Master Abdoulaye WADE,

He turned 100 on May 29, 2026. Mashallah. May God grant him many more years of health.

President Wade worked for his country and for Africa. We, the youth of the turbulent years (1988-2000), can amply attest to this. The master of SOPI, the change movement, introduced us to democracy and the struggle for self-affirmation. From our time as high school students to university students, we followed with keen interest the epic battles of President Wade against the excesses of the socialist regime established since independence in 1960. President Wade fought with courage, conviction, and intelligence. After 26 years, he finally brought about a change of power in Senegal.

After my studies, I decided, along with a group of three friends, to create an IT engineering company in 1995. In 1998, we won the contract to supply the IT system for the PPEA, a new World Bank project. The client paid us a deposit, but it wasn't enough to purchase the necessary equipment. Our supplier, INFOPOINT Montpellier, refused any credit and returned the amount I had already transferred to their account. We were stuck. Our sales manager, Tamsir Ba, contacted a friend in France, Mr. Cheikh Camara, who put us in touch with his older brother, Moustapha Camara, known as "Grand Camou." He was very close to Abdoulaye Wade. Grand Camou then recommended us to the PDS's traditional supplier, Mr. Paul Benichou, CEO of NSX INFORMATIQUE, a large IT equipment distribution company located at 42 Avenue de la Grande Armée, Paris.

I requested an additional loan from Mr. Souleymane Ly, Operations Director of BST, a bank then headed by Mr. Abdoul Mbaye. We managed to send Tamsir on an emergency mission to Paris to negotiate supplier credit with NSX Paris. Upon arrival, he happened to meet Maitre Abdoulaye Wade in Paul Benichou's office. Sensing that our envoy was stuck with the supplier, Maitre Wade suddenly joined the discussions and decided to guarantee us with a check, without even knowing us. He did, however, take the precaution of asking Tamsir to speak to his superiors. He put him on the phone with me. After the initial greetings, Maitre Wade asked me to introduce our company. As soon as I gave my name, he immediately replied: "Well, you're a WANE, so you must be related to my friend Amadou Moctar WANE, with whom I formed the PDS. You are Almamy and you always keep your word. That's sufficient guarantee for me." I'm leaving you a check for the remaining 10 million, and Paul will deliver it. I commend you for deciding to start a business and invest in your country. Keep fighting; success is always the reward for hard work. I'm sending the deposit back to NSX Paris. Ultimately, the deal with the PPEA went well, and our firm, INTELECT, has won the PDS as a new client.

It is in this capacity that I had the chance to be an eyewitness to certain episodes and anecdotes, especially in the final round towards victory on March 19, 2000.

At the end of 1998, Mr. Wade entrusted us with securing his computer server and designing his website. What class and genius! I discovered the candidate Wade, the intelligent mind who grasped everything explained to him at the first explanation, even if it wasn't his field. He knew exactly what he wanted and how to achieve it.

One evening in 1999, he summoned my colleague Tamsir and me to Point E to present him with the first version of his 2000 election campaign website: www.maitrewade.com . We arranged to meet the next day at 3 PM. I arrived at his office at 2:30 PM with Tamsir, armed with my computer, a video projector, and a voice recorder.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Alexis, who showed us to his living room sofa, right next to his office. There we found Mountaga Gueye, recently arrived from the United States, Maitre Massokhna Kane, Idrissa Seck, Alioune Diop, Lamine Faye, and other members of the PDS.

The host soon joined us. I had finished setting up my presentation screen. After warm greetings, he invited us to unveil the results of our work. I then projected the first page of the website www.maitrewade.com .

"Wow!" exclaimed several members of the audience. "Ah, it's beautiful and fantastic, excellent work," Mountaga confided. A feeling of pride and satisfaction washed over Tamsir and me, the website designers.

While everyone marveled at the beauty of the completed work, the master remained relatively calm. This intrigued me somewhat. And when he finally decided to speak, a profound silence fell over the room. You could even hear a fly buzzing in the air, so attentive were the people to his reaction. What followed quickly made me realize they were right.

Mr. Wade began his observations with a direct question.

- "Who chose this photo?" He was referring to the large photo on the homepage.

"That's me," my colleague Tamsir proudly replied. It was the very beautiful photo of Master Wade dressed in a large blue boubou, embroidered with yellow all over the front.

"Master Wade replied kindly and tactfully. 'Yes, this photo is very nice, but it doesn't belong here. Put it on the following pages, because with this big boubou, I don't want to be mistaken for a marabout. Don't forget that this website is the showcase for our campaign abroad. The diaspora and our partners will visit it every day to get updates on me. Furthermore, we must avoid scaring foreign donors, as they are still traumatized by Islamism and terrorism. So, on the front page, put a photo of me in a suit and tie or a shirt and suspenders. If you don't have one, ask Alioune or Lamine. It will be simpler and more palatable for everyone.'"

