Policy response to COVID-19 in Senegal: power, politics, and the choice of policy instruments

Abstract The objective of the paper is to understand how Senegal formulated its policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The response was rapid, comprising conventional policy instruments used previously for containing Ebola. The policymaking process involved several agencies, which resulted in significant leadership and coordination problems. In addition, community participation and engagement with relevant scientific communities were limited, despite their recognized importance in fighting medical crises. Instead, international donors had a significant influence on the choice of policy tools. The paper contributes to contemporary thinking on the autonomy of policy instruments—the idea that preferences for policy instruments are stable, independent of the particular policy problems being addressed and goals being pursued—which has recently been applied to policies in Africa. The study calls for a review of how academics, civil society, and decision-makers must collaborate to design public policies and policy tools based on evidence and context, not only politics.