The day Macky Sall handed over power to Bassirou Diomaye Faye as Senegal's 5th President
The ceremony took place in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital Dakar, from 11.40 GMT, before Faye headed for the presidential palace, for the formal handover of power with President Macky Sall.
He then held his first official presidential speech from 1pm.
"Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfil the office of President of the Republic of Senegal," the 44-year-old said before hundreds of officials and several African heads of state at an exhibition centre in the new town.
He also vowed to "scrupulously observe the provisions of the Constitution and the laws" and to defend "the integrity of the territory and national independence, and to spare no effort to achieve African unity".
International support
Among the guests were notably Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, attended the ceremony, as well as the leaders of the juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which have claimed to break away from West Africa's regional economic group Ecowas.
After three tense years and deadly unrest in the traditionally stable nation, Faye's democratic victory was hailed from Washington to Paris, via the African Union and the European Union.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke with the president-elect by telephone and "underscored the United States' strong interest in deepening the partnership," between their two countries, the State Department said.
Faye has voiced admiration for international leaders like former US president Barack Obama and South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.
He also seeks to bring Sahel's military-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger back into the fold of Ecowas.
Commonly known as Diomaye, or "the honourable one" in his local Serer language, he won the March 24 election with 54.3 percent of the vote.
The remarkable turnaround came after the government had dissolved last July his party, Pastef, co-founded with Sonko in 2014, before Sall decided, in February, to straightforwardly postpone the election.
A new generation
The 44-year-old pan-Africanist becomes the youngest leader ever in charge of Senegal, and the youngest currently in power in Africa.
He has never before held an elected office before.
Faye's campaign was launched whilst he was still in detention.
He was one of a group of political opponents freed from prison 10 days before the March 24 presidential ballot under an amnesty announced by Sall who had tried to delay the vote.
The former tax inspector has become the West African state's fifth president since independence from France in 1960.
He is also the first to openly admit to a polygamous marriage.
Faye is a practising Muslim from a humble background, with two wives and four children, representing a new generation of youthful politicians.
Economic challenges
Working with his popular mentor and founder of his party, Ousmane Sonko, who himself was barred from the election, Faye declared their priorities in his victory speech as national reconciliation, easing a cost-of-living crisis and fighting corruption.
The anti-establishment leader has vowed to restore national sovereignty over key assets such as the oil, gas and fishing sectors.
Faye also wants to leave the regional CFA franc, which he sees as a French colonial legacy, and to invest more in agriculture with the aim of reaching food self-sufficiency.
But Faye has also reassured investors that Senegal "will remain a friendly country and a sure and reliable ally for any partner that engages with us in virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation."
He is expected to unveil his government on 5 April, though he does not have a majority in the National Assembly and will have to look to build alliances to pass new laws, or call a legislative election, which will become an option from mid-November.
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