At the laying of the first stone for the SM10 Agro agro-industrial project on Saturday, National Assembly President Ousmane Sonko seized the spotlight to tease Senegal’s football icon Sadio Mané about a possible political run in 2029. The jab, delivered with a grin, carried a deeper message: in Sonko’s telling, the football pitch belongs to Mané, but the political arena is his own turf.

Speaking before the crowd, Sonko acknowledged that Mané has so far stayed away from politics. He then raised the prospect of a future candidacy by invoking the precedent of George Weah, the former footballer who became president of Liberia. Turning to the player, Sonko declared, “Football is yours, but politics is mine,” a remark that drew laughter from the audience. He even joked that he could beat the striker at the ballot box — even in Bambali, Mané’s home village.

Yet the exchange was no campaign launch. Senegalese media covering the event described it as good-natured banter woven into a broader speech in which Sonko praised Mané’s career and his commitment to his native region.

The ceremony marked the launch of SM10 Agro, a project valued at 11.7 billion CFA francs. Spanning roughly 500 hectares, the complex is designed to process mango and targets an annual capacity of about 8,500 tonnes. Its promoters promise more than 1,000 direct jobs at the outset, with a goal of reaching up to 2,500 positions.

Sonko described Mané as one of Senegal’s finest ambassadors and noted that he had encouraged him as early as 2023 to invest in agriculture and local processing. The project aims to add value to fruit production in Casamance and cut post-harvest losses.

According to project officials and Senegalese authorities, SM10 Agro is built around a combination of production, processing and marketing. The initiative enjoys institutional backing, including support from APIX, as part of the national drive to develop local agricultural value chains.