In 2025, Senegal experienced a minor setback in its progress toward implementing the community reforms, policies, programs, and projects mandated by the UEMOA, despite official pronouncements of overall satisfactory outcomes.

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

These findings were unveiled following collaborative sessions involving Senegalese state officials and representatives from the UEMOA Commission. The proceedings were chaired by Minister of Finance and Budget, Cheikh Diba, with the participation of Abdoulaye Diop, President of the UEMOA Commission.

Cheikh Diba attributed this decline primarily to observed slowdowns in the execution of reforms pertaining to economic governance and convergence, which saw a retreat of 1.3 percentage points. Similarly, sectoral reforms experienced a more significant drop of 6.03 points. However, this overall underperformance was partially offset by positive strides made in the common market, which registered an increase of 0.91 points.

The Minister further elaborated that the challenges encountered in economic governance and convergence stemmed chiefly from the delayed submission of the 2024 report from the Single Window for Financial Statement Deposits (GUDEF) to the UEMOA Commission during the technical review phase.

Despite the overall regression, several sectors demonstrated commendable progress. Noteworthy advancements were observed in the harmonization of the legal, accounting, and statistical frameworks for public finances, improving by 1.83 percentage points. The customs union strengthened by 4.55 points, while the agriculture, livestock, fishing, and environment sectors collectively advanced by 2.12 points. Human and social development saw 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 within structural reforms encompassed areas such as culture, tourism, crafts, quality standards, and the overall business climate.

Commitments announced to correct the trajectory

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

He emphasized that considerable efforts are still required, particularly in finalizing document validation processes, ensuring the timely provision of supporting documentation, and diligently executing and monitoring community programs and projects.

The political phase of this review successfully validated the outcomes from the technical phase, solidifying the dedication of the Senegalese administration and its highest authorities to the implementation of UEMOA community reforms.

Cheikh Diba believes that, despite the remaining opportunities for improvement, Senegal’s results reflect a broader positive trend observed across other 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 context, the conclusions of this political phase are slated for presentation to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko during an upcoming audience with the President of the UEMOA Commission.