"Yes, you are right, Master," I replied. Everyone agreed with me.

Thinking that was it and that this page was complete, I immediately wanted to move on to the next page. But I hadn't counted on the Master's vigilance, who returned with a second question.

"Who wrote the introductory text?"

This time, it was Master Massokhna Kane who immediately replied, "It's me."

Indeed, he was in charge of the editorial committee, along with Mountaga Gueye.

Here too, Mr. Wade took the opposite stance to his committee, saying, "Your text is well written, but you insist too much on my age."

The text said this: "This man, over 73 years old, has dedicated more than 26 years of his life to the struggle for the advent of democracy in Senegal."

Mr. Wade corrected the sentence with a touch of humor. "Rewrite the text, removing the reference to my age. It's as if I'm too old to become President. At what age did Nelson Mandela become President?" he exclaimed.

Simply say, "This man dedicated more than 26 years of his life to the struggle for the advent of democracy in Senegal."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Another lesson from the master. That Wade!

After this episode, the focus shifted to 2000, the presidential elections which he would win on the evening of March 19, 2000.

On April 1, 2000, in the company of our partner Paul Benichou, I was invited to the Tribune of Honor of the Stade de l'Amitié for the swearing-in ceremony of the new President of the Republic, His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade.

After the ceremony, I had the privilege of accompanying President Wade to the palace for his installation in his new role. We were tasked with moving his computer equipment from his office in Point E to his office in the Presidential Palace: computer, printer, fax machine, scanner—everything. The new President is a modern man, a man of his time, connected to the entire world.

Seven years later, history repeated itself in 2007. Wade was running for president again. This time, he faced formidable opponents: his former campaign manager, Idrissa Seck, and his former supporter and prime minister, Moustapha Niasse. He knew they were well-versed in his campaign tactics and methods. The ever-savvy and well-connected Wade decided to innovate his communication strategy. He initially targeted his loyal, long-time supporters, religious communities, and the youth, who were heavily represented on the electoral roll. He asked us to set up a system that would allow him to speak to them directly, even if he couldn't meet with them every day. This innovative solution was implemented with the complicity of his son, Karim Wade, and his friend, Paul Benichou: an automated system for direct calls to the mobile numbers of activists and young people. He summoned me to his office at the Presidential Palace to record a voice message to be widely disseminated throughout the country. This is Digital Contact. His communications advisors are preparing a text for him to read and pre-record. I tell them the message shouldn't exceed 60 seconds. After several attempts, we can't manage to record the text in one minute, the ideal length for effective dissemination. So the President decides to abandon the text and improvises his voice message. He asks me to hand him the voice recorder and give him the signal as soon as I'm ready. I was alone in his office.

In the next room, his communications advisor and the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Ousmane Ngom, are waiting.

After finishing my adjustments, I handed him the microphone and gave him the go-ahead. I was surprised to hear the President automatically switch to Wolof to deliver his speech. At the end of his address, I checked the timer: 58 seconds.

He asked me, "So, how was it this time?" I replied, "58 seconds."

He replied, "Well then, that's perfect. We'll keep that one."

I play the recording back to him so he can listen to it again. He confirms it.

I asked if I could leave to start work. He said no, and called Hassan Ba. It was his communications advisor who was standing nearby. He then began giving us his instructions. “You will broadcast starting tomorrow. And begin with Touba, Mbacké, Kébémer, and Tivaouane. For Dakar and the other regions, you must start with numbers beginning with 77633 and 77634 because those are young people. Don't bother with 77644 because those are people from the palace and the government; I don't need to approach them, they will vote for me.”

That day I discovered that President Wade had a perfect grasp of his country's telephone numbering plan. Good old Wade!

The day after his message was broadcast across all social media platforms, there was a public outcry. From Touba to Dakar, all the conscripts proudly repeated, "President Wade called me personally to ask me to support him and vote for him." The die was cast; that was the intended goal. Now, all eyes were on the Senegalese people's vote.

When the results were announced, President Wade won in the first round. Some newspapers didn't hesitate to run headlines like: "The Djinns have voted."

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, we cannot remain silent about these anecdotes of the political genius Abdoulaye Wade. A generous professor and intellectual, we learned a great deal from him.

President Wade fought political injustice while always respecting his opponents. Whenever he could no longer control the violence of the protests, he did not hesitate to back down. His supporters, and even his adversaries, sometimes mistakenly believed he was sacrificing his presidential ambitions. They underestimated the Professor he was. He always retreated to leap forward and save the Republic!

As a result, it was under his leadership that Senegal experienced its first peaceful transfer of power and the replacement of a president through the ballot box. Hats off to the democrat!

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Happy Centenary, Dear Master.

Tidiane WANE

Polytechnic engineer, graduate of ESP and EPITA Paris

Former Technical Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic

Former Head of ICT Division of ANOCI/PR.