Frequently asked questions about property in Senegal

No nationality restriction applies: a foreign buyer or a member of the Senegalese diaspora can acquire full ownership. The route has four stages — selection and viewing, in person or by video call; verification of the title at the conservation foncière; a preliminary sale agreement; then signature of the deed before a notaire. Your presence is not essential: a notarised power of attorney, legalised at the Senegalese consulate in your country of residence, lets your representative sign on your behalf.

• Guide: buying property in Senegal as a foreign resident
• Guide: buying by power of attorney from abroad

On the buyer's side: valid photo identification, proof of address and, for a remote purchase, the legalised power of attorney. From the seller, insist on the original titre foncier or lease, a certificate of no dispute issued by the conservation foncière, tax clearance and, for land, the boundary survey plan. Pay no deposit until the notaire has confirmed the title is authentic and free of any mortgage or objection.

• Guide: buying land in Senegal safely
• Land for sale in Senegal

Allow two to four months between an accepted offer and handover of the keys. Checking the title at the conservation foncière takes two to four weeks; drafting and signing the deed adds a further two to three weeks. Registering the transfer into the new owner's name can then run on for several months without delaying your enjoyment of the property. Buying by power of attorney from abroad adds one to two weeks for consular legalisation.

• Guide: the timeline of a purchase by power of attorney
• Villas for sale in Senegal

It depends on your objective. Les Almadies and Ngor hold the prime stock and the sea-view villas; Mermoz, Fann and Point E offer well-placed apartments with steady rental demand; Plateau remains the business heart; Diamniadio draws new-build investment; Saly and the Petite Côte suit seasonal letting. Our neighbourhood pages set out price benchmarks, character and accessibility for each one.

• Guide: Dakar property prices by neighbourhood
• Explore the neighbourhoods of Dakar

As an indication, allow 7% to 10% of the sale price on top of the price advertised. That envelope covers registration duties paid to the State — in the region of 5% — the notaire's fees, calculated on a sliding scale applied to the property's value, and the cost of recording the transfer at the conservation foncière. On a property at 100 million FCFA, that means roughly 7 to 10 million FCFA. Only the notaire produces the exact figure: ask for it before signing.

• Guide: notary fees and acquisition costs in Senegal

The buyer, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. They bear the registration duties, the notaire's fees and the land-registry recording costs. The seller may owe capital-gains tax if they make a gain on resale, and must produce tax clearance before the sale. Agency commission falls due on the terms of the signed mandate; at AfriqueRealty it is stated before any introduction is made.

• Guide: who pays what in a transaction
• Entrust the sale of your property to us

Notaires in Senegal apply a regulated scale, identical in Dakar and across the country: their fees are a sliding percentage of the property's value, with fixed charges for the deed, copies and formalities on top. The tariff is therefore not freely negotiable and does not vary from one practice to another. What does vary is the depth of the legal checking done beforehand. Always ask for an itemised statement, line by line, before you sign.

• Guide: the notary fee scale, line by line
• Property for sale in Senegal

Transferring land — recording the new owner on the titre foncier — triggers registration duties calculated on the sale price, the notaire's fees and the conservation foncière's charges. The order of magnitude matches that of a built property, around 7% to 10% of the price. Land held under a lease or a délibération follows a different, longer and costlier route: the right has to be regularised before it can be transferred at all.

• Guide: registration and transfer duties
• Land with a titre foncier for sale

The titre foncier (TF) is the document that establishes ownership of a property definitively and unassailably in Senegal. Registered at the conservation foncière, it carries a unique number and records the owner, the surface area, the boundaries of the plot and any charges — mortgages, easements, objections. It is the only title conferring full ownership: neither a lease, nor a délibération, nor a sale attestation carries the same force. Verifying it is the non-negotiable step in any transaction.

• Guide: understanding and verifying the titre foncier

The land-title number appears on the copy of the title handed over by the seller. It is checked at the conservation foncière for the district where the property sits: your notaire requests a statement of real rights, which shows the owner recorded to date, the exact surface area and every entry encumbering the title. A photographed copy proves nothing. Always have this verification carried out by a notaire before any payment, including a mere reservation.

• Guide: verifying a land title at the conservation foncière
• Land for sale, title verified

A lease granted by the State can be converted into a titre foncier once the conditions in the terms of grant are met: the land genuinely developed, ground rent up to date, the intended use respected. The application is filed with the Domaines department, together with the lease, the boundary survey plan, evidence of development and the receipts. It passes through a State valuation, then a final deed of transfer. Allow several months, and work with a notaire.

• Guide: from lease to land title, the procedure
• Have our consultants review your file

The titre foncier confers full ownership, final and enforceable against all. A lease is a right of occupation granted by the State for a fixed term, carrying development obligations and an annual ground rent: it can be assigned but stays precarious until converted. A délibération is merely an allocation by a local authority; it is not a title of ownership and remains the most common source of disputes. Never buy on the strength of a délibération alone.

• Guide: title, lease, délibération — what you are actually buying
• Land for sale in Senegal

VEFA — vente en l'état futur d'achèvement — is the purchase of a home off-plan, before or during construction. The buyer becomes owner of the land and of whatever is already built from the moment the deed is signed before the notaire, then of the works as they go up. The price is settled through staged payments tied to progress on site. In Senegal, VEFA carries most new-build schemes in Dakar, Diamniadio and on the Petite Côte.

• Our VEFA developments in Senegal
• Guide: investing in Senegalese real estate

The price is called in instalments indexed to construction progress, never in one lump sum at reservation. The usual pattern in Senegal: a deposit on signing the preliminary contract, then tranches at completion of the foundations, the structural works, the weathertight stage and the finishes, with the balance called on delivery. Every call must be backed by a progress certificate. Have that payment schedule written into the notarial deed, not into a commercial annexe.

• VEFA: how we support you from contract to handover
• Guide: the costs that apply to a VEFA purchase

Three protections must appear in black and white in the deed: a completion or refund guarantee issued by a bank or insurer, covering the finish of the works if the developer fails; a guarantee of perfect completion covering defects reported at handover; and a ten-year structural guarantee covering faults affecting the soundness of the building. Check as well that the scheme sits on a titre foncier in the developer's name and that the building permit has been issued.

• New-build schemes vetted by our team
• Guide: checking the land title behind a new-build scheme

The real risks are late delivery, an abandoned site, non-conformity with the plans, and the marketing of a scheme whose land position is not clean. You limit them by signing before a notaire independent of