In 2025, Senegal experienced a slight decline in implementing the reforms, policies, programs, and community projects of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). This occurred despite authorities generally deeming the overall results satisfactory.

The political phase of the 11th Annual Review of UEMOA’s community reforms, policies, programs, and projects, hosted in Senegal, formally confirmed an average implementation rate of 76.45% for 2025. This marks a decrease of 2.14 percentage points from the 78.59% recorded in 2024. This year’s assessment encompassed 145 reforms, an increase from the 132 evaluated during the previous cycle.

These findings were presented following discussions that brought together Senegalese state officials and the UEMOA Commission. The meeting was chaired by Minister of Finance and Budget, Cheikh Diba, alongside Abdoulaye Diop, the President of the UEMOA Commission.

According to Minister Diba, this downturn is primarily attributed to observed declines in the execution of reforms related to economic governance and convergence, which fell by 1.3 percentage points. Additionally, sectoral reforms saw a more significant drop of 6.03 points. However, positive strides in the common market, showing an increase of 0.91 points, somewhat mitigated this overall underperformance.

The Minister further elaborated that challenges within economic governance and convergence stemmed mainly from the delayed submission of the 2024 report from the Single Window for Filing Financial Statements (GUDEF) to the UEMOA Commission during the technical review phase.

Despite this general decline, several key sectors demonstrated positive outcomes. Noteworthy advancements were made in harmonizing the legal, accounting, and statistical framework for public finances, with an increase of 1.83 percentage points. The customs union also progressed by 4.55 points, while the agriculture, livestock, fishing, and environment sectors collectively rose by 2.12 points. Human and social development saw a substantial gain of 6.58 points, and energy and mining improved by 3.33 points.

Cheikh Diba specifically highlighted that the most significant achievements within structural reforms were observed in areas such as culture, tourism, crafts, quality standards, and the overall business climate.

Renewed commitments to steer a positive course

For the Minister of Finance and Budget, these results necessitate immediate and focused attention, along with urgent corrective measures. The Senegalese government is therefore committed to implementing the necessary actions to consolidate existing achievements, enhance overall performance, and systematically address the identified shortcomings.

He emphasized that substantial efforts are still required, particularly in finalizing document validation processes, ensuring the timely provision of supporting documentation, and effectively executing and monitoring community programs and projects.

The political segment of this review successfully validated the outcomes from the technical phase and reinforced the dedication of the Senegalese administration and its highest authorities to the implementation of community reforms.

Cheikh Diba believes that, despite the remaining potential for improvement, Senegal’s results are part of a broader trend observed across other member states of the Union, where significant progress in reform implementation has also been recorded.

The Minister reiterated that for Senegal, strengthening regional integration remains a paramount objective. In line with this, the conclusions from this political phase will be presented to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko during an upcoming meeting with the President of the UEMOA Commission.