With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac

It is named after Ousmane Masseck Ndiaye, a former minister and former mayor of Saint-Louis. With a runway 2,450 meters long and 45 meters wide, the new airport echoes the past, with the first direct flight of Aéropostale between Toulouse and Saint-Louis in 1927.

It is also intended to strengthen the role of the city in the future, according to President Macky Sall: "Saint-Louis is indeed called to be a hub of intense activities with the exploitation of oil and gas, in addition to agricultural production, fisheries, tourism and higher education."

A program for the reconstruction of several airports

This is the first stage of a program to rebuild Senegal's regional airports — Matam, Ziguinchor and Kédougou — in cooperation with the Czech Republic, which has granted a credit line of 150 million euros. "We are confident that the modernization of this airport will contribute to the socio-economic development of the Saint-Louis region, and create links with neighboring countries. It is the most important investment project of the Czech Republic in Sub-Saharan Africa," adds Martin Tlapa, Czech Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In Saint-Louis, the head of state also launched work on a new hospital, and inaugurated a dike to protect against coastal erosion. Ceremonies criticized by detractors of the head of state: they accuse him of "disguised propaganda" during the campaign for legislative elections on July 31.