The Landscape of Infomation Technology in Senegal
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National Senegalese Policy on Information Technology and Communication

National Policy on ICTs

 

 

The first telecommunication reform took place in 1985, because the state of the telecommunication infrastructure was very poor.  As a result, the “Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications” (OPT), the “Office des Postes et de la Caisse D’Epargne” (OPCE), and the Societe Nationale des Telecommunications (SONATEL) were created.  By the late 1980s, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) had become important in the economic and social development of Senegal.  Analysists, government officials, and even politicians acknowledged the changes in lifestyles, as well as the new modes of production that ICT were bringing.  However, there was also a fear that the Senegalese population as a whole would not be able to keep up with the trends, which would result in a wider gap between the “Haves” and the “Have Not”. 

 

The second telecommunication reform came about in 1996, and focused on:

  • Raising the telecommunication share of GDP from 2.4% to 3.5%
  • Tripling the availability of telephone service, increasing the number of lines to 250,000, thus attaining a density of 2.5 telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
  • Equipping more than 50% of small local centers with at least one telephone line each, while providing that everyone in the country will be within 5 km of a telephone
  • Promoting the development of a local telecommunications equipment industry

 

These goals were part of the “Policy Statement on the Development of Senegalese Telecommunications (1996-2000). 

 

In 1997, the goal of the Ninth Economic and Social Development Plan (1996-2001) was to facilitate access to information because ICTs had become a necessity for development.

 

According to Olivier Sagna in his report “Information and Communications Technologies and Social Development in Senegal: an Overview”, the Senegalese government does not lack vision for the future but rather has had difficulties coming up with a strategy to couple the use of ICTs and the socio-economic development problems it is facing.  According to the author, the principal problem resides in an unstable decision-making process.  That is, the chain of command changes consistently which has made it difficult to establish a broad and coherent national policy.

However, part of the government’s national policy has been to create the Dakar Technopole in 1996.  This is a 194.5 economic zone, whose mission is to host research and teaching centers and enterprises involved in technological innovation.