Overview of Leading Industry Sectors

U.S-Senegalese bilateral trade has increased over the past 10 years.  The United States generally runs a trade surplus with Senegal, with U.S. exports ranging from $281 million to $382 million between 2019 and 2021.  According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2021 the United States exported $382 million in goods to Senegal, an increase of 5 percent from 2018; U.S. imports of goods from Senegal were $234 million, an increase of 30 percent during the same period.  The U.S. trade surplus with Senegal was $148 million in 2021[1].  As shown in the chart below, the top five U.S. exports to Senegal in 2021 were “other products” (32 percent), transportation equipment (24 percent), oil and gas (18 percent), used or secondhand merchandise (15 percent), and chemicals (11 percent).  “Other products,” include computer and electronic products, plastics and rubber products and fabricated metal products.  The top five imports from Senegal were food products (38 percent), miscellaneous commodities (28 percent), minerals and ores (24 percent), chemicals (6 percent), and “other products” (4 percent).

Senegal is a beneficiary of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).  The products that Senegal exports under AGOA include animal products (cows, meat, leather and skins), oilseed products (sesame, groundnuts, nuts and shea butter, cashew nuts), horticultural products (mangoes, onions), cereals, mining products, handicrafts, cotton, textile products and clothing.  Cotton, textile products (35 percent) and mining products (65 percent) represent the totality of exports to the United States in 2021.

The United States also has a trade and investment framework agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  Trade between ECOWAS and the United States totaled $1.4 billion in 2021.  Senegal has signed and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which entered into force on May 30, 2019.  The AfCFTA aims to cover 1.2 billion people.

In recent years, Senegal has attracted increasing amounts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  In 2020, FDI totaled $1.8 billion.  In 2021, the FDI totaled $2.2 billion,[2] a 21 percent increase.  Since 2014, FDI inflows have been linked to the Emerging Senegal Plan for the development of infrastructure, electricity, agriculture, drinking water, and health.  France is historically Senegal’s largest source of FDI, but China is now the top source of FDI.  Other important investment partners include the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Indonesia, Morocco, Turkey, and the Gulf States.