SOISEN LAUNCHES AN AUDIT OF MINING COMPANIES IN SENEGAL

Somisen, the Senegal Mines Company, informs in a press release of the launch of a financial audit of mining companies. This audit is based on the terms of law n°2020-31 of November 6, 2020 which allowed the creation of Somisen.

In application of its prerogatives, Somisen began in June 2024 an in-depth analysis of the state of shares held by the State in mining companies. This audit carried out in two phases allowed an exhaustive identification of all the mining companies in which the State holds shares, and then presented the situation as follows:
Sabadola Gold Operation, Petiwal Mining Company (PMC) SA, Sored-Mines, Afrigold, MANAGEM-BOTO SA, Makabingui Gold Operations (MGO) which all exploit gold with only 10% for the State of Senegal.

As for the companies exploiting phosphate, the State’s shares vary from one company to another. There are three of them, the Chemical Industries of Senegal, which reserve 15% for the State, the other two exploiting the same substance such as Baobab Mining and Chemical Corp. Sa and Société Minière de la Vallée du rivière Sénégal only reserve 10% for the State. The same share, that is to say 10% for the exploitation of Zircon, limestone, attapulgite, held successively by Grande Côte Opérations (GCO), Ciments de l’Afrique Cimaf, Dangote Industries Sénégal SA Dangote, Senegal Mines. Only the Société des Mines de fer du Sénégal Oriental is 98% owned by Senegal.

From this documentation, it appears that the State’s share in mining operations is low and not valued. The document also highlights the State has never received dividends in most of the mining companies concerned or if it does, the amounts are insignificant compared to the level of wealth generated. This is due to certain conventional and financial practices.

This is why Somisen decided to launch a financial audit of all the mining companies concerned. Correspondence was also sent to all the companies.
At the end, the first value assessment report will be sent to the authorities followed by strategic recommendations for profitable management of the State’s mining portfolio and responsible governance of mineral resources for the benefit of the people, in accordance with article 25 -1 of the constitution.