Senegal's economy is currently defined by a forecast of strong growth driven by its new oil and gas sector, balanced against significant public debt challenges.
Strong Economic Growth Forecast: The country anticipates a significant acceleration in GDP growth, with forecasts for 2025 reaching as high as 8.4%. This surge is largely attributed to the start of commercial production from the offshore Sangomar oil field and the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas field, shared with Mauritania. The Boto gold mine is also expected to contribute this year.
Fiscal and Debt Challenges: Despite the promising growth, Senegal faces acute fiscal difficulties. A government audit revealed a significantly higher real budget deficit and public debt for 2024 than previously reported (debt estimated at 114% of GDP). This led to a downgrade of Senegal's sovereign credit rating by S&P Global in July 2025.
New National Development Plan: The government launched the Agenda "Sénégal 2050" to replace the previous Plan Sénégal Émergent (PSE). This new plan, which requires massive financing, aims for a 7% economic growth rate by 2029 and seeks to reduce the debt ratio.
Market Mobilization: In line with financing the new plan, Senegal successfully mobilized funds through an oversubscribed bond issuance earlier code promo 1xbet crash in the year and recently announced a new $300 billion FCFA bond open to the diaspora for the first time, aiming to diversify funding sources.
Key Technology and Digital Developments
The country is actively pursuing a vision to become a regional digital hub, focusing on infrastructure and digital governance.
New Digital Strategy: The "New Deal Technologique" (2025-2034): This is Senegal's ambitious new digital strategy, aiming for a $1.7 billion investment to transform the nation into a digital hub. Key pillars include:
Developing robust and accessible digital infrastructure.
Digitalization of public services to improve efficiency and citizen-to-government interaction.
Promoting a local, innovative digital industry and attracting foreign investment.
Sovereignty and Security Focus: The recent 4th Edition of the Rentrée Numérique in Dakar focused on digital sovereignty, security, and performance, emphasizing the need for developing national expertise, sovereign data centers, and a reformed legal framework.
Specific Projects and Initiatives:
The "Sénégal Numérique 2025" (SN2025) strategy is being updated to better align with current priorities, with a continued focus on accessible digital services for all.
There is a push for digital financial inclusion, notably through the launch of SenTrésor for digitizing public payments, although the country is navigating the controversial implementation of a new tax on mobile money transactions.
The overall picture is one of a nation undergoing a significant transformation, with new natural resource wealth providing a major economic boost, while the government simultaneously works to address long-standing debt issues and strategically invests in the future through massive digitalization efforts.
