The 2025 Investment Code — what law no. 2025-16 says

A new text, read at the source

Since 2 October 2025, investment in Senegal has been governed by law no. 2025-16 on the Investment Code (passed 18 September 2025, published in Official Gazette no. 7853), which repeals the 2004 law. Many online guides still describe the old regime: this page draws on the 2025 text itself. The new code aligns itself with Vision Sénégal 2050 and states three priorities: widening access to incentives (including for small businesses), digitising procedures and pushing investment beyond Dakar.

Approval, concretely

Any investment of at least 15 million FCFA must be registered in the investors' register kept by APIX; that is also the eligibility threshold for an SME to access the incentive regime. Files are processed by APIX with the decision resting with the Minister of Finance, and a response due within 10 working days of a complete filing. Approval first covers the implementation phase — 3 years in the Dakar and Thiès regions, 5 years elsewhere: steering investment towards the interior is an explicit policy of the text.

The incentives

During implementation: VAT suspension on local and imported acquisitions, and customs duty exemption on production equipment — except for locally manufactured goods, protected by a local content logic. In the operating phase, investors are entitled to an investment tax credit whose regime is set by the General Tax Code — have your accountant quantify it against the current CGI, as the code itself sets no rate.

Two special regimes

The strategic investment regime (size, location outside Dakar, strategic sectors, export or import-substitution profile) takes the form of an agreement signed with the Minister of Finance, in exchange for reinforced obligations: national employment, local content, technology transfer. The socially responsible investment regime is mandatory for any land allocation in the new Investment Development Zones (ZAI). Note: resale trading, residential and office real estate, the financial sector and activities under sector codes (mining, petroleum) fall outside the code's scope.

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