Senegal: Investing in Senegal
Senegal hosts a large stock of FDI compared to its region. The government is leading an active policy to encourage FDI inflows. According to the UNCTAD 2021 World Investment Report, Senegal was among the few economies on the continent that received more FDI inflows in 2020, up 39% to USD 1.5 billion, compared to USD 1.1 billion in 2019, despite the global economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The total stock of FDI stood at USD 8.7 billion at the end of 2020. This increase in FDI is the result of investments in energy, both in the traditional oil and gas and renewable energy sectors. According to UNCTAD’ Investment Trends Monitor, global FDI flows rebounded strongly in 2021, but FDI flows to African countries (excluding South Africa) rose only moderately. Work on offshore oil and gas fields first began in Senegal in 2020, the largest project being the SNE Oil Field, which is being developed 100km south of the capital, Dakar, by a consortium including Woodside Petroleum (Australia), Cairn Energy (UK), FAR (Australia) and Petrosen (Senegal). Since 2014, FDI inflows have been linked to the Emerging Senegal Plan for the development of infrastructure, electricity, agriculture, drinking water and health. Senegal is looking to develop new industries that are linked to hydrocarbons such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers as well as a broad utilization of gas-to-power projects linked to the automotive manufacturing and mining (Energy Capital Power). Foreign investors have secured contracts to exploit mineral resources, provide garbage services, and manage Dakar's maritime port. Port Operator DP World (a Dubai-based company) plans to build a massive USD 1.1 billion deep-water port located 50km away from Dakar. France is the largest investor in Senegal, but recently there have been important investments from China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Some other key investors are Morocco, Indonesia, and the United States.
In the 2020 edition of the Doing Business report of the World Bank (latest report), Senegal was ranked 123rd worldwide for the ease of doing business. This represents a notable improvement from the 2019 edition when the country was ranked 141st. Senegal has made progress in giving access to credit information by expanding the coverage of the credit bureau and offering credit scoring as a value-added service. It has also improved its tax collection system by implementing an electronic filing and payment system; it also merged taxes which result in a decrease in tax cost. As pointed out by the IMF, the authorities are working on overhauling the labor market, facilitating access to land, improving the commercial justice system, reducing the regulatory burden through modernizing the administration, and strengthening the competition framework via the Business Environment and Competitiveness Reform Program (PREAC III). A new Public-private partnership (PPP) framework has also been designed to help accelerate and broaden the implementation of major investments. There is no legal discrimination against businesses conducted or owned by foreign investors and there are no barriers to full ownership of businesses by foreign investors in most sectors. Senegal's strengths include competitive production costs, a skilled workforce, a strategic geographical location, good international and regional political relations, and a competitive economy. Some of the barriers that might impede investment are economic vulnerability, low activity diversity, underdeveloped infrastructure, inefficient and non-transparent regulation, bureaucracy, high factor costs, and lack of security.
Foreign Direct Investment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
FDI Inward Flow (million USD) | 1,065 | 1,846 | 2,232 |
FDI Stock (million USD) | 6,481 | 9,066 | 10,505 |
Number of Greenfield Investments* | 30 | 10 | 8 |
Value of Greenfield Investments (million USD) | 2,131 | 504 | 642 |
Source: UNCTAD, Latest available data
Note: * Greenfield Investments are a form of Foreign Direct Investment where a parent company starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up.
Country Comparison For the Protection of Investors | Senegal | Sub-Saharan Africa | United States | Germany |
Index of Transaction Transparency* | 7.0 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Manager’s Responsibility** | 1.0 | 3.5 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Shareholders’ Power*** | 6.0 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Source: Doing Business, Latest available data
Note: *The Greater the Index, the More Transparent the Conditions of Transactions. **The Greater the Index, the More the Manager is Personally Responsible. *** The Greater the Index, the Easier it Will Be For Shareholders to Take Legal Action.
The main assets of the country are:
The country has many obstacles to FDI. The main weaknesses of the country are:
A law has been adopted in Senegal to establish the regime of special economic zones (SEZ). Tax and customs benefits can be granted to companies approved under the SEZ regime for a maximum of 25 years, including: exemptions from duties and taxes on imports of goods, raw materials and equipment (except for community levies); the application of a reduced corporate tax rate of 15%; and exoneration from some taxes such as business tax and property tax. Today there are three SEZs: one in the suburbs of Dakar, one in Sandiara and another in Ndiass.
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Latest Update: March 2023