Senegal
A francophone gateway to West Africa, a CFA franc pegged to the euro — and since 2024 oil and gas too
Senegal has the port of Dakar, which also serves landlocked Mali. It belongs to the UEMOA monetary union — the CFA franc is pegged to the euro (EUR 1 = XOF 655.957) — and to ECOWAS with its common external tariff. Oil production began at the Sangomar field in 2024 and LNG exports from the GTA project in 2025. As a least developed country it exports to the Union duty- and quota-free (EBA). Companies are governed by the uniform OHADA law; the APIX one-stop shop registers a company in one to two days.
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Setting up a company
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Legal forms
- ·Minimum capital
- ·How long registration takes
Taxes
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Corporate income tax
- ·VAT
- ·Withholding tax — dividends
- ·Withholding tax — interest
- ·Withholding tax — royalties
- ·Payroll contributions
- ·Double taxation treaty
What it makes and needs
Gold, phosphates and fertilisers, fish, groundnuts; oil (Sangomar) since 2024 and LNG (GTA) since 2025.
Fuels, food (rice, wheat), machinery and equipment, vehicles.
Money and payments
The West African CFA franc (XOF), fixed at EUR 1 = XOF 655.957. It is issued by the BCEAO central bank for the eight UEMOA states.
Importing into their market
The ECOWAS common external tariff with five bands: 0, 5, 10, 20 and 35 %; community levies are added on top.
Labels in French.
Bringing their goods into the EU
Senegal is a least developed country and exports to the Union under EBA — duty- and quota-free for everything except arms. The UN has decided on its graduation from the group (scheduled for 2029), followed by a three-year transition.
Preferential origin is proven by a statement on origin from an exporter registered in the REX system.
Fish and fishery products only from approved vessels and establishments, with a catch certificate. In May 2024 the Commission pre-identified Senegal as a non-cooperating country against illegal fishing (a “yellow card”); a yellow card does not in itself restrict imports.
Practical matters
French (official); Wolof is widely spoken.
By sea to the port of Dakar, which is also the start of the transport corridor to Mali.
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