The digitalization of the administration constitutes the central pillar of the strategic development plan of Senegal Numérique. Despite the efforts deployed for this project, the results are still awaited.
Senegal is lagging behind on its objectives for the dematerialization of public services. Isidore Diouf (photo), the general director of Sénégal Numérique (SENUM SA), declared on Friday, June 28 that the country had a low rate of dematerialization of public services. Of the 900 procedures to be dematerialized, only 130 have been, i.e. a rate of 13.4%. “, indicated Mr. Diouf during a panel devoted to digital technology as part of the business conference.
Senegal began to digitize its administrative public services in 2017. In 2022, SENUM signed an agreement with the 19 municipalities of Dakar for the digitization of civil status documents. In July 2023, 8 billion FCFA ($13 million) were invested to implement the Digital Justice Master Plan 2023-2027, in order to build a digital judicial service that is more accessible to the population. The health sector has also received special attention.
In the same vein, in November, the Senegalese Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, in partnership with the German international cooperation agency GIZ, unveiled GovStack, a new platform dedicated to processing more than 800 administrative procedures.
While the reasons for this low digitization rate have not been explained despite substantial investments, it should be noted that there are still many challenges. These include the development of regulatory texts to establish a governance framework for dematerialization, as well as the implementation of an e-gov strategy aimed at accelerating the process. Support for all stakeholders in the change process and collective support are also essential for successful digitization.
It should also be noted that in Senegal, certain services deemed to be priorities are already online, particularly in the sectors of urban planning, tourism, justice, education, work and social security, civil service, interior, sport, consular civil status, and the environment.
Samira Njoya
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