Doing Business in

CA Jugal Gala RESEARCH CREDITS

Vigneesver P Legends Used in the Presentation

CIT Corporate Income Tax CPI Consumer Price Index CFAF African Franc DTAA Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement EODB Ease of Doing Business FDI Foreign Direct Investment GDP PCP GDP Per Ca Pita GDP VAT Value Added Tax XOF West African Franc Presentation Schema

Country Overview Setting up Business Registration with BCE

Taxation System Investment Snippets COVID measures Country Overview Demography and Wealth

• 16.74 Million People (2020) Population • 24th in Africa • 70th in World

GDP • Nominal GDP: $ 23.58 Billion • PCP GDP- $ 1446 (140th in world)

Urbanisation • 58% urbanized as of 2020 . • 50% of urban population is housed in Dakar. Popular cities include Touba, Thies.

Real Wealth • Iron, Zircon, Gas, Gold, Phosphates, and Numerous Oil

Currency • Currency Unit: CFA Franc (XOF); ER: $1= XOF 555 • Annual CPI: 2.6% Business Environment

Ease of Starting a Top 5 sectors (by GDP Business (World contribution) Bank) - 14.79% Services- 51.44% Ranked 60 Industry- 24.38%

Employment EODB rd Total employed- 4.8 123 rank Mn GDP per person employed- $ 7701 Rankings by

The score of Senegal for starting a business [91.2] is greater than Out of 190 the regional average Countries score of Sub-Saharan Africa [80.1]. Popular Locations for Setting Up Business

DAKAR Dakar is the capital city of Senegal. The main industries are chemicals industries and agrifood, textiles, furniture and construction materials manufacture, cement production. The Port of Dakar is the main logistics hub for Senegal.

THIES Thies, the third largest City in Senegal is a leading livestock-trading and meat- packing center. Thiès is best known for its tapestry-making industry.

SAINT LOUIS Saint-Louis is a commercial and an industrial centre for sugar production. Its other economic activities are fishing, irrigated alluvial agriculture, pastoral farming, trading and exportation of skins.

TOUBA Touba has several marketplaces, the largest of which is the Okass market. Most of the members are peanut (groundnut) farmers. The town is located in an agricultural ( and millet) and pastoral (zebu cattle and goats) area of the Senegalese Sahel Business Opportunities in Senegal

• Senegal has one of the highest mobile user densities on the African continent. • With the evolution of the sector, Senegal has become one of the Communication most important countries of South-North outsourcing. Sector • Senegal has an independent supervisory authority for the sector since 2001 named Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Agency and there are currently three mobile service providers in the country.16

• Over 25% of the businesses in Senegal are financed by 20 banks resident in Senegal. Banking Sector • It is the second largest banking market of the West African Economic and Monetary Union after Côte d'Ivoire. • It is noteworthy that there are 30 organisations in the microfinance sector.

• Capital formation is swiftly growing up in this sector and initiatives are taken to Construction develop infrastructure to support the investment. Industry • Hence, several public and private construction projects are brought to this city to complete delivered orders to construction companies and their suppliers.

• This is the second major source of currency for the country. The sector is currently getting stabilized and the tourists count is expected to increase gradually. Setting Up Business Regulatory Agencies

Registrar of Companies and Registrar of Companies Liens (RCCM)

Taxation Authority Senegal Revenue Authority

Monetary and Fiscal Regulatory Authority Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) Types of Business Structure

Types of Business Structure

Branch or Economic Representative Company Sole Proprietorship Interest Group Office of a Foreign Company

Limited Liability Public Limited Company (SARL) Company (SA)

SARL is the most common structure. All Companies including Branch or Rep. office of a foreign Co. have to be compulsorily registered with RCCM. A sole proprietor or Economic Interest Group need not be registered with RCCM. Incorporation Procedure Registration Procedure

Steps to Register

1 Apply and Register with the Register of Companies and Liens (RCCM)

Compliances at Notary • Signing of incorporation related forms and 2 Open a bank account in the name of company minutes of the incorporation meeting • Issue a declaration of conformity • Deposit the Capital Approach a Notary and complete the compliances 3 relating to incorporation

Register and obtain The National Identification All the procedures relating to setting up 4 Number of Companies and Associations (NINEA) business can be done through Business Creation Support Bureau (BCE)

5 Obtain relevant business license and start the business Time and Cost involved

Particulars SARL SA Branch Rep Office

Setup Time 4 weeks 5 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks

Opening a bank account 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks

Minimum Paid-up Capital USD 2,000 USD 2,000 USD 1 USD 1 Minimum Shareholders 1 1 1 1 Minimum Directors 1 1 1 1

Business setup Cost USD 15,300 USD 20,600 USD 18,450 USD 17,450

Annual Compliance cost USD 4,700 USD 6,400 USD 5,600 USD 5,600 Taxation System Tax Profile

