Senegal: African Development Bank makes an additional €5.01 million available for the Diamniadio Digital Technology Park | African Development Bank

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved on December 8, 2022 an additional financing of €5.01 million for the future Digital Technology Park in Diamniadio, Senegal.

The African Development Bank Group thus confirms its support for the project, which started in 2016 thanks to an initial loan of 60.96 million euros that it had provided to the country. While the project is now around 80% complete, the Covid-19 crisis has delayed some construction work due to global material cost inflation and supply chain disruptions.

With this new loan, the bank takes over 87% of the total project costs of €73.62 million, with the Senegalese government contributing the equivalent of €9.64 million. The Senegalese Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation coordinates aid through its Economic and Financial Cooperation Directorate.

The future 25-hectare park is being developed in the emerging urban hub of Diamniadio, about 35 km from the capital Dakar. Some 20 companies, including multinationals such as ATOS, Free (formerly Tigo Senegal) and Solution Informatique Durable (SOLID), have expressed interest in locating part of their activities in the future park. However, they need a solid communications infrastructure to function.

This loan will help equip the planned data center in the park with a state-of-the-art storage and processing architecture through an international tender.

“This project will help diversify and modernize Senegal’s economy and private sector,” said Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Director General of the African Development Bank for West Africa. This park will transform Senegal into a regional digital hub, providing digital solutions to already existing industries, such as the agricultural sector.” The aim is to increase the share of the ICT sector in economic activity from 7% to 10% by 2026 .

In addition to the data center, the ambitious project includes facilities for business process outsourcing, an ICT incubator, a training center, a research center and an audiovisual production and content development center. The project also provides institutional support, capacity building and the establishment of a management team responsible for its implementation.

“The ICT sector is one of the most advanced in West Africa and the project will benefit an entire ecosystem,” said Cherfi Mohammed, Country Manager of the bank in Senegal.

Mohammed said: “This includes communication service providers, Internet service providers, multinational corporations, as well as some 30,000 men and women working in various ICT-related fields such as sales, networking, systems design and software and content development. The innovative solutions that will be developed at the park will also benefit public authorities that will be able to improve the delivery of public services.

The Future Park is at the heart of the “Digital Senegal 2025” strategy, which aims to create some 35,000 direct jobs through activities such as call centers, software/hardware engineers and application development engineers. It also aims to create approximately 105,000 indirect jobs in housing, telecommunications, real estate rental, transportation, catering and other support services.