VZCZCXRO6244
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHDK #0821 1961059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141059Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0811
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 000821 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W AND AF/EPS 
STATE PLS PASS TO USTR/CHAMILTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD SENV EAGR EINV EFIN EAID SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL'S PREPARATION FOR THE 2008 AGOA FORUM 
 
REFS: A) STATE 58394, B) 07 DAKAR 1054 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  On July 9, Senegal's Ministry of Trade Mamadou Diop 
Decroix convened a stakeholder meeting to evaluate the preparations 
for the GOS' participation in the July 14-16 AGOA Forum.  He also 
spurred a debate as to why AGOA has been a failure in Senegal. 
Representatives from the private sector and a number of GOS agencies 
attended, as did Econ Counselor and Econ Assistant.  Unfortunately, 
the main conclusion of the roundtable was to underscore Senegal's 
continued lack of focus on AGOA, both in terms of expanding exports 
and in not preparing properly for the Forum.  We expect Minister 
Diop Decroix to lead Senegal's delegation, but most of the other 
participants have not yet been confirmed.  Potential participants 
were asking for help with visas even over the weekend.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
GOS HAS NO PROGRAM FOR AGOA 
--------------------------- 
¶2.  On July 9 meeting of stakeholders in preparation for the July 
14-15 AGOA Forum in Washington, Senegal's Ministry of Trade Mamadou 
Diop Decroix noted that the country's exports to the U.S. have not 
significantly increased since 2004, and asked participants what were 
the barriers to the country's taking full advantage of AGOA 
preferences.  He asked, "does the fault lay with the government, the 
private sector, or the U.S. government?"  He received no clear 
response from those in attendance, which included representatives 
from the private sector, the Ministry of Commerce, the customs 
service, APIX (Agency for Investment and Export Promotion) and 
ASEPEX (Senegalese Agency for Export Promotion), and he departed the 
meeting after 15 minutes, but the acrimonious discussion continued 
for another two hours. 
 
¶3.  The private sector, represented by Mrs. Colle Sow Ardo and Mr 
Abdoulaay Diaara, expressed discouragement in accessing the American 
market saying that it was too large.  Supported by Mr. Ly of Apix, 
Mrs. Diaara and Mr. Sow emphasized the lack of government support, 
including capacity building and training in Senegal.  They wondered 
why the U.S. government did not support them with financing and 
market access.  They also expressed their displeasure that the 
government had only contacted them about their requested 
participation at the Forum one week ago, and had yet to offer any 
financial assistance with the travel and lodging. 
 
¶4.  The Director General of ASAPEX, Mrs. Maimouna Savane, explained 
that her agency's ability to help Senegalese exporters is being 
undercut by the GOS's lack of support.  She claimed that the 
government had yet to pay CFA 200 million (USD 475,000), almost half 
of its budget allocation for 2008.  [Note:  When ASEPEX was 
established three years ago it took away most of the Ministry of 
Commerce's export promotion budget.  It is only recently that ASEPEX 
has begun to offer genuine service and value to Senegalese 
exporters, but the agency likely will shut down if the government 
does not fulfill its budget commitment.  End Note.]  Despite APIX' 
important role in promoting and supporting new investment in 
Senegal, Mr. Ly did not know if his agency would participate in the 
Forum. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶4.   Much like the similar, last minute and unfocused meeting held 
before last year's AGOA Forum, this "stakeholders" roundtable did 
more to highlight Senegal's lack of focus on AGOA and the U.S. 
market than to establish any consensus on the steps necessary to 
create a more robust export capacity.  Minister Diop, like his 
predecessor and the Director General of APIX before him, gave the 
impression that AGOA "does not offer much to Senegal."  For the 2008 
Forum, there is a high possibility that the Senegalese private 
sector will not be represented. 
 
SMITH