Senegal's digital ecosystem

State IT agency

AfriTech is the African startup exhibition, organized in Dakar by the Mouvement des entreprises du Sénégal (MEDS) with its young entrepreneurs circle. It offers a startup competition, conferences (AI, financing, cybersecurity, smart cities, data protection) and networking. It targets innovators, entrepreneurs and digital professionals in francophone Africa. The site states eight editions and a 2026 edition planned.

The AKASSAA agenda lists about thirty upcoming events, mostly in 2026, all in Dakar. It covers technology conferences, startup summits, cultural festivals, sports events and business forums. It targets entrepreneurs, tech professionals, innovators and business leaders.

Centre of excellence of the pan-African AIMS network (African Institute for Mathematical Sciences), dedicated to postgraduate training, research and public engagement in science. It offers a master's in mathematical sciences, a co-operative master's in data science, the African Master's in Machine Intelligence (AMMI) and employability programs. It is based in Mbour (Thiès), with a satellite campus in Dakar.

Bond'innov is an innovation accelerator founded in 2011 that supports impact projects in Europe and Africa with agile, human-centred methods. It has offices in Paris, Casablanca and Dakar. Its current programmes include SEADE, CATAL1.5°T and IYBA-SEED. It serves entrepreneurs, support structures, incubators and the diaspora.

CNCF chapter in Dakar, a group of enthusiasts of cloud native technologies and the CNCF ecosystem who want to learn and share together. Topics include Kubernetes, Prometheus, Docker, Istio, GitOps and DevOps, plus Azure, AWS, GCP and Oracle Cloud platforms. It was created in November 2022 and has 116 members. Its events follow the Linux Foundation code of conduct.

Volunteer community in Senegal of developers, UX/UI designers, communicators, data scientists, DevOps engineers and cybersecurity professionals. It builds digital solutions to social problems. Its GitHub projects include kaaycoder (civic engagement), vie-publique.sn (transparency), web-citoyen (open data) and elections-programmes.

Concree is an entrepreneurship support organisation in Africa, led by Babacar Birane, with offices in Dakar and Saint-Louis. It offers tools and programmes such as StartupLudo (an entrepreneurship simulation board game), KomKombox (self-paced training), WeKomkom (networking), LezGo and Tambali (an AI co-pilot). It serves entrepreneurs.

CTIC Dakar is a technology entrepreneurship hub and incubator founded in 2011 with funding from the World Bank and IFC. It is located in Dakar and runs three programmes: BuntuTeki (pre-incubation), acceleration and incubation. It serves young people, women, students and project owners.

Dakar Innovation Days is a hackathon and innovation contest organized by the City of Dakar, whose 2nd edition took place in July 2024 at City Hall. Participants propose solutions to city challenges: service digitalization, e-health, e-learning, mobility, urban planning and open innovation (AI, IoT, blockchain). Winners can join an acceleration or incubation program. It targets students, professionals, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts.

Engineering school specialized in artificial intelligence and big data, founded in 2019 and led by Nicolas Poussielgue. It offers bachelor's degrees (big data, digital marketing), master's degrees (artificial intelligence, digital finance) and certifications (TOEIC, intensive Data Science, Python, Fullstack web). It is located in Cité Keur Gorgui, Dakar, and enrolls students from over 17 nationalities.

Funding for women's and youth entrepreneurship

GDG Dakar is an independent developer community (Google Developer Group), run by seven organizers with 1,643 members. It organizes meetups, technical talks, workshops and DevFest, the annual developer festival (2025 edition on 15 November in Dakar). It also runs AI initiatives such as Build With AI.

Digital Business Africa is a digital business news outlet covering digital transformation, telecoms, innovation, cybersecurity, AI and e-commerce in Africa. It emphasizes Central and West Africa, including Senegal. It publishes mainly in French, with an English version, and offers a newsletter.

EBIS (E-Business International Summit) is an African digital commerce summit, whose second edition takes place on 26 and 27 November 2026 at CICES, Dakar. It offers a conference, a Deal Room, B2B matchmaking, a business expo and masterclasses. Over 1,000 participants are expected: executives, investors, e-commerce platforms, fintechs and startups.

Ecofin Agency is a news and business intelligence platform on Africa, published by MediaMania. It covers finance, mining, energy, agriculture, technology, infrastructure and public policy. It is available in English, French and Portuguese, and targets professionals and investors.

École polytechnique de Thiès, presented as Senegal's first engineering school, founded in 1973. It offers a five-year design engineer degree (civil, electromechanical, aerospace, industrial, computer science and telecommunications), master's degrees including software engineering and artificial intelligence, and doctorates. The Thiès campus includes FabLabs and technical laboratories.

ESMT (Multinational Higher School of Telecommunications) is a regional higher education and research institution in telecommunications, information technology and management. It offers preparatory classes, bachelor's and master's degrees, an engineering diploma, doctorates and certifications. It is based in Dakar and has 7 member countries. It has over 1,200 students.

The École supérieure polytechnique (ESP) is an engineering school of Université Cheikh Anta Diop, located on the Corniche Ouest in Dakar. It has departments in chemical engineering and applied biology, civil, electrical, computer and mechanical engineering, and management. Degrees range from DUT to master's, with continuing education.

FORCE-N is a programme for youth employment and employability in the digital sector in Senegal, running from 2022 to 2026. It is led by the Université Numérique Cheikh Hamidou Kane (UN-CHK) with the Mastercard Foundation. It covers science promotion, professional integration and over 20 digital profession certificates.

Community of Senegalese developers, focused on events, projects, opportunities and resources. It offers events, open-source projects and developer networking and support. It is present on Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram and social networks, and accepts donations via Ko-fi and Open Collective.

Community dedicated to artificial intelligence, big data and IoT, founded in 2018 in Dakar. It brings together researchers, developers, students and companies. It offers meetups, workshops, hackathons, paper readings, AI olympiads, an ambassador program, six training tracks and the annual IndabaX conference.

Dakar Google Developer Group, an independent group in the GDG program that fosters a developer community and has 1,643 members. It is run by a team of volunteer organizers. Recent events include DevFest Dakar 2025 and Build With AI Dakar 2026.

Impact Hub Dakar is a coworking space and startup incubation programme in Dakar, part of the international Impact Hub network. It offers workspaces, event rooms, workshops and consultancy. Its programmes include Lafiya Innovators, Singa, Suqali and Agreenlab. It serves entrepreneurs and startups.