Senegal’s economy is based on agriculture. The majority of the export revenue is obtained from agriculture. The Gross Domestic Product (WIP) is on a constant rise for recent years. In 2009, the GDP is estimated to amount to FCFA 5,999.3 billion, compared to FCFA 5,935.1 billion in 2008. The GDP growth rate in 2008 was 9.8% and is estimated to decline to 1.1% in 2009.

e=estimation

(Source: Central Bank, Central Bank)

GNI per capita at PPP

The GNI (Gross national Income) per capita at PPP has increased from USD 1,716 in 2005 to USD 1,816 in 2010.

(Source:  UNDP, page: 4)

In 2009, the balance of trade was a deficit of FCFA 957,702 million. Exports and imports in 2009 amounted to FCFA 990,063 million and FCFA 1,947,765 million respectively.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 47)

Income tax 

The income tax on individuals is levied up to 50%. The tax is charged on a proportional rate depending on the individual’s nature of income. 

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax 

Standard corporate tax in Senegal is 25% and the VAT levied across the country is 18%. 

(Source: taxrates.cc)  

Inflation rate 

The inflation rate has declined from 1.5% in December 2008 to 0.3% in December 2009. However, in March 2010 the inflation rate was increased to 0.6%.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 14)

FDI inflow

The foreign direct investment (FDI) was on a steady rise till 2008 registering an inflow of FCFA 178,062 million. However, in 2009, the FDI inflow has declined to FCFA 151,115 million.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 47)

Portfolio investment 

(Source: Central Bank, page: 48)  

Banking sector assets 

The table below displays the assets of the Central Bank of Senegal. 

Currency Unit: CFA Franc (FCFA)

(Source: Central Bank, page: 225)

Consumer price index

The consumer price index (CPI) has increased from 101.5 in December 2010 to 97.7 in December 2009 indicating an in the prices of consumer goods. The CPI is recorded at 101.6 in January 2011.

Base year: 2008=100

(Source: Statistics, Statistics, Statistics, Statistics, Statistics, Statistics, Statistics)

Government expenditure

The government expenditure has increased from FCFA 1,573.4 billion in 2008 to FCFA 1,620.1 billion in 2009 reflecting an increase of 2.97%.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 215)

Official exchange rate

In 2010, official exchange rate of FCFA against one United States Dollar (USD) was 495.

(Source: World Bank)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

Government of Senegal has registered a fiscal deficit of FCFA 459.7 billion in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank) 

Total revenue

The total revenue was registered at FCFA 1,160.4 billion in 2009 as compared to FCFA 1,152.1 billion in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 215)

Tax revenue

The revenue from tax has declined from FCFA 1,087.2 billion in 2008 to FCFA 1,084.6 billion in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 215)

Total grants

The amount of grants to the country has increased from FCFA 139.7 billion in 2008 to FCFA 182.3 billion in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank, page: 215)

Current account balance

The current account balance has recorded deficit from 2006 to 2010. However, the deficit has declined from 14.29% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2009. As per IMF estimates, the current account balance is estimated to register a deficit of 8.7% of GDP in 2010.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of payments

(Source: Central Bank, page: 47)

Labour force

The total labour force in 2008 was recorded at 5,244,832 compared to 5,075,927 in the previous year. of the total labour force 43% were females.

(Source: World Bank, World Bank)

The total labour force participation rate in 2008 was 76%. The labour force participation rate of males was 86.8% and females was 62.1%.

(Source: World Bank, UN)

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate in 2005 was 11.1% of the total labour force.

(Source: UN)

Minimum wage

In 2008, the minimum wage in the country was FCFA 209 per hour.

(Source: State.gov)

Level of unionisation

The major trade unions in the country include:

·         National Confederation of Senegalese Workers (CNTS)

·         National Union of Autonomous Labour Unions of Senegal (UNSAS)

·         Democratic Union of Senegalese Workers (UDTS)

·         Senegalese Confederation of Free Unions (CSA)

·         General Federation of Senegalese Workers - (FGTS, Tendency A)

·         General Federation of Senegalese Workers - FGTS, Tendency B)

·         General Confederation of Office and Administrative Workers (COGES)

·         Democratic Coordinationof Autonomous Trade Unions (CDSA)

(Source: World Bank)

Senegal is a republic country under multiparty democratic rule. The President of the country is the head of the state and the Prime Minister is the head of the government.

The country’s Parliament is bicameral comprising of a Senate and a National Assembly. The statutory member required for the Senate chamber is 100 where 65 members are appointed and 35 are directly elected. The term of the parliament is six years. National Assembly chamber requires 150 statutory members directly elected for a term of five years.

(Source: ipu.org)

Currently, Abdoulaye Wade is the President and Soulayemane Ndene Ndiaye is the Prime Minister of the country.

 (Source:nytimes, BBC)

Some of the major political parties of the country include:

·         Parti Socialiste (PS)

·         Parti Démocratique Sénégalais (PDS)

·         Alliance des Forces du Progrès (AFP)

·         Union pour le Renouveau Démocratique (URD)

(Source: sciencespobordeaux.fr)

Regulatory environment

Senegal’s economic freedom score is 55.7, making it 121^st freest economy in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. The country ranks 22^nd out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

(Source: Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Senegal is ranked 150^th with a score of 2.9 on this list which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments in the country is fairly high.

