Senegal has urged member states of the Economic Community of West African States to step up measures that would promote and attract foreign investments to their respective countries.

Fama Fall, from Senegal’s Directorate of Foreign Trade, Investment and Development, made the call in a presentation at the ECOWAS Common Investment Market Technical Committee Council meeting in Abuja.

The event was organised for member states to evaluate the regional investment climate and share their knowledge of cross-border investment promotion and efforts.

It also aimed to focus on interrogating policy decisions that would attract intra-ECOWAS and extra-ECOWAS investment flows, triggering subregional economic integration and development.

Ms Fall, who first reviewed Senegal’s investment climate and policy reforms over the past three years, highlighted its investment promotion, facilitation, monitoring, dispute settlement and bilateral agreement efforts.

She disclosed that Senegal’s foreign direct investment hit $2.58 billion in 2022 and $2.64 billion in 2023 when the government deliberately put in place some measures to attract foreign investment.

According to her, the country’s strategic sectors include agriculture, information and communication technologies, construction, health, tourism, and oil and gas, all of which have the potential to attract more investment.

“France is the biggest investor in Senegal, but more and more new investors are coming from other horizons.

“From China (peanuts, industrial products, public works, etc.); Turkey (public works); and the United Arab Emirates (mainly for gold), not to mention countries like Morocco, Indonesia and the United States of America.

“Senegal currently has seven officially created SEZs (special economic zones), three of which are operational and four under development,” she said.

Ms Fall said the Senegalese government had also set up a legal framework to attract, enhance, facilitate, promote and monitor investments in the country.

She listed the legal frameworks as the Codes on Mining, Oil, Electricity, Customs, Building, General Tax, French Public Procurement, Local Content Law, and Public-Private Partnerships.

Others include the ECOWAS Common Investment Code, ECOWAS Energy Protocol, Pan-African Investment Code, FTAA Protocol on Investment, and the Trade and Investment Agreement between the U.S. Government and ECOWAS.

She explained that the latter’s provisions prevail in the event of a conflict with BITs signed with countries that have now become third parties vis-à-vis African countries.

The Senegalese official recommended some regional measures aimed at supporting investment promotion and attraction to member states, such as the improvement of coordination and governance of investment management.

Ms Fall suggested publishing an annual report on regional investment monitoring, with statistical data on investment flows in ECOWAS.

(NAN)