Tenders & Trade Fairs / Exhibitions

Note prepared by Commercial Wing of the Embassy of India in Dakar
based on open sources

Tenders

Government remains a significant customer due large scale procurement of goods and service, tenders for project implementation etc. In this region, procurement for major infrastructure projects financed by multilateral lending organizations such as the World Bank, IFC, African Development Bank (AfDB), West African Development Bank (BOAD) offers considerable opportunities.

A basic online search reveals that there are several websites offering information on tenders published in the countries of our jurisdiction, viz Senegal, The Gambia, Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau. The websites most often appearing are usually composed of some common keywords, such as tendersinfo, globaltenders, (country name)+ tenders, etc. All these sites require paid subscription for accessing information.

Information on bids, expressions of interest for contract under World Bank-financed projects are available on the UN Development Business website (UNDB) www.devbusiness.un.org However, a subscription is required in order to access this functionality.

DgMarket International Inc. claims to be one of the largest online electronic marketplaces for government procurement information such as tender notices, contract awards, bidding documents, etc. The dgMarket platform aims to enable suppliers from developing and industrial countries to learn about procurement opportunities in many countries including Senegal, The Gambia, Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau. Website: www.dgmarket.com

www.marchespublics.sn is another portal for public procurement. It is a central platform intended for suppliers interested in public contracts awarded by the various ministries, local authorities, national companies in Senegal.

It may be of interest to mention here that the Project Exports Promotion Council of India has a service through which it provides information on tenders for all countries. The link is: https://www.projectexports.com/tenders/list_all_tender/1

Apart from the above sources of information on tenders, calls for bids are also published in local newspapers like Le Soleil for Senegal and occasionally international magazine like Jeune Afrique. Bid specifications are usually in French. Bidders are required to submit proposals in French in this country.

For Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau, tenders are published in local newspapers, which may or may not have their online versions. For instance, in Guinea-Bissau, tenders are usually published in ‘Democrata’ [www.odemocratagb.com] and ‘No Pintcha’ [www.jornalnopintcha.gw].

For Cabo Verde, information on tenders can be found in advertisements through news ‘A Semana’ [www.asemana.publ.cv] and ‘Expresso das ilhas’ [ https://expressodasilhas.cv ], and ‘Inforpress’ [ https://inforpress.cv ]. ‘Trade Invest Cabo Verde’ is a company which also offers similar information [ https://cvtradeinvest.com ], as well a information on investments into Cabo Verde.

Trade Fairs & Exhibitions

Senegal

The International Center of Senegal’s Foreign Trade (CICES) is the main exhibition venue in where many commercial events such as trade fairs, exhibitions, B2B meetings, etc take place.

The CICES website: www.cices.sn provides occasionally upcoming trade fairs and exhibitions. Given below is the list of a few trade fairs & exhibitions:

- Dakar International Trade Fairs (FIDAK), the most popular one and a multi-sectoral event (next edition is scheduled for Dec 2021)

- SISDAK / International Trade Fair for Health and Medical Equipment

- SIM SENEGAL (Senegalese Mining Conference & Exhibition) https://simsenegal.com/ 02-04 November 2021 Senegal Conference & Exhibition

- SENCON (International Building, Building Materials & Construction Machinery Expo in Senegal) http://www.senconexpo.com/

- SENEFOOD (International Trade Fair in West Africa, focusing on Food and Food Processing)

- SENEPACK ((International Trade Fair in West Africa, focusing on Food Packaging) http://www.senepack.com/

- SIAGRO (International Food Exhibition & Food Processing Equipment)

The Gambia

The Gambian Ministry of Trade has a website: http://gambiatradeinfo.org/trade-events/trade-fairs where trade related information, including statistics on trade, companies and other business related information is stated to be available. It also has a page devoted to trade fairs. However, it seems that this website has not been updated in the last couple of years.

The Gambia Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), has a website: gcci.gm where information pertaining to trade fairs is also included. The link is: https://gcci.gm/events/trade-fair-gambia-international/ The 14^th edition of the Gambian International Trade Fair was slated to be held in April 2020, but was cancelled owing to the pandemic.

(May 2021)