Senegal’s palm oil push with Indonesia: the real story behind the 60,000-hectare plan
Senegal’s long-stalled palm oil sector is suddenly back in the spotlight. For years, cultivated area never rose above 12,000 hectares — now Dakar is betting on Indonesian know-how to leap to 60,000 hectares.
The real story is not just about planting more trees. It is about why a decade of inertia went unchallenged, and why Indonesia — the world’s undisputed palm oil leader — has become Senegal’s partner of choice.
On 11 September in Dakar, a low-key meeting took place that could reshape the sector’s trajectory. Senegal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock (MASAE) presented Indonesian diplomats with an ambitious proposal: develop 60,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the centre and south of the country. That would multiply today’s planted area by five.
Details remain scarce. The two sides are now working to set up a joint technical task force to steer the project forward. On the sensitive questions — timelines and financing — Senegalese officials are keeping quiet for now.
Why the sector stood still for a decade
The scale of the bet reflects how far Senegal has fallen behind. FAO data paints a stark picture: between 2015 and 2024, land devoted to oil palm in Senegal never exceeded 12,000 hectares, hovering around 11,800. Industrial palm oil output was similarly frozen at roughly 14,000 tonnes over the same period.
With domestic demand holding steady, the gap has been filled by imports. Senegal bought an average of 148,100 tonnes of palm oil abroad each year from 2015 to 2024 — peaking at 195,937 tonnes in 2017. The annual bill averaged nearly $108 million, climbing to $172 million in 2020. That costly dependence is now squarely in Dakar’s food sovereignty crosshairs.
Why Indonesia is the partner that matters
Choosing Indonesia was no accident. With output estimated at 46.7 million tonnes for the 2025/2026 season, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Asian archipelago dominates global palm oil production — and leads exports as well. Its supremacy rests on decades of expertise in varietal selection, plantation management and industrial processing.
For Dakar, the goal goes beyond simply expanding cultivated land. The priority is to absorb that know-how through technology transfer and local capacity building — the essential foundation for a productive, better-structured industry.
A model already tested elsewhere in Africa
Senegal is not venturing into uncharted territory. Other African nations have already forged similar partnerships with Jakarta. In 2025, Tanzania signed a cooperation agreement with the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) covering training, technical support and skills transfer. In Nigeria, Africa’s largest palm oil producer, a 2024 memorandum between local producers and GAPKI pursues the same goals: sharing knowledge and technology to boost productivity.
Whether Dakar can turn this opportunity into results — where others have only laid the groundwork — remains to be seen.
