Senegal embarks on localising the SDGs for greater, local development impact

Dakar, December 19, 2025 (ECA) - The ECA's African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), in partnership with the Directorate General of Planning and Economic Policy (DGPPE) of the Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation in Senegal, concluded a capacity-building and knowledge-sharing workshop on localising public policies for effective implementation of the Senegal 2050 National Transformation Agenda.

Held from December 17 to 19, 2025, in Dakar, the workshop brought together local stakeholders, including national and international experts, and representatives of the UN-Habitat Senegal Program. It aimed to promote the localisation of public policies through integrated planning, strengthening of local governance, innovative financing mechanisms, and identification of capacity-building needs for the inclusive and sustainable transformation of Senegal.

Speaking at the workshop, Ms. Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of IDEP, stressed that 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intrinsically dependent on the ability to anchor and achieve them at the local level, by mobilizing resources and actors as close as possible to the field.

"The Senegal 2050 Agenda marks a strong ambition for structural, inclusive, and sustainable transformation of the country. The success of this vision depends largely on our collective ability to localise public policies. Local authorities thus play a decisive role in the implementation of national and international agendas," she said.

Souleymane Diallo, Senegal's Director General of Planning and Economic Policy, stressed the urgency of localising public policies, as a means towards achieving equity at the local level.

"The localisation of public policies is no longer a simple technical choice or an option; it is a strategic imperative and an urgent priority at the heart of Vision Senegal 2050, he said, adding that the government and relevant departments will work on development plans for the regional hubs identified in the national transformation agenda.

Ms. Bounemra Ben Soltane also highlighted the challenges facing Africa, pointing out that the continent is experiencing the fastest urban growth in the world, with urbanization rates rising from around 35% in 2000 to nearly 45% in 2024, and expected to reach 50% by 2035, then 70% by 2050. This dynamic is putting increased pressure on territories and planning systems.

She added: "Territorial disparities remain a major determinant of economic and social inequalities, limiting the impact of national policies when they are not adapted to the local dimension. The challenge is not only to plan more, but to plan differently: in an integrated, inclusive, and locally sensitive manner."

IDEP's strengthened commitment alongside Senegal

This workshop is part of a process to strengthen the capacities of regional planning services, regional development agencies, and national actors involved in the implementation of the Senegal 2050 Agenda. It reaffirms the role and commitment of IDEP, an institution of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in supporting Senegal and its other member states towards integrated, territorialized, and impact-oriented development planning.

According to the Director of IDEP, Senegal can reduce disparities between urban, rural, and border areas if it applies the instruments needed to do so. Furthermore, the instruments depend on the ability of stakeholders to articulate them, adapt them to local realities, and integrate cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, climate, and resilience.

The current context is particularly favorable for this initiative, as Senegal will present its third Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), four years before the 2030 deadline. The success of this IDEP-DGPPE initiative, launched through this workshop, will help strengthen the connection and integration between the SDGs and the objectives of the national transformation agenda, in order to generate a concrete and lasting impact at the local level.

After three days of peer learning and sharing of concrete experiences, a structured assessment of capacity-building needs was carried out. These needs translate into training requests in several priority areas, including:

• Development of integrated development plans for territorial hubs;

• Designing bankable projects at the inter-territorial level (green/climate funds);

• Mobilization of funding for local development and decentralized/cross-border cooperation;

• Monitoring and evaluation of the impact of public policies;

• Reference framework for planning and territorialization of public policies;

• Establishment of local economy observatories (platform for public and private actors, database and knowledge base).

These actions are essential to achieving the objectives set out in Vision Senegal 2050 and maximizing the impact of public policies at the local level.

The workshop ended on a note of appreciation for IDEP's ongoing efforts and its longstanding partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation, a collaboration that spans six decades. Participants praised the quality of the discussions and the relevance of the topics addressed.

In addition, a future agenda was announced to prepare a roadmap aimed at implementing the requests expressed, particularly in terms of training, knowledge production and management, and support and advice for political and technical actors in the clusters, in order to accelerate the implementation of Vision Senegal 2050.

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: [email protected]