations must be reformed, streamlined and modernized to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” he said in the document submitted to the 193-member General Assembly.
African diplomats at the UN say that backing a candidate from the continent in this race could weaken Africa’s future claim to the post when its unofficial regional rotation “turn” arrives. African countries say the continent is next in line for the secretary-general position after the current cycle ends, which is widely viewed as belonging to Latin America and the Caribbean region for the 2027-2031 term and a possible renewal. Therefore, the African prerogative could not materialize until at least 10 years.
The current secretary-general, António Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister, hails from Western Europe. (His last day of office is Dec. 31, 2026.) He was selected for his first term 10 years ago after a search to find a candidate from Eastern Europe failed. The region has never won the top UN post, and Guterres’s second term was renewed with little fanfare.
A senior diplomat in the African Union who is not authorized to speak to the press on this issue, told PassBlue that the AU endorsing Sall could have undermined the good relationship the continent has with the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC) at the UN. GRULAC is a nonbinding bloc with 33 member states from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Besides Burundi, a handful of other African countries, including Angola, Ghana and Tanzania, have expressed support for Sall’s candidacy. (Morocco, where Sall is said to be living, does not appear to be openly supporting him.) It is also believed that he has the support of France, a permanent member of the Security Council, given that his campaign team is heavily French, according to an African diplomat.
Having a permanent member behind Sall could be an important advantage in the Council as the five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) remain starkly divided. The decision on who becomes the next UN chief is made primarily within the 15-member Council, with the permanent members traditionally making the call. (The General Assembly normally approves the candidate, based on the Council’s recommendation.)
Yet, one Council veto could end a candidate’s prospects. At least four elected members also need to vote favorably for a candidate, absent a veto.
There is no official confirmation from the French government regarding an embrace of Sall as a candidate. The French mission at the UN did not respond to PassBlue’s request for a comment.
Paradoxically, Senegal was one of the dozen or so countries that raised objections to his possible endorsement by the AU. Sall’s candidacy for the UN job has divided both the political class and civil society groups in Senegal.
Moussa Ngom, a Senegalese journalist and co-founder of Cartography Senegal, a citizen-led advocacy group, told PassBlue in a phone call that Sall’s bid appears largely confined to his political camp and a limited segment of civil society. The Senegalese government was not informed of his intention to contest, Ngom said.
Sall left office as president amid what accountability groups have described as a major democratic backslide, including the unprecedented postponement of a presidential election that was challenged by the Constitutional Council.
“Macky Sall left Senegal with the image of a president who plunged the country into one of the darkest periods in its democratic history,” Ngom said. “With everything that happened between 2021 and 2024, it would be very difficult to imagine Macky Sall being entrusted with a role that demands strong credibility on human rights.”
Sall’s spokesperson declined to offer an on-the-record comment.
Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees all video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
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He is a demon
Moussa Gom is right in his judgement, his country has known presidents Senghor, Diouf, Wade for many years but none of them have committed so much harms to Senegal and to the ECOWAS structure than Macky Sall. He is not at the level of Boutros Boutros Ghaly or a Kofi Anan.