Senegal has slipped from 99^th rank in 2009 with a score of 3.0 to the current position of 150^th rank. It indicates that the perceived level of corruption in the country has increased.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Senegal is ranked 93^rd in the World Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 25 indicating the media in the country is fairly restricted compared to other countries.

The constitution guarantees the freedom of media in the country. The government does not practise censorship on the media, however, the law advises the practise of self-censorship by the media regarding the news published.

The various newspapers circulating in the country include:

·         Le Soleil

·         Sud Quotidien

·         Le Quotidien

·         L'Observateur

·         Wal Fadjri L'Aurore

(Source: rsf.org, BBC)

Judicial system

The judicial system in the country is comprised of various courts such as:

·         Constitutional Council

·         Supreme Court

·         Court of Auditors

·         High Court of Justice

The Constitutional Court decides on the complaints and appeals at the presidential and legislative elections. No further appeals can be made on the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial court in the country. It functions as a court of cassation. The Supreme Court consists of a president, counsellors, Generals and Clerks.

The High Court of Justice is composed of equal number of members elected by the senate and national assembly.

(Source: gouv.sn)

The total population of Senegal for the year 2011 is projected to be 12,855,155, of which 6,491,029 were females, constituting to 50.5% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics)

(Source: Statistics)

In 2009, about 42% of the total population are under 14 years, 50.9% are under 20 years and 3.5% are over 65 years. It indicates that the dependency ratio in the country is high.

(Source:Statistics, page: 31)

Birth and death rate

The infant mortality rate per thousand live births was registered at 73.7 in the year 2009. In the same year the crude death rate per thousand people was 11.3 and the crude birth rate was 38.6 per thousand people.

(Source: Statistics, page: 35)

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is approximately 56.4 years for males and 59.2 years for females.

(Source: Statistics, page: 35)

Migration and urbanisation

The internal migration in the country from rural to urban areas is high especially in Dakar city. It comprises 84.4% of the total immigrants from rural areas. International migrant stock till mid-2010 was recorded at 210,100 people constituting about 1.6% of the entire population.

(Source: Statistics, page: 39,UN)

The country’s urban population in 2009 is estimated to be 5,080,338 inhabitants registering an urbanisation rate of 42%.  The average annual rate of urban population for 2005-2010 was 3.1%. In 2007, the urban population was recorded at 42% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics, page: 30, UN)

Ethnic environment

The various ethnic groups in Senegal include Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Diola, Mandingo, and Soninke. Of the various religions in the country majority are Muslims followed by Christian and traditional.

(Source: State.gov)

Human development index

The country ranks 144^th out of 169 countries on the United Nations’ Human Development Index in 2010 and is amongst countries with very high human development. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

Senegal’s adult literacy rate from 2005 to 2008 is estimated at 42%. From 2004 to 2008 the youth literacy rate of males was 58% and of females was 45%.

(Source: UNICEF)

Education resource

About 14% of the central government expenditure was incurred on education in 2008. The education system is distinguished between Formal and Non-formal education. The formal education includes childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, technical and vocational training and higher education. The non-formal education includes basic community schools.

(Source:education.gouv, UNICEF)

During the academic year 2009-10, there were about 8,198 schools for elementary education with 1,695,007 staff. The number of students enrolled in the secondary education is projected to be an average of 472,661. In 2009, the average annual rate of increase in the enrolment is registered at 6.44%.

(Source: education.gouv, Statistics)

Health care

In 2009, the share of health sector in the state budget was 10.3% (excluding debts). In 2008, about 3% of the central government expenditure was incurred on health.

(Source: Statistics, UNICEF)

Malaria is the major cause of death in children below five years in the country. In 2008, about 19% of deaths were caused due to malaria. In 2009, 174,890 cases of malaria were registered in the country.

(Source: Statistics, WHO)

As per recent reports, the country had 0.6 physicians and 4.2 nurses and midwives per 10,000 population. In 2009, there were 1,361 nurses, 269 senior technician, 205 doctors, 606 midwifes, 60 licensed nurse, 59 dentists, 49 social Workers, 41 nursing aid, 48 NCO hygiene, 25 hospitals, 18 pharmacist, three pharmacy technicians, and one physiotherapist.

(Source: Statistics, WHO)

Mass public transit

Roadways are the mass public transport in Senegal. Buses and taxis are the major medium used for public transport in the country.  Railways in country are operated by Senegalese Railways.

(Source: senegal.embassy)

Roads

The country has a road network of 13,576 km in length.

(Source: estandardsforum.org, page: 5)

Railways

Senegal has a rail network of length 906 km.

(Source: estandardsforum.org, page: 6)

Ports

The major ports in Senegal include:

(Source: worldportsource)

Airports

The major airports in the country include:

(Source: aircraft-charter-world)

Telecommunications

The number of fixed telephone lines in Senegal has increased from 244,900 in 2004 to 278,800 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 2.6%. The usage of fixed telephone line has declined from 2.23 per 100 inhabitants in 2004 to 2.22 per 100 inhabitants in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

The number of mobile cellular subscriptions rose from 1,121,300 in 2004 to 6,901,500 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 43.8%. The ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines was 24.8:1, indicating that the amount of mobile cellular usage in the country is more as compared to the fixed telephone line usage.

(Source: ITU)

The number of internet users in the country was recorded at 1.02 million in 2009 as compared to 0.54 million users in 2007. The penetration rate of internet users in 2009 was 7.4% as compared to 4.9% in 2007.

(Source: internetworldstats)