At just 44, Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the Senegalese presidency with 54 percent of the vote. He was sworn into office on April 2nd after what has been called a landslide victory in the nation’s March elections, just a few short weeks after his release from prison.

Diomaye’s campaign featured a strong pledge of economic reform with the heavily left-leaning leader offering promises to protect Senegal’s natural resources from what many of his constituents believe to be the effects of French post-colonial exploitation.

A 39-year-old factory worker by the name of Aissata Sagna worked on Diomaye’s campaign. After the victory, he was quoted to say that the election was “the culmination of a long struggle for democracy and the rule of law.” His statement came on the heels of a presidential election that found itself rife with political protest, violence, and the deaths of dozens of people.

The recent protests were ignited after Faye and popular opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, were both imprisoned by the Senegalese government. The former tax inspector turned president was then accused of inciting insurrection, allegations now believed to have been false, and was held in prison without trial for over a year. Many protesters and opposition leaders feared that outgoing President Macky Sall would seek a third term in office, despite the country’s legally recognized term limit of two years.

Heavily fueled by support from young voters, Diomaye’s radical Pan-Africanist attitudes and left-leaning economic stance have led many to see his victory as reflecting the will of a young populace frustrated by widespread unemployment and the lingering effects of its former colonial rule under France. Many voters believe the European nation to be self-serving at the expense of the Senegalese economy in its current relationship with the country.

Current political watchers like Alioune Tine, founder of the Senegalese think tank Afrikajom Center, believe Diomaye will have much to prove as he begins his first 100 days in office.

“I think the first challenge is the formation of his (Faye’s) government,” Tine noted. He added that the “size, diversity and profiles will be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb, to see if they meet the demand for a break with the past.”

Others see the recent election as an event that will harald significant change for a nation shaken by military coups and civil unrest. The insistence of a population with a median age of 18 that their interests be taken into consideration has brought about a shift in the nation’s government that some see as testament to the strong civil desire for the sorts of economic transformation Faye has proposed.

“I am aware that the results of the elections express a profound desire for systemic change,” the newly elected Faye said during his first speech as president. He also promised to work towards building prosperity and to deliver a real sense of sovereignty to the Senegalese people.