Country Report Senegal December 2008

Outlook for 2009-10

• The political scene in 2009-10 will be dominated by rivalries over who will succeed the elderly president, Abdoulaye Wade, when his term expires in 2012 (or earlier, in the event of his death or incapacitation by illness).
• Tension between the government and the opposition, which was exacerbated by the postponement of local elections due in May 2008, is expected to increase further when the delayed polls take place in March 2009.
• In view of a downward revision to world economic growth prospects in 2009-10, real GDP growth has been revised down in tandem with foreign investment for infrastructure development, to 4.6% in 2009 and 5.2% in 2010.
• Tight monetary policy will help to contain inflation over the forecast period, although inflation, forecast at 3.7% in both 2009 and 2010, will continue to be heavily influenced by world prices and domestic production of food.
• The current-account deficit is expected to narrow to 13.4% of GDP in 2009, when the drop in imports will be larger than that in exports, and 12.2% of GDP in 2010, when economic growth is forecast to accelerate.

Monthly review

• The recently deposed National Assembly president, Macky Sall, has denounced what he considers to be the anti-democratic? process that led to his departure from office in November.
• Following his resignation from the ruling Parti democratique senegalais, MrSall has founded his own political party, Alliance pour la republique Yaakaar (Alliance for the RepublicHope).
• The countrys donors have applied pressure on the government to deal more convincingly with its serious problems in fiscal management, hinting that aid could be suspended in the absence of demonstrable progress.
• In a move that has damaged perceptions of Senegals business environment, the government has taken court action against a mobile-phone operator, Sentel, over a licensing dispute.
• Representatives of farmers organisations have questioned the optimistic projections for cereal output published by the government, which attributes the rise to its ambitious agricultural investment programme.
• Tourism operators have raised concerns about the prospects of the sector, especially in view of the economic downturn in Europe, the countrys biggest and most lucrative source of tourists.

Source: Country Report

This report covers the following industry codes:
SIC Code: 47;15;70
NAICS Code: 48;23;72;11