While Senegal’s extractive sector accounted for less than 7% of government revenues, it contributed 32% of total exports in 2022. Senegal is a leading producer of phosphates, with an annual production of 2.6 million tonnes in 2022. The country is also a modest but growing producer of gold, natural gas and construction materials.In 2018, Senegal and Mauritania reached a final investment decision with energy companies BP and Kosmos Energy for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project, which is expected to produce 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas yearly for exports and 70 million cubic feet of natural gas per day for Senegal and Mauritania domestic uses.
Given the recent natural gas discoveries, Senegal is using its EITI implementation to inform relevant reforms including publication of oil and gas contracts. In addition to Senegal’s EITI multi-stakeholder group (MSG), parliamentarians established a Parliamentary Network on Transparency in 2014 to use EITI to improve transparency and public understanding of the management of natural resources.
Senegal is using EITI reporting to shed light on its advancements in data accessibility and information sharing within the extractive sector.
In 2019-2020, Senegal set up an electronic reporting system and a database for the extractive sector. The system consists of two interconnected platforms that leverage existing government infrastructure:
FUSION2: A central platform for financial data flows from public administrations.
GovIn22: An online data submission interface that facilitates electronic declarations by extractive companies.
Senegal has established a publicly accessible information portal, Système d’Information Ouvert du Comité National ITIE Sénégal.
Senegal’s 2022 EITI Report describes the country's adoption of a law on local content considerations in the mining sector in 2022. Senegal EITI has gone beyond the requirements of the EITI Standard to using the Mining Local Procurement Reporting Mechanism (LPRM) to increase transparency in companies' procurement processes for goods and services. Its analysis of local content data found that local suppliers represented 30% of total supplier purchases from mining companies in 2022, up from 24% in 2021.
Senegal’s mining sector operates under the 2016 Mining Code. This code aligns with EITI principles by mandating mining companies to disclose their payments to the State (Article 95, p.49-50). The Code also outlines the characteristics of different mining titles and their acquisition conditions.
In 2022, Senegal strengthened its legal framework by adopting local content law in the mining sector. This law outlines obligations for local company participation, training and skills development and purchase of local goods and services.
Following the recent oil and gas discoveries, Senegal reformed its legal framework for the hydrocarbons sector by enacting the 2019 Petroleum Code and 2020 Gas Code. In addition, Law N°2022-09 (April 2022) governs the distribution and management of oil and gas revenues.
EITI Senegal publishes legislation pertaining to the extractive sector on its website.
Licenses and contracts
The Ministry of Mines and Geology (MMG) oversees the awarding, renewal and revocation of exploration and exploitation licenses. These licenses are granted on a first come, first served basis, with detailed procedures for mining licenses and contracts outlined in the Procedures Manual by the MMG (March 2021).
Oil licences are granted either through bidding or direct consultation with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the state-owned oil company PETROSEN.
The Directorate General of Mining (DGM) manages the mining cadastre. The cadastre includes:
Applicant and license holder information
Licence application status
Land encroachment monitoring
The temporality of titles (renewal, expiry dates)
The history of mining titles, including title modifications.
The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons manages the oil cadastre.
The Law N° 2012-22 on transparency and public financial management mandates the publication of mining contracts. Additionally, both the mining and petroleum codes specify that contracts related to mining, oil and gas must be published in the government’s official journal. Consequently, the government has published mining and oil conventions in compliance with these regulations. Furthermore, EITI Senegal also publishes many mining and oil and gas contracts. These contracts are also available on resourcecontracts.org.
Beneficial ownership
The disclosure of beneficial owners is regulated by a decree of March 19, 2020. Beneficial ownership information is recorded in the commercial register (RCCM) and accessible upon request by relevant administrations and courts as well as by individuals demonstrating a legitimate interest.
The decree defines a beneficial owner as any individual holding an interest of 25% or more in a company, in line with the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive with a 25% threshold. In 2017, EITI Senegal published a study to propose legal reforms on beneficial ownership transparency.
In 2021, Senegal joined the Opening Extractives, a global programme that aims to improve the availability and use of beneficial ownership information.
The Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounts manages almost all extractive industry revenues in Senegal, although regional and municipal governments oversee small direct subnational revenues from the mining sector.
The 2016 Mining Code provides for the allocation of 20% of mining fees and royalties to a support and equalisation fund for local communities.
EITI implementation
Governance
EITI Senegal is administered by the Senegal Multi-Stakeholder Group (MGS), also known as the Comité national ITIE Sénégal (CN-ITIE). The MSG is chaired by Ms Oulimata Sarr.