Senegal: export development of IT and IT enabled services

A FAVORABLE CONTEXT

Senegal is the leading sub-Saharan French-speaking country in term of IT and ITES. In the early 2000s, it set on a journey with the ambition to become a dynamic and growing ITO and BPO centre in the West-African region. 70% of the local IT & ITES industry is export-oriented according to a recent USAID study quoted by OPTIC. The main destination markets for Senegal are regional (Senegal positions itself as a regional hub and leverages the existing economic communities ECOWAS and UEMOA), as well as France. However, a growing part of the business has been coming from North America recently.

The inclusion of Senegal into the Digital Economy is a priority set out in the national development framework strategy, the Plan Senegal Emergent. The upcoming SenegalNumérique 2025 strategy is envisaged to accelerate the roll out of internet infrastructure, which has already reached a high-level both in terms of quality of service and cost competitiveness. Moreover, the country has engaged into the construction of an ambitious technology park and developed a tax-friendly policy to attract FDI in the sector. These efforts should leave to the creation of 35,000 jobs in Senegal’s digital economy by 2025.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the fourth Netherlands Trust Fund Programme (NTF IV) in Senegal is to support the development of the local IT/ITES sector. It will be achieved through:

• strategic, inter-ministerial coordination, an IT & ITES export-development strategy, and positioning of Senegal on the global IT & ITES market;
• strengthening OPTIC as a provider of export advisory and training benefiting its current and future members;
• developing markets with Senegal’s main TPO, ASEPEX and OPTIC using techniques already developed under NTF III for Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda;
• Building training capacity in export marketing planning and sales; mobilizing the Senegalese network of foreign trade representatives (FTR) to promote IT & ITES trade opportunities to complement the work done in the area of investment promotion.