In a world where scientific innovation is a strategic lever for development, Senegal continues to sail against the tide. Funding for research, an often invisible but crucial pillar of all economic and social progress, remains structurally underfunded. While political discourse celebrates the knowledge economy, the resources allocated are struggling to keep pace. The country devotes less than 0.3% of its GDP to research and development, well below the African Union's recommendation of 1%. This gap illustrates the scale of the work still to be done.

The Senegalese government remains the main funder of research, through the Ministry of Higher Education, but its efforts remain limited in the face of the growing needs of universities and research centers. A significant portion of funding comes from abroad: the European Union, the World Bank, the French Development Agency, or even private foundations such as the Gates Foundation for the fields of health or agriculture. This extroverted funding is not without consequences: it directs priorities toward the donors' preferred areas (malaria, climate change, child nutrition, etc.), to the detriment of more local or less "fundable" issues, such as national languages, endogenous knowledge, or digital governance.

Thus, entire sectors remain in the shadows, without structural funding, equipped laboratories, or sufficient doctoral grants. Researchers, often forced to "run through calls for projects" abroad, adapt their research subjects to make them "bankable," at the risk of distancing their work from national realities. This lack of scientific sovereignty not only hinders local innovation, but also fuels the exodus of talent. Without a proactive overhaul of research funding—significant budget allocations, tax incentives for innovative companies, and transparent public-private partnerships—Senegal risks continuing to underexploit its immense intellectual potential.