Senegal’s $50,000 Gift to IMF Official

Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade

The government in the West African state of Senegal have admitted to giving a goodbye gift to an IMF official after his 3 year tenure came to an end. According to government officials in the country, the gift was an African traditional way of saying goodbye. The gift of $50,000 was given as a present to IMF representative in Senegal, Alex Segura, who had been an outspoken critic of the West African nation’s budget. The money was handed by Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade after a dinner with the IMF official.

The official is reported not to have known that the package contains money and only made the discovery when he was aboard a flight to Barcelona. On arrival in Spain Mr Segura informed the IMF who quickly contacted the Senegalese government to arrange the return of the cash. The Senegalese Prime Minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye in a statement said “We in Africa have a tradition: when someone visits you, you give him a gift at departure”. Senegal’s government had initially denied giving the money; but the IMF disclosure gave them no choice but to make a public statement of acknowledgement that it did happen.

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