By signaling to donors that Senegal's rating is likely to be downgraded by this agency, Moody's will tighten Senegal's conditions of access to finances at favorable rates. However, as noted in the note from the Ministry of Finance, Senegal's signature has never been taken to date, in default of its external obligations. So, the question is, what game does Moody's play?

The rating agency Moody's is downgrading Senegal's rating in the event of a situation that has not yet occurred. An aberration that can hardly be claimed to be the result of a technical error. Analysts at the agency seem to blame the government of Senegal for having requested to benefit from the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (ISSD), because of the expenses induced by the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, if the G20, which by the way is still studying Senegal's request, wanted private creditors to also engage in this mechanism, Senegal strongly reaffirmed that it is always ready to honour its signature. And all observers recognize that it is just one year, during the horrible years of the Structural Adjustment Plans (Pas) that, hit by drought, the government of Abdou Diouf had failed to sign it. But for nearly 40 years, this situation has never happened again.
Therefore, placing Senegal's rating in "review for degradation", to use the words of Moody's, is it not a signal sent to private donors to tell them to be wary of the country's signature? And this, at a time when everyone is aware that the country will necessarily need liquidity to hope to restart its projects put on hold by Covid-19, and restart its productive sector. Not to mention the health emergencies to be expected, while the peak of the disease continues to taunt the façade optimism of the political authorities?
It is understandable that the government of Senegal, which needs to be well seen by its financial partners, decides to relativize the message sent by Moody's. Nevertheless, it is aware that it is disastrous vis-à-vis donors.
One wonders what interests Moody's analysts, who are no smarter than the officials who work for the economy and finance and budget ministers, are trying to preserve by putting obstacles in Senegal's wheels. Everyone knows that the country is heading for a difficult tomorrow. There is no need for a rating agency to darken our horizon even more. Or should they be reminded of their exploits, with the fanciful ratings served to American banks during the subprime crisis in 2007-2008 ?
The services of the Ministry of Finance are trying to reassure their partners by noting that the other rating agency, Standard & Poor's (S&P), still maintains its confidence in the country's signature, and sets its rating at stable B+, one of the best in the West African sub-region, like Côte d'Ivoire.