Senegal registered 23,804 new businesses and other economic units in the third quarter of 2026, up 17.8% from a year earlier and 7.3% from the previous quarter, statistics agency ANSD said on October 29. Company registrations rose 36.4% to 3,893, while sole proprietorships, which made up 71.6% of the total, climbed 27.2% to 17,039, ANSD said.
Analysis: The increase partly reflects a weak third quarter in 2025: registrations were just 0.4% above the same period in 2024. Excluding landowners, whose registrations fell 74.7%, the total rose 28.7%, by our calculation. Growth was concentrated in small-scale commerce, not manufacturing. Retail and other commerce accounted for 70.5% of new sole proprietorships, against 1.5% for textiles and 1.1% for food processing. Dakar represented 51.7% of registrations. These figures measure newly issued identification numbers, not businesses operating or creating jobs. ANSD is due to publish its next bulletin on February 7, 2027.
Source: ANSD, ANSD, Bulletin trimestriel sur les nouvelles immatriculations au NINEA (BTNIN), T3 2026, posted October 29, 2026, Q3 2026 and Q3 2024
Senegal shipped 16.24mn kilograms of watermelons to Spain in the 2025/26 season, which ran from September to August, or 14.88% of Spain's imports, making it the second-largest supplier after Morocco, according to Spanish customs data compiled by horticulture outlet Hortoinfo. The shipments were worth €11.8mn, an average of €0.73 a kilogram.
Analysis: Senegal's advantage is largely price: its watermelons averaged €0.73 a kilogram, against €0.84 from Morocco and €1.33 from Mauritania. Mauritania consequently earned about 15% more than Senegal from 37% less volume, by our calculation. Senegalese fruit nevertheless sold above the €0.59 average Hortoinfo reported for Spanish greenhouse growers. Imports from Senegal were below the 19.34mn kilograms recorded in calendar 2023, although the periods differ. The figures cover fresh watermelons entering Spain, not Senegal's entire export trade, limiting their usefulness as a national benchmark for the coming season.
Source: ICEX–Agencia Tributaria (Spain), via Hortoinfo, Hortoinfo, « España ha comprado a otros países durante la campaña 109,15 millones de kilos de sandía a 0,84€/kg, la mitad a Marruecos », October 2026 (Estacom, ICEX–Agencia Tributaria, TARIC 080711), 2025/26 season (September 1, 2025–August 31, 2026); ICEX–Agencia Tributaria (Spain), via Hortoinfo, Hortoinfo, « Fuerte descenso de las compras españolas de sandía a Marruecos y crecen a Senegal y Mauritania » (calendar 2023 data), 2023 (calendar year)
Senegal's private external creditors could lose 35% to 65% in the planned debt restructuring, against 10% to 20% previously, Moody's said on October 29 as it cut the country's foreign-currency ratings to Ca from Caa2, its fifth consecutive downgrade, Agence Ecofin reported. The rating on FCFA-denominated debt stays at Caa2, while the outlook moved to stable from negative, the agency said.
Analysis: The higher loss estimate follows Senegal's decision to seek restructuring under the G20 Common Framework while excluding FCFA debt, which Moody's puts at roughly a third of central government debt totaling 97% of GDP. Exempting regional creditors would concentrate losses on eurobond investors and other external lenders. Senegal's five eurobonds were already trading near half their face value in early October. Moody's also warned that domestic debt remains vulnerable to a liquidity squeeze and parliamentary resistance could delay a roughly $2.2bn IMF program agreed at staff level in September. The government aims to reach creditor agreements by year-end.
Source: Moody's Ratings, Agence Ecofin, « Sénégal : Moody’s anticipe des pertes de 35 à 65 % pour les créanciers extérieurs », October 30, 2026, 29 Oct 2026 and before 29 Oct 2026 and 2025 (latest assessed) and early October 2026 and September 2026
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas project shared by Senegal and Mauritania loaded 8.5 gross cargoes in the third quarter, above a forecast of eight, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2026 to 27, Kosmos Energy, the project's US partner, said on November 2. Kosmos expects full-year liftings at the upper end of its range of 32 to 36.
Analysis: Third-quarter shipments were half a cargo below the second quarter, while annualized gross production eased to 2.44mn metric tons from about 2.65mn. Kosmos attributed the slowdown to warmer seasonal temperatures. Against the energy ministry's tally of five cargoes for August and September, the quarterly figure suggests roughly 3.5 were loaded in July, by our calculation. Kosmos forecasts eight to nine cargoes in the final quarter, which would bring the annual total to 35 or 36. The ministry's October production report should provide the first monthly indication of whether that outlook is on track.
