Senegal experienced a minor decline in 2025 regarding the execution of community reforms, policies, programs, and projects set forth by the UEMOA. This occurred despite overall results that authorities deemed satisfactory.

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

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

Cheikh Diba attributed this decline primarily to setbacks observed in economic governance and convergence reforms, which saw a 1.3 percentage point decrease. Sectoral reforms also registered a significant drop of 6.03 points. However, positive strides within the common market, marked by a 0.91-point increase, helped to mitigate the overall adverse performance in governance Africa.

The Minister further elaborated that the challenges encountered in economic governance and convergence were largely due to the belated submission of the 2024 report from the Single Window for Financial Statements Deposit (GUDEF) to the UEMOA Commission during the technical review phase.

Despite this general downturn in Senegal UEMOA reforms, several sectors demonstrated commendable progress. Noteworthy improvements included a 1.83 percentage point increase in the harmonization of the legal, accounting, and statistical frameworks for public finances. The customs union advanced by 4.55 points, while the agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and environment sectors collectively saw a 2.12-point rise. Human and social development recorded a substantial gain of 6.58 points, and the energy and mining sectors progressed by 3.33 points.

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

Commitments announced to improve the trajectory

According to the Minister of Finance and Budget, these results necessitate immediate attention and urgent corrective measures. The Senegalese government is committed to implementing the necessary provisions to consolidate existing achievements, enhance performance, and systematically address the identified shortcomings.

He emphasized that considerable effort is still required, particularly in finalizing document validation processes, providing essential supporting documentation, and ensuring the effective execution and monitoring of community programs and projects.

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

Cheikh Diba believes that, despite remaining areas for improvement, these results align with a broader positive trend observed across UEMOA member states, where significant progress in reform implementation has also been recorded.

The Minister reiterated that for Senegal, strengthening regional integration remains a paramount objective. In this light, the conclusions of this political phase will be presented to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko during an upcoming audience he will grant to the President of the UEMOA Commission, underscoring the importance of these African politics discussions.