Overview
Building infrastructure is another principal focus of the Emerging Senegal Plan. The first phase, completed in 2018, planned for public investment-led growth. The second phase calls for private investment to boost growth, requiring private sector participation through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to ease financing burden on the GOS. To encourage investors, the Government passed a new PPP law in 2021. U.S. companies with innovative Special Vehicle Purpose (SPV) financing solutions will have an advantage in this sector, which is already dominated by China and Turkey.
Under the PSE, Senegal’s large-scale infrastructure projects include: completion of the Blaise Diagne International Airport; improvement to the road network; development of a toll highway and other interdepartmental roads; and construction of a rapid train (TER). The TER link from downtown Dakar to Diamniadio opened in 2022; the Government plans to expand the TER from Diamniadio to the new airport. Another upcoming project is the long-awaited construction of the World Bank’s bus rapid transit (BRT) project aimed at improving public commuter service and easing congestion. To reduce the housing deficit, the GOS has a program to build 100,000 affordable housing units for low and middle-income families within five years.
Diamniadio, a new urban development 30 kilometers east of Dakar intended to relieve congestion in Dakar, has been underdeveloped since 2014. Diamniadio has hotels, private homes, a knowledge center and university, Dakar’s new industrial park, a world-class convention center, and government office buildings, and a new vaccine production facility under construction by Institute Pasteur Dakar.
The GOS has earmarked $180 million for the modernization and expansion of Senegal’s secondary airports in Saint Louis, Tambacounda, Ziguinchor, and Kedougou.
Senegal continues to extend its road and tollway network. I the past, this included concessions with French company Eiffage for the toll road linking Dakar to Diamniadio and the international airport and a Chinese concession for the Thies-to-Touba road. Currently the government is negotiating concessions for the construction of a highway connecting Thies to Saint-Louis.
Senegal’s state-owned railway company, Grands Trains du Senegal S.A. (GTS), unveiled a program to revamp the national rail and logistics network, entailing the rehabilitation of 209 km of rail, the rehabilitation and construction of nine stations and rest stops, acquisition of rolling stock, construction of two depots and five dry port terminals, and the acquisition of 12 cranes. This project will eventually be extended to revitalize the historical rail links between Dakar and Bamako, Mali.
Senegal is in the process of developing a bulk goods and energy port at Bargny-Sendou south of Dakar. Dubai Ports World is building the 600-hectare multifunctional Port of Ndayane, which will be an 18-metre-deep deep-water port and one of the largest in West and Central Africa when completed in 2025. It will eventually receive container ships and connect to the Integrated Special Economic Zone. When commissioned, this port will effectively replace the congested Port of Dakar which currently services 95 percent of Senegal’s international trade.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Large infrastructure projects offer excellent opportunities for U.S.-origin refurbished construction equipment. Refurbished equipment from respected global brands like Caterpillar have the most immediate opportunities for success in Senegal on the high end of the market, while recent competition from China has eroded opportunities in the lower tier of the equipment sector. The Dakar housing boom, combined with a growing middle-class population, has fueled demand for furniture and housewares. Additional opportunities exist in engineering and construction services and feasibility studies. Senegal’s train company Grands Trains du Senegal (GTS) is seeking locomotives and train cars for the planned GTS rail upgrade[1].
Opportunities
Senegal will host the Youth Olympic games in Senegal in 2026 and will need more road and hotel infrastructure.
Resources
Ministry of Infrastructure:
https://www.senegel.org/en/administration/executive-power/ministers/orgdetails/221
Ministry of Tourism and Air Transport
https://www.senegel.org/en/administration/executive-power/ministers/orgdetails/245
Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation
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