The President of the Republic inaugurated the MAVAMAR Industries refinery in Sendou and launched the Bargny–Sendou industrial zone, a large-scale private-sector initiative covering 276 hectares.
These major investments strengthen the national drive for industrialization and local value-added processing, with an expected impact on the structuring of agricultural value chains, the creation of thousands of jobs, and the economic development of local territories.
Through these projects, the State reaffirms its commitment to supporting productive investment, fostering an attractive and secure business environment, and consolidating a more sovereign, more competitive, and more inclusive economy, in line with the National Transformation Agenda Senegal 2050.
Address by the President of the Republic at the Inauguration Ceremony of the MAVAMAR Industries Refinery
27 January 2026 – The spoken word alone is authoritative
• Mr. Minister of Industry and Trade,
• Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the Government,
• Mr. Governor,
• Mr. Prefect,
• Honorable Members of Parliament,
• Mayors,
• Ladies and Gentlemen, administrative, territorial, customary and religious authorities,
• Ladies and Gentlemen, technical and financial partners,
• Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure that I take part in this ceremony marking the inauguration of the MAVAMAR Industries SA refinery, here in Sendou, in the department of Rufisque.
First of all, I would like to extend to each and every one of you my sincere best wishes for the New Year 2026.
May this year be, for you and your respective families, a year of health, serenity, and shared happiness.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Just a few moments ago, before arriving here, I laid the foundation stone for the Bargny–Sendou Industrial Zone of the SENEGINDIA SA Group. This is the first time that a private company has developed an industrial zone in our country. Until now, only the State and local authorities had been engaged in the development and equipping of industrial zones.
The Bargny–Sendou Industrial Zone will cover 276 hectares. It will host between 400 and 450 industrial units, generating between 22,000 and 24,000 skilled and unskilled jobs, with a total investment of more than 83 billion CFA francs by the SENEGINDIA SA Group.
I would like to commend all the promoters, executives, and financial partners of this project for their commitment, boldness, and determination to invest sustainably in our country, in sectors that are strategic for our economic and social development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, we are taking together a strong and structuring step—one that marks a decisive milestone on the path to the industrialization of our country.
This step clearly reflects our shared determination to build a productive, sovereign, and industrial Senegal, in line with the orientations of the National Transformation Agenda Senegal 2050.
The industrial facility we are inaugurating this afternoon is far more than a simple production unit. It is a symbol of a new stage in the structural transformation of our economy.
It exemplifies the central role we assign to industrialization, local value creation, and mastery of our production chains.
I welcome the scale of this investment, the quality of the infrastructure developed, and the level of technology achieved.
This modern and integrated refinery clearly demonstrates that the private sector has the capacity to carry forward structuring projects that create sustainable jobs and wealth.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our country’s dependence on imported edible oils represents a major challenge. It weighs heavily on our trade balance and weakens our food sovereignty.
Our ambition is clear: to produce more locally, process locally, and consume what we produce.
That is why the old model, based on exporting raw materials and importing processed products, must quickly give way to a new dynamic founded on local processing, innovation, and competitiveness.
MAVAMAR Industries is fully aligned with this vision. By effectively linking agriculture to industry through integrated crushing, refining, packaging, and storage this company actively contributes to structuring our agricultural value chains, particularly the groundnut sector, a historic pillar of our rural economy.
I also commend the agricultural development initiatives led by the Group through SWAMI AGRI, notably:
• the multiplication of certified groundnut seeds;
• support for producers;
• and structuring projects in the oil palm sector.
These projects demonstrate that it is possible to reconcile private investment, social inclusion, and territorial development, while respecting local communities and the environment.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our economic policy is based on a fundamental principle: a strategic State and a private sector that is the engine of growth.
The State creates favorable conditions, ensures regulation, and protects the general interest. Investors, for their part, take risks, innovate, create jobs, and generate national wealth.
This balanced public–private partnership is the key to our collective success.
In this regard, I wish to reassure all economic actors.
I reaffirm with strength the firm commitment of the State of Senegal to supporting industrialization through coherent and structuring public investments.
Accordingly, thirty (30) Agropole sites will be created across the national territory under the Finance Law, in order to strengthen local processing of agricultural production.
In addition, major projects for modern and competitive industrial zones are being rolled out to provide investors with appropriate, secure, and well-connected infrastructure.
In the same spirit, the adoption of a new Investment Code, along with reforms of the tax and customs codes, aims to enhance the attractiveness of our economy, reduce constraints, and sustainably stimulate productive investment, both national and foreign.
The Government will continue the necessary reforms to:
• improve the business climate;
• ensure fair and healthy competition;
• support productive investment;
• and accompany the development of our national industry.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As so rightly stated by the Chief Executive Officer of MAVAMAR, we are inaugurating more than a factory.
We are inaugurating:
• a vision;
• an ambition;
• a renewed confidence in our collective capacities.
I affirm clearly and forcefully that Senegal can:
• transform its resources;
• create industrial champions;
• provide decent and sustainable jobs for its youth;
• and durably ensure its food sovereignty.
I hope that this plant will serve as a model of performance, social and environmental responsibility, and that it will inspire other investors to follow this example.
I once again extend my congratulations to the SENEGINDIA Group, MAVAMAR Industries, SWAMI AGRI, and all their staff for the confidence they place in our country and their alignment with the National Transformation Agenda Senegal 2050.
I take this excellent opportunity to once again call on national and international private-sector actors to invest in our country.
I call upon all authorities to redouble their attention and efforts to facilitate and support the implementation of their projects. Just a few weeks ago, not far from here, I inaugurated a factory manufacturing tactical military vehicles.
My ambition is to accelerate and multiply such events, for it is only at this pace that we will achieve the objectives I have set for the Government and respond as quickly as possible to the expectations of our people and our territories.
Confidence from the private sector in our country is growing stronger every day.
I call upon the Government, territorial administration, local authorities, central administration, religious and customary authorities, young people and women, to unite our forces and energies, and to draw from our culture the deep values of teranga, jom, and fullë, in order to support this structural transformation of our economy; to warmly welcome the massive arrival of national and international private enterprises; for local production, local processing, sustainable territorial development, and decent and lasting employment.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank the Government, local authorities, technical and financial partners, as well as neighboring communities, for their support.
Together, let us continue our march toward a strong, fair, productive, and prosperous Senegal.
Long live Senegalese industry,
Long live the National Transformation Agenda Senegal 2050,
Long live Senegal.