Senegal Technology Firms Say Securiport Contract Shut Out Local Expertise
Senegal's association of information and communications technology companies, RESTIC, said in August 2015 that it was not surprised by reported irregularities in a government agreement with Securiport for airport biometric screening.
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Senegal's association of information and communications technology companies, RESTIC, said in August 2015 that it was not surprised by reported irregularities in a government agreement with Securiport for airport biometric screening.
The association argued that the contract and a separate biometric-passport arrangement were unfavourable to Senegalese technology businesses. In its view, outsourcing key digital identity functions reduced opportunities for local engineering companies and limited the development of domestic expertise.
RESTIC linked its criticism to Decree No. 2011-652 of 26 May 2011, which established a security fee to support an integrated immigration control system. It also recalled that it had approached Senegal's personal-data regulator over the handling and protection of travellers' biometric information.
The association's statement followed press accounts of an Inspection générale des finances review that questioned aspects of the contract. The publicly retrieved reporting does not, by itself, prove every alleged irregularity or establish the value of economic opportunities lost to Senegalese firms.
The case brought procurement, industrial policy and data protection into the same debate. Those issues require separate evidence, including tender records, project expenditure, security audits and the legal basis for collecting passengers' personal information.