The partnership between Senegal and DP World, a strategic partner in the construction of the future deep-water port of Ndayane, has been strengthened with the signing of two new agreements on the sidelines of the Senegal Economic Forum in Dubai as part of the World Expo. Senegal now owns 40% of the project, compared to 10% in the initial contract.
DUBAI – With more than 840 billion CFA francs for the first phase, the Port of the Future project in Ndayane, in which the State of Senegal will be a shareholder, constitutes, to date, DP World’s largest port investment in Africa, and the largest private investment in Senegal’s history. A partnership that has been strengthened with the signing of two new agreements binding the two parties, on the occasion of the Senegal Economic Forum as part of the Dubai 2020 World Expo. Senegal now holds a 40% stake in the project, compared to 10% in the original contract.
As a reminder, Senegal had signed, on December 23, 2020, an agreement with DP World, paving the way for the construction of the Port of the Future in Ndayane, 50 km from Dakar; a deep-water port that will be backed by a special economic zone. According to the Head of State Macky Sall, once completed, this major infrastructure will make Senegal a world-class maritime and logistics hub. It will help create thousands of jobs, other income-generating activities, and new trade and investment opportunities. Similarly, he welcomes Dubai’s “Global Logistics Passport” initiative to remove non-tariff barriers to trade, strengthen port logistics capacity, develop new trade routes between Asia, Africa and Latin America, and boost trade between partner countries. “Senegal has joined and the initiative is already operational with us between Dp World and its importing and exporting partners,” says Macky Sall.
Senegal-United Arab Emirates: 24 agreements and memoranda of understanding signed to date
Presiding over the opening of the forum on Wednesday, President Macky Sall stressed that with 24 agreements and memoranda of understanding in force to date between the UAE and Senegal, the two countries have a “solid and diversified” bilateral legal framework to serve as a basis for business relations. These, he says, are necessary prerequisites to instil confidence in business relationships both at the state level and between private sectors in order to build lasting cooperation and partnerships. “We are therefore in fully meeting all the conditions for deepening and diversifying our economic and trade exchanges. This means that there is zero risk to make a trade, investment and partnership between Senegal and the United Arab Emirates prosper,” says Macky Sall.
Apart from the traditional areas of cooperation, Senegal and the Emirates are developing other partnerships, notably on housing, with Emirates Gate Investment, and on vocational and technical education, with Planet One Dubai, informs the Head of State. “We also have good prospects for collaboration in other sectors, such as energy, tourism, logistics, finance and services related to civil aviation (or agribusiness), to mention only a few areas,” says Macky Sall, recalling that Senegal’s doors are open to all investment project holders.
120 $7 billion projects presented to investors
Opening the Senegal Economic Forum in Dubai on Wednesday as part of the World Expo, President Macky Sall recalled that it is not a simple scenic exhibition. It is also and above all “an opportunity for meetings and exchanges to intensify trade, investment and partnership relations”, he says. On the second day of this forum this Thursday, October 14 dedicated to the meetings Be to Be (one-to-one) and B2G (networking sessions between investors and the private sector on the one hand, and investors and the Government on the other hand), the Director-General of the Senegalese Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Major Works of the State (Apix), Mountaga Sy, presented investors with business opportunities in Senegal. It is a package of 120 projects with a total amount of $7 billion. The targeted sectors are health and pharmaceutical ($2.8 billion), ICT ($819 million), industry ($2.07 billion), tourism ($914 million) and agribusiness ($802 million). These projects are underpinned by 16 flagship reforms planned as part of the PES’s Adjusted and Accelerated Priority Action Plan (Pap-2A) aimed at strengthening Senegal’s business climate and attractiveness. Following him, the Minister of Trade and SMEs, Aminata Assome Diatta, the prime promoter of Senegal’s participation in the Dubai Expo, returned to Senegal’s assets: its stability, its geographical position, the business climate, etc.
From <http://lesoleil.sn/amp/port-de-ndayane-le-senegal-detient-desormais-40-du-projet
