African Renaissance Monument, Senegal
Senegal, located in West Africa is best known for its capital Dakar where the Dakar Rally takes please every year and also as the former capital of the French West Africa. It is a great ambassador of the African culture through the storytelling griots and is also one of the biggest hubs for services and shipping in the former French region. The country has a strategic geographical position, with a large marine border of 531 km of coastline and shoreline with the North Atlantic Ocean, thus facilitating the fishing industry and the port services.
Senegal’s constantly developing economy
Senegal’s strongest industries are i) fishing, as is it also the export leader, ii) services, iii) banking and iv) tourism, which is also one of the most developed in the continent. Currently, the GDP per capita is of US$1,050 for a population of approximately 14.5 million, which places Senegal in the lower middle income category. Further, Senegal had a Foreign Direct Investment of 343 million in 2014, which increased from 311 million in 2013. The country has a very positive attitude towards the FDI and it constantly uses the funds through the “Emerging Senegal Plan” to develop the infrastructure, agriculture and drinking water areas.
Invest in a company in Senegal
Consequently there are good reasons for an investor to want to start a business, ranging from constant improvement of the business and infrastructure environment, quality human capital to one of the most stable countries in Africa. If you would like to start doing business in Senegal by incorporating a company, you should know that the process is simple and straightforward. The total timeframe to incorporate a limited liability company should take around 1 month and it includes i) name reservation ii) opening up a bank account to inject the minimum recommended paid-up capital of US$2,000 iii) translation of all documents into French and iv) obtain the Company identification number (NINEA).
Taxation matters
Once you have the company incorporated you need to be aware of Senegal’s taxes payable by your business. If your company is tax resident, it will be taxed on the worldwide income with a standard rate of 30%. This rate can be reduced to 15% for the “Free Exporting Enterprise” companies that export more than 80% of their products outside of Senegal. The standard VAT rate is 18% and the social security for your employees is levied at 7% for the family benefits and 14% for the national retirement fund. Senegal also has in place an alternative minimum tax of 0.5% on the annual turnover from the previous year. Further, withholding tax on dividends is levied at 10%, 16% on interest and 20% on royalties and technical service fees. These rates can be reduced if under a tax treaty. Currently, Senegal has signed double tax treaties with 19 countries.
Contact us
For company incorporation in Senegal and other business setup services, please contact Healy Consultants Group at
Image credit
Photo by Jeff Attaway, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.
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