Source: Kosmos Energy, Kosmos Energy, third-quarter 2026 results release (November 2, 2026), Q3 2026 and January–September 2026 and Q4 2026 and 2026; Tradingkey (transcript of Kosmos Energy call), Kosmos Energy Q3 2026 earnings call (November 2, 2026), transcript published by Tradingkey, Q3 2026; Kosmos Energy, Kosmos Energy, second-quarter 2026 results release (August 3, 2026), Q3 2026 and Q2 2026 and H1 2026; Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum monthly production report for August 2026, as reported by APA (September 12, 2026), August 2026; Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines, Monthly hydrocarbons figures (via Le Soleil, 9 Oct 2026), September 2026; Réseau Gazier du Sénégal (RGS), Ecofin Agency, "Senegal Seeks Nearly $600 Million to Expand Gas Pipeline Network", October 18, 2026, October 2026
Senegal's mobile lines rose 4.3% from a year earlier to 24.83mn at the end of June 2026, while Yas lifted its market share to 24.35% from 22.92% and Orange's share slipped to 55.17% from 55.62%, telecoms regulator ARTP said in its quarterly dashboard. Expresso's share fell to 14.95% from 16.12%.
Analysis: Yas added an estimated 590,000 lines over the year, growth of 10.8%, compared with 3.4% for Orange, by our calculation. Its advance was more pronounced in voice traffic: Orange's share of outgoing calls fell two percentage points to 69.53%, while Yas gained 3.3 points. That suggests Yas is gaining usage, not merely secondary SIM registrations. Sonatel, which operates Orange, nevertheless reported a 12.9% increase in nine-month profit, supported by data and mobile money—businesses not captured by voice market share. ARTP's third-quarter figures will test whether the shift continued through September.
Source: ARTP, ARTP, Tableau de bord trimestriel du marché de la téléphonie mobile au 30 juin 2026, June 30, 2026 and Q2 2026; Sonatel and BRVM, Agence Ecofin, « Sonatel : le bénéfice progresse de 12,9 % sur neuf mois, à 603,8 millions $ », October 30, 2026, January–September 2026
Chart of the week
Senegal's new business registrations by quarter, second quarter of 2025 to third quarter of 2026
19,686
20,213
26,685
24,449
22,180
23,804
Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26Q3 26
New registrations in the national business register (NINEA): 19,686 in the second quarter of 2025, 20,213 in the third, 26,685 in the fourth, 24,449 in the first quarter of 2026, 22,180 in the second and 23,804 in the third. Registrations count new identification numbers, not active businesses, and are seasonal, so compare each quarter with the same quarter a year earlier. Source: statistics agency ANSD, quarterly NINEA bulletins.. Source: ANSD, Dakaractu, « Créations : 22 180 nouvelles immatriculations au NINEA, en baisse sur trois mois mais en hausse de 12,7 % sur un an », August 10, 2026 (ANSD BTNIN, second quarter 2026), Q2 2025 and Q1 2026 and Q2 2026; ANSD, ANSD, Bulletin trimestriel sur les nouvelles immatriculations au NINEA (BTNIN), troisième trimestre 2025 (vie-publique.sn copy), Q3 2025; ANSD, ANSD, Bulletin trimestriel sur les nouvelles immatriculations au NINEA au Sénégal, T4 2025 (vie-publique.sn copy), Q4 2025; ANSD, ANSD, Bulletin trimestriel sur les nouvelles immatriculations au NINEA (BTNIN), T3 2026, posted October 29, 2026, Q3 2026.
Tender of the week
Construction and rehabilitation of schools in Dakar, Thiès and Kaolack (6 lots)
Buyer
ADM
Scope
Construction and rehabilitation of lycées and middle schools (CEM) in six lots, each awarded separately; open tender (appel d’offres ouvert) by the Municipal Development Agency (ADM) under a school infrastructure program financed by an AFD loan.
Value
Not published
Funding
AFD loan
Closes
Monday, December 7, 2026
Alama Pro members get the link to the official notice for this and every other tender.
In Alama Pro this week
Deep dive: Senegal's trade surplus: higher prices or stronger export volumes
15 stories with workings, from business registrations, debt and the budget, energy, mining, telecoms, industry, farming and trade
Seven key figures, from Sangomar oil exports to inflation, and every open tender in our records
Euro equivalents use the fixed parity of 655.957 FCFA per euro. Every figure comes from the official source named under it. Spotted an error? Write to info@alamareport.com; corrections run in the next issue.
