Senegal - Country Commercial Guide
Construction
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Overview

Building structural infrastructure is one of the foundations 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 debt burden on the Government of Senegal.  To encourage investors, the Ministry of Economy drafted a new PPP law, which has passed in 2021.  U.S. companies with innovative 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 the completion of a new international airport, improvement of the road network, the development of a toll highway and other interdepartmental roads, and the construction of a rapid train (TER). The TER will link the capital Dakar to new city Diamniadio, and in a second phase 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 Government of Senegal 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 outside of Dakar, is being developed since 2014 to relieve congestion in Dakar.  Diamniadio already welcomes hotels, private homes, a knowledge center and university, Dakar’s new industrial park, a world-class convention center, and government office buildings.   

The Government of Senegal has earmarked $180 million for the modernization and expansion of Senegal’s secondary airports in Senegal’s main touristic destinations including Saint Louis, Tambacounda, Ziguinchor, and Kedougou.  

Senegal continues to extend its road and tollway network, including concessions with French company Eiffage for the toll road linking Dakar to Diamniadio and the international airport, a Chinese concession for the Thies-to-Touba road, and a planned modern tollway concession from Thies to Saint-Louis. 

Senegal’s state-owned railway company, Grands Trains du Senegal S.A. (GTS), recently unveiled a program to revamp the national rail and logistics space in Senegal, 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 outside of Dakar.  An additional planned 600-hectare multifunctional Port of Ndyane will be an 18-metre-deep deep-water port and one of the largest in West and Central Africa.  To be developed by Dubai World, it will eventually receive container ships and connect to the Integrated Special Economic Zone, while benefiting from the proximity of Dakar’s Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD).  When commissioned, this platform will serve as an alternative to the port of Dakar, which currently captures 95 percent of Senegal’s trade.

Additionally, unexpectedly heavy rains in September 2020 focused new government attention on delivering existing flood management plans. 

Leading Sub-Sectors

Large infrastructure projects offer excellent opportunities for US-origin used and refurbished construction equipment. 

Used and 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.  A Dakar housing boom, combined with a growing middle-class population, has fueled the demand for furniture and housewares.  Additional opportunities exist in engineering and construction services and feasibility studies, while 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.  

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