Senegal: Five steps for digital transformation

Assane Diankha is the Head of Trade in Services and Electronic Commerce in Senegal's Ministry of Trade.

Can you tell us how Senegal started its digital transformation journey?

We looked around the world to see what other countries are doing on e-commerce. We visited both China and the United States. When we looked at our trading partners in Africa, we realized that the African digital market was very fragmented. For example, over half of online buyers are in just five markets – Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco and Ghana. And what we found out is that all these countries have a common denominator – they have taken five key steps for digital trade to prosper.

Can you tell us a bit more about the five key steps?

First, it is about reducing the digital skills gap through capacity-building efforts. Second, there is a need to create a legal framework adapted to digital trade. As you know, technology is moving much faster than legislation. In Senegal, we have passed legislation on data and consumer protection. At the same time, there are very few African countries that have AI laws.

Third, it is about creating a digital infrastructure. And to switch to e-commerce, we needed to ensure that a minimum percentage of people have Internet access. In Senegal, 96 per cent of our population currently have access to the Internet. We are now working to connect Senegal's rural areas to the high-speed Internet network by deploying fibre optic cable and extending 4G network coverage. Fourth, affordability of Internet connection is crucial. We need to work with Internet service providers to reduce the costs of having an Internet connection.

And finally, it is about supporting our entrepreneurs. The support can be multifaceted – from tax incentives to business incubators to financing. We have projects today which are designed to help women and young people have access to digital tools for their businesses.

What does it mean for Senegal's entrepreneurs?

Through our 2025 Senegal Digital Strategy and E-commerce Strategy, we wanted to make sure opportunities were created for Senegalese producers, for online sales nationally and internationally. We wanted to increase the amount of trade. And the final element was to ensure as many stakeholders as possible get involved in this digital transformation.

So, we put in place a digital platform - Boutik 221 - for Senegalese producers and small businesses, including those in remote areas, wishing to benefit from digital trade. The platform offers logistics, delivery and online payment services. We now have more than 500 local producers using the platform and promoting their products. we want to make sure that Senegal benefits from inclusive, sustainable and trustworthy digital trade, which offers new opportunities for our companies and people.