Senegal is gradually moving towards full-scale e-governance.  To accelerate the process, it decided to partner with key partners in the local ICT sector.  

National IT agency Senegal Numérique SA and the Senegalese Information Technology Association (SITSA ) signed, Thursday (September 29), a framework agreement to boost public-private partnership. The move aims to ensure seamless digital transition and further develop digital services in Senegal.  

According to Cheikh Bakhoum (photo, right), General Manager of Senegal Numérique SA, this partnership is extremely important for the country, which needs support in its public service digitalization programs. “We are aware that our engineers will not be able to complete all those digital projects all by themselves. [Therefore, the agreement aims] to build a public-private partnership whereby local private actors will boost Senegal Numerique SA’s service offerings,” he said.  

The partnership will primarily focus on the liberalization of state infrastructure, allowing private companies to exploit those infrastructures. For Antoine Ngom (photo, left), chairman of the SITSA,   the partnership will also focus on boosting cooperation between Senegal Numerique SA and SITSA to successfully complete the major digital projects launched by the government. “This partnership was needed as it enables us to carry out the reforms needed for an enabling environment, and implement major digital projects in sectors like digital identity, health information systems …,” he explained. 

In 2016, Senegal launched an ambitious digital transformation project for strategic sectors like education, health, etc. The projects are scheduled for completion by 2025. However, three years to completion, much remains to be done. For Mountaga Cissé, a digital specialist, one of the reasons the project is not evolving as planned is the instability of ministries in charge of its implementation. Within ten years, the name of the ministry in charge of the implementation of that project was changed several times and seven ministers were appointed, he indicates.

Samira Njoya