A new industrial era is opening in Senegal with the signing, on Tuesday, August 5, of a strategic agreement between SICAP SA and APIX SA, marking the launch of a major project in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Diass, a locality located about 40 km southeast of Dakar. On 66 hectares of land, an ultra-modern concrete prefabrication factory will soon be established, supported by a colossal investment of $100 million.
As a result of a Sino-Senegalese partnership, the project involves Chinese companies Zhenhuai and CAID joining forces with the Senegalese company SICAP SA, with structured financial support from CORIS Bank International. Together, they give birth to Sicap Industrie Sino-Senegalese, a new subsidiary dedicated to industrial innovation and the production of prefabricated components for major national and regional construction projects.
Beyond the economic ambition, the project aims to be socially structuring. According to its designers, it foresees the creation of 1,500 direct jobs from the launch phase, in addition to more than 2,700 indirect jobs in related sectors: logistics, maintenance, subcontracting, etc.
Youth and women will be at the heart of the project, as it is reported. A training program is already announced to facilitate their integration into industrial professions, with the clear objective of making Diass a hub of technical expertise at the national level.
The project is fully in line with the dynamic of strategic cooperation between China and Africa, which is seeing the emergence of numerous high-impact industrial partnerships. For Senegal, this agreement reflects the desire to attract high value-added investments in its special economic zones.
From the start of the works, the project initiators indicate that 60 Senegalese technicians will be mobilized, alongside around twenty Chinese experts responsible for transferring their expertise and ensuring the start-up of cutting-edge equipment. This technical collaboration opens up long-term prospects for the upskilling of the local workforce.
Located close to the Blaise Diagne International Airport, the SEZ of Diass continues to attract investors. The establishment of this factory is seen as a strong signal of the country’s economic transformation, at the crossroads of local production, job creation, and infrastructure development.
