Senegal outlines plan for robust digital public infrastructure development

The new Director General of the structure managing Senegal’s digital ecosystem, Isidore Diouf, says he will make the development of a sturdy digital public infrastructure (DPI) one of his priorities as he takes office.

Diouf was recently appointed to manage Senegal Numérique SA – the government body overseeing the country’s digital development efforts. He said he will work to build on the digital gains made by his predecessor in order to actualize the digital policy and vision of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, We Are Tech Africa reports.

Diouf takes over from Cheikh Bakhoum, who piloted the institution for almost ten years, with efforts to make it a model for digital in West Africa. Faye had promised during his presidential campaign to set the country on the rails of rapid digital transformation once elected.

Among other things, Diouf says he will prioritize actions that seek to widen Senegal’s digital economy and make it contribute more to the country’s GDP. The contribution of the digital economy is currently valued at around 3.3 percent but the government aims to take this up to 10 percent as outlined in the Senegal Digital Strategy 2025.

Apart from building robust DPI which will act as the nexus for digital government programs, he will also focus attention on aspects such as improving the level of collaboration with the information systems of government departments.

One of the issues Diouf plans to also tackle is low internet coverage in the country which is said to be around 46 percent at the moment.

Meanwhile, according to Digital Business Africa, President Faye has instructed his government to diligently pursue the country’s digital infrastructure development in order to make Senegal a digitally sovereign nation.

Faye gave the directive to his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and Telecommunications and Digital Minister Alioune Sall during a council of ministers meeting on June 12.

The finalisation of the legal framework for personal data protection, the digitization and integration of government services, and the putting in place of an advanced cybersecurity strategy are among the directives given by the president during the meeting.

These tie with his digital policy and vision for Senegal which he had explained to the people when he was running for president, Digital Business Africa recalls.

In the meantime, as part of its digital transformation push, Senegal Numérique recently signed a partnership agreement with the African Digital Development Agency (ADD) to share best practices. The deal will, among other things, enable Senegal to create interoperability of government information systems and services and advance the use of digital platforms and applications, according to a communiqué. The ADD has committed to similar deals with a handful of other African countries.

Senegal launched a national digital ID program in 2022 and said it is the backbone of the Senegal Digital Strategy 2025.

It is a UNDP-supported project elaborated in 2016 (and later updated) which aims to assist in the process of modernizing Senegal’s economy using technology.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Senegal  |  Senegal Numérique  |  UNDP