• Individual – taxed on slab rate basis (Maximum rate is 40%); Basic exemption limit – XOF 6,30,000 Income Tax • Corporate tax – Resident (30%) and Non-resident (37.5%) . Methods of collecting income tax include • Ranges from 0 to 20% Corporation Tax, Pay-as-you-earn tax, Withholding depending on the nature of Tax, Advance Tax, etc. goods

Customs Taxation in Value Duty Senegal Added Tax

• Taxable goods and services – 18% (general rate) • Rate varies depending on • Tourism Activities – 10% goods and services • Financial activities – 17% produced and imported Excise Duty • Excise duty rate ranges from 5% to 65% Tax Structure: Senegal vs Africa

Tax structure refers to the share of each tax in total tax revenues. Following is the comparison between Senegal and Africa relating to tax structure for 2018 (in %)

The highest share of tax revenues in Senegal in 2018 was contributed by value added taxes (VAT) (34%). The second-highest share of tax revenues in 2018 was derived from taxes on goods & services other than VAT (27%). Tax Snippets Tax Incentives

CIT at the rate of 15% for companies having free export status. Agriculture, Companies involved in the mining industry, and telecommunications and petroleum sector are entitled to companies that have an exporting get benefit of exemption from the potential amounting to at least 80% of CEL, employer tax, VAT [under their turnover may qualify for the free conditions], etc. export company status.

Companies set up in Special Economic SMEs are entitled to get benefit of Zones [SEZ] benefit from preferential exemption from minimum CIT and tax rate of 15% employer tax for three years. Exchange Control Regulations Exchange Control

There is no limit on the repatriation of profits derived by a company in Senegal.

Supporting documentation must be provided for all outbound transfers of currency.

Residents are required to transfer any income in foreign currency to an approved intermediary.

France, , and the are the main investors in Senegal. Cross Border Trade

Senegal's exports amounted in 2019 to CFAF 1985.1 billion against XOF 1,670.0 billion, an increase of 18.9%.

During the period 2015-2019, Senegal's imports globally evolved reaching XOF 4,229.3 billion in 2019 against XOF 3,032.9 billion in 2015, i.e. an average annual growth rate of 8.9%. Visa and Residence Permit Obtaining Residence Permit in Senegal Following documents have to be submitted to the foreigners’ police: Residency application letter drafted in French language mentioning the phone number and duly signed by the applicant 3 Passport-size photos and copies of first 5 pages of passport Birth certificate attested by the consular section Criminal record from the country of origin Stamps for value of 15,000 CFA Work Contract or Letter of employment provided in country of origin Letter of accommodation from the place of lodging in Senegal Medical certificate from a local General Practitioner Copy of Repatriation Bond

A refundable deposit of prescribed amount along with the stamp fee of 200 CFA should be paid to the Deposits and Consignments Office. A quittance shall be provided to the applicant as proof of deposit.

The quittance should be submitted to the foreigners’ police and a file number will be provided.

A temporary residency permit valid for 6 months shall be granted by the police within 2 to 3 months from submitting the application. This permit has to be renewed until permanent permit card is issued. VISA exempt countries Citizens of the following 59 countries can visit Senegal without a visa for up to 90 days. Covid-19 Impact Covid-19 Impact

92.5 % of companies reported they are affected by Covid-19. Overall economic activity has deteriorated by 25%

Growth has slowed significantly to an estimated 1.3% percent in 2020, with services (such as tourism and transport) and exports particularly hard hit.

Among the heads of households who had a job before the crisis, 60% kept the same job, 4% changed jobs and 36% stopped working, of which 30% for reasons related to covid-19.

Heads of household working in services, commerce, public administration, transport and communications, mining and quarrying are particularly affected by the covid-19 crisis.

Agricultural workers seem to be much more spared than their peers.

85% of households claim to experience a drop in their income, the income that shrinks the most being income from non-farm family businesses and private transfers to households. COVID measures

• Tax rebates and suspensions granted to companies which undertake to keep their workers in activity for the duration of the crisis, or to pay more than 70% of the wages of non-active employees during this period.

• Support for the health sector to the tune of 64.4 billion, to cover all the expenses linked to the response against COVID-19.

• An envelope of 100 billion specifically dedicated to the direct support of the most affected sectors of the economy by the crisis, in particular transport, hotel industry and agriculture.

• Reorganization of the national budget by cuts on operating expenses and deferring investments; which corresponds to a saving of 159 billion. Conclusion

Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed Senegal's economic outlook. Oil and gas developments have been delayed due to COVID-19 and are expected to contribute to revenues and exports only around 2025.

However Senegal’s economic growth has been among the highest in Africa between 2014 and 2018, remaining above 6% annually.

Service sector continues to be the largest contributor of GDP

Despite abundant natural resources in iron, zircon, gas, gold, phosphates, and numerous oil discoveries recently the economy of Senegal is driven by mining, construction, tourism, fishing and agriculture, which are the main sources of employment in rural areas. Thank You!

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