APA-Diamniadio (Senegal) The Senegalese leader calls on his compatriots to work harder for the country’s stability in order to attract more foreign investors, who are vital to powering the national economy.
By Abdourahmane Diallo
The hall of the Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre (CICAD) is teeming with people on the morning of 6 July 2023.
On a table set up just inside the entrance, hostesses are busy handing out access badges to visitors. All are here to explore the business opportunities offered by the land of Teranga through the Invest in Senegal Forum.
A number of round tables are scheduled to discuss key sectors ranging from mining to energy, not forgetting the pharmaceutical industry, health, finance, the digital and creative economy, tourism, agri-business, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), etc.
Concerned about its future, this West African country has adopted the Plan Sénégal Emergent (PSE) to accelerate its development.
Launched in 2014 by President Macky Sall, this vast modernisation programme covers major projects.
These are opportunities for investors from all over the world, in fields as diverse as energy, agriculture, hydrocarbons, water, new technologies, transport, health, tourism and waste treatment.
The efforts made in these different sectors have enabled Dakar to develop one of the most dynamic economies in Africa, with fairly high growth rates.
It has to be said that Senegal has enough assets to seduce. But to take advantage of them and convince donors to seize these opportunities, there is a prerequisite, according to Macky Sall.
“I must remind you that the first investment, the one that must attract and make all the others prosper, is first and foremost peace, security and stability, but also the rule of law. These are prerequisites without which there can be neither trade nor sustainable investment,” he said at the opening of the forum.
According to Sall, “throughout the world, peace, security, stability and the rule of law are the fundamental pillars of an attractive business environment. These are the keys that open the doors to trade and investment. This is what every prudent investor seeks to assess before investing in a country.”
“It is therefore the prime responsibility of the public authorities to ensure that these fundamentals are maintained. This is what we will continue to do in Senegal,” he promised.
June was a particularly turbulent month in Senegal, with violent demonstrations following the sentencing of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko to two years’ imprisonment for “corruption of youth.”
These clashes, which resulted in a number of deaths, were widely reported internationally, to the point of calling into question the image of Senegal as a haven of peace in the troubled Sahel region.
For Macky Sall, however, these types of events, which occur just about everywhere in the world, should not cause potential investors to have doubts. “If a tyre is burnt in Senegal, the rating agencies immediately downgrade its rating. On the other hand, a hundred tyres and 400,000 buildings can be burnt in a country in the Northern Hemisphere without its rating being downgraded. And so we are going to pay for the impertinence of certain citizens. They will say that Senegal is now dangerous. But there is no danger here,” he said.
He called on the international financial institutions to change the perception of risk in Africa.
“If we do that, it’s a win-win situation for the partners, the countries and Africa,” he stressed.
Cote d’Ivoire as guest of honour
Some 3,500 people from more than seventy countries are taking part in this first Invest in Senegal Forum. Côte d’Ivoire, the leading economic power in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), is the guest of honour.
Ivorian Vice-President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, representing President Alassane Ouattara, praised this mark of recognition for his country.
He also said that “through this forum, Senegal is showing that it remains an attractive market for all entrepreneurs and a gateway to other markets in the sub-region”.
According to Mr. Koné, the holding of this forum on investment issues in Senegal reflects the success of the policies implemented by the government of President Macky Sall.
Abidjan and Dakar are the two powerhouses of the UEMOA zone, with a combined GDP of around 60%.
“The complementarity of our economies offers mutually beneficial opportunities to meet the challenges of managing the local, sub-regional and international value chains of our raw materials,” said the former governor of the Central Bank of West African States.
With this in mind, he invited and encouraged Senegalese and Ivorian investors to forge fruitful partnerships through investments backed by private capital from both countries.
“The aim of our project is to ensure complementarity rather than competition between existing African markets. The Senegalese private sector’s view of the Invest in Senegal Forum is one that invites us to forge strategic alliances for partnerships and co-investments,” said Baidy Agne, President of the Conseil National du Patronat, representing the local private sector.
He assured the audience that all the conditions were in place to put Senegal on the agenda of foreign investors and to help make Dakar a hub for services and a magnet for foreign direct investment.
This is one of the objectives of this first edition of the event, which will be held every two years.
ARD/ac/lb/as/APA