Senegal’s President Macky Sall assured investors on Thursday that the country’s customs and tax rules would undergo significant reform.
Sall speaking at an investment forum in the capital Dakar emphasized to over 50 foreign delegations that Senegal will simplify its “difficult and repressive” administrative processes to lure in more international investment.
“The fiscal environment is purposely set up in a way that it is not understood,” Sall said in an opening speech.
“We also need to reform the customs code, which honestly is also difficult and repressive, the tax code, and the civil procedure code,” Sall added.
Key among these reforms is the digitization of trade and investment protocols, bolstering investor rights protection and the introduction of tax breaks, he said.
UN trade data for foreign investment in Senegal was flat year-on-year in 2022 at around $2.5 billion,
This comes after a period of gradual increase in foreign investment over the previous decade.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that Senegal’s economic growth would rebound to approximately 8% this year.
IMF also said the introduction of oil and gas production, scheduled to commence in early 2024, has provided a significant boost to the medium-term outlook for Senegal.