Abdourahmane Sarr appealed to employers. “Take more risks in order to take full advantage of the potential of key sectors of our economy. This appeal is also valid for our bilateral and multilateral financial partners. I say this to all foreign partners who visit me. The State’s balance sheet cannot support the volume of profitable investments necessary for the emergence of Senegal,” he said, while ensuring that “the State is ready to “derisk” projects to facilitate their financing.”
Senegal makes local content a key subject to stimulate its economic growth, strengthen its sovereignty and improve the living conditions of its populations. The President of the Republic translated it into his Project for a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal. With this ambition, the Project must rely on “the involvement of the national private sector which must play a driving role in the modernization of production processes, the opening of new markets and the promotion of local products”, according to Abdourahmane Sarr . The Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation represented Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko at the opening ceremony of the Business Conference, the theme of which this year is: “Public-private partnership and the content local.” According to Mr. Sarr, actions have been carried out in the past to improve the business environment and promote the attractiveness of our country in terms of investments, but they “have been very insufficient in view of the issues and challenges facing we have to face and the results obtained.
Thus, to rectify the situation, “the Systemic Transformation Project of Senegal has defined major orientations through the development of a National Strategy for the development of a strong private sector integrating the territorial dimension”, informed the Minister of Economy, planning and cooperation. Who specified that this involves “supporting the strengthening of the productive capacities of the private sector” by developing human resources and facilitating access to financing. “Particular emphasis must be placed on increasing the presence of national companies in regional hubs and in strategic sectors such as agriculture, energy, industries and technology (digital). This will reduce dependence on the outside world and create quality jobs for Senegalese people, particularly young people,” Sarr said, while recalling that Senegal must also take advantage of its comparative advantages. to develop products and services with high added value and integrate global value chains.
The Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation also urged the national private sector to advocate collaboration between the different actors to meet the challenges linked to the production of goods and services, the marketing and the promotion of Made in Senegal. However, Abdourahmane Sarr believes that the promotion of local content will require new measures such as “the adoption of a legislative and regulatory framework more favorable to the requirements of local content beyond the hydrocarbon and mining sector, in particular through the revision in progress of the Investment Code to integrate this concern, the strengthening of the support system for national companies, in particular through their financing, the establishment of investment incentive mechanisms and the development of infrastructure necessary for production and the marketing of local products.
