November 2008

Country Profile Senegal

Senegal lies in the far west of Africa at the interface between the Sahel zone and the tropics. Most Senegalese people live along the country’s 500 km Atlantic coast. Dakar, the capital, is home to 2.5 million of the 12.5 million-strong population. While Senegal is one of the 50 least developed countries in the world, it is better developed than other west African nations.

Carbon emissions in Senegal amount to 19 Mt a year (1.8 t CO2 per capita). But although the country produces only 0.05 percent of emissions worldwide, it is one of the most vulnerable nations as regards the effects of climate change. While an increase is expected in the number of days with particularly high temperatures and heavy rainfall, forecasts show a drop in average annual rainfall levels. This will severely impact on living conditions for people in the already environmentally fragile Sahel zone. Local pressures from industry and transport are an added problem, especially around Dakar. Forest areas are mostly found in the south and still cover around 20 percent of the country. Approximately 0.7 percent of the country’s forests are lost every year to felling, slash and burn activities, and drought. Some 56 percent of the population use firewood for cooking.

Only about a third of Senegalese homes are connected to the electricity grid. Most of the available electricity capacity (550 MW) is supplied by oil-fired power stations. To supply electricity to rural areas, the Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification (Agence Sénégalaise d'électrification rurale, or ASER) gives concessions to private suppliers. In return for a grant, they must take responsibility for supplying power for a 25-year period.

When it comes to developing the CDM, Senegal is still one of the most active African countries south of the Sahara. It opened its DNA in February 2005 as an arm of the environment ministry (Direction de l'Environnement et des Etablissements Classés). Senegal’s Cheikh Sylla is a former member of the CDM Executive Board and is the point of contact at the national DNA. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Senegal and France.

Despite political backing for its CDM activities, Senegal’s CDM pipeline has got off to a very slow start. There are only two projects being developed at present. One involves a landfill site in Dakar, where the methane produced will be flared and perhaps used to generate electricity. The other project focuses on implementing a fuel switch at a cement factory also located in Dakar.

The sparse number of project activities is largely due to the fact that the greatest potential lies in small-scale island projects for heat and electricity generation in households and small businesses unable to afford the transaction costs involved in the CDM. This potential could, however, be exploited using the new programmatic approach and methodologies which take account of avoided deforestation and suppressed energy demand. Great potential exists for wind energy use on the west coast. A number of small wind farms have already been established which are not connected to the national grid. A feasibility study has been completed on wind farms with capacities of several MW, whose electricity potential is to be fed into the grid operated by SENELEC, the state utility provider.



Further selected information:

Senegalese DNA website
Senegalese Electricity Company (SENELEC) website
German Foreign Office: Information on Senegal
CIA World Fact Book
GTZ in Senegal
European Commission: The EU’s Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa
European Commission: External Cooperation Programmes