Senegal

Our work in Senegal focuses on areas of overlap between our expertise and the government’s priorities under the country’s 2025–2029 national development strategy and the Senegal 2050 vision.
Dr. Marie-Angélique Sene, Head of Advanced Vaccine Bioprocessing at the Institut Pasteur, prepares for Bill Gates' visit in Dakar, Senegal on October 7, 2023.

At a glance

  • We support Senegal’s efforts to achieve health sovereignty by investing in local vaccine development and production capabilities and local immunization programs.
  • We support the development and delivery of agricultural innovations that boost the yields of Senegal’s small-scale farmers, build climate resilience, and improve nutrition, and we promote rural women’s empowerment.
  • We work to expand access to family planning, reduce maternal and child mortality, improve nutrition programs, and strengthen women's health care systems, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
  • We support initiatives that promote inclusive water and sanitation solutions, strengthen service delivery, and improve governance.
  • We invest in inclusive growth, sustainable progress, and human capital through efforts to improve education, advance gender equity, and promote digital innovation.

Overview

In partnership with the national government, local organizations, and other stakeholders, we support Senegal’s key development priorities, including health sovereignty, agricultural productivity, climate resilience, nutrition, family planning, maternal and child health, water and sanitation, education, and gender equity.

Outcomes of these collective efforts since 2009 include:

  • A drop in under-5 child mortality from 139 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 31 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023
  • Improved sanitation reaching 77% of Senegalese people
  • Adult literacy more than doubling since 1988, to 57%

Senegal’s successes not only improve the lives of millions of Senegalese people, but they also inform policies and programs that unlock progress in neighboring West and Central African countries.

Yaye Helene Ndiaye, founder and director of KITAMBAA, discusses women's health in Dakar, Senegal, on June 25, 2022. KITAMBAA aims to provide low-income families with competitively priced, washable sanitary pads and menstruation kits.
Yaye Helene Ndiaye (right), founded and leads Dakar-based KITAMBAA, a nonprofit organization that provides low-income families with competitively priced, washable sanitary pads and menstruation kits. ©Gates Archive/Carmen Yasmine Abd Ali

The latest updates on our work in Senegal

Theo Sowa, Dr. Prime Josephine, and Dr. Awa Marie Coll Seck.

Three immunization advocates share why Gavi matters

Nearly 25 years after its founding, the global vaccine alliance has helped immunize more than 1 billion children.
By Violaine Mitchell Director, Immunization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Rachel Adams, Darlington Akogo, Dr. John Okombo, Dr. Disebo Potloane, Dandara Ramos, and Marie-Angélique Sène

Six scientists share the innovations that could transform the future

We asked scientists at the 2023 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting to share the scientific innovation that could transform their community over the next 20 years. Here’s what they said.
Souadou Fall, co-founder of E-cover, in the E-cover factory in Dakar, Senegal. Souadou created 100 jobs after getting a loan to expand her business.

Want to grow your economy? Focus on women.

Two recent graduates in Senegal had a great idea for a business. Because they were women, banks and investors kept saying “no.”
By Sybil Chidiac Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Omni Processor

The Omni Processor is transforming sanitation in Dakar’s peri-urban areas by processing one-third of the city’s fecal sludge to make it pathogen-free, while also producing valuable byproducts such as electricity, drinking water, and ash. To date, the machine has improved sanitation for over 1 million people.

More about our work in Africa

Regional offices
We work across Africa from our regional headquarters in Johannesburg and our offices in Abuja and Addis Ababa.
Fact sheet: Our work in Africa
Read a brief overview of our priorities in Africa.
Ideas

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