The Prime Minister of Senegal, Ousmane Sonko, has sounded the alarm over the deteriorating state of the country’s markets during a recent cabinet meeting. Addressing the Council of Ministers, he highlighted that most commercial facilities, dating back to the 1970s, are plagued by severe dilapidation and pose significant safety hazards.
The government leader cited alarming data: between 2013 and 2024, no fewer than 53 markets experienced one or more fires, exposing the vulnerabilities of the sector. His assessment uncovered multifaceted challenges spanning technical, infrastructural, organizational, environmental, and sanitary domains.
PROMOGEM initiative: transforming Senegal’s market landscape
Sonko emphasized progress within the Programme de Modernisation et de Gestion des Marchés (PROMOGEM), whose strategic development plan covers 2025-2029. The initiative targets the overhaul of all 528 existing markets and the construction of 67 new, state-of-the-art facilities. The Prime Minister outlined key priorities for the pilot phase while acknowledging implementation hurdles.
Investment and institutional reforms
The modernization drive hinges on a 57.5 billion FCFA investment over four years, coupled with sweeping institutional reforms. These measures aim to enhance operational flexibility, budgetary efficiency, and the capacity to attract innovative financing. Central to the strategy is the transformation of the managing entity into an autonomous administrative and financial body, alongside a revision of the legal framework governing market operations.
Sonko tasked the Minister of Industry and Trade, in collaboration with counterparts from Finance, Budget, Urban Planning, Territorial Communities, and Land Management, with spearheading the deployment of modern market networks nationwide. Ensuring rigorous management of these facilities will fall to local authorities and the private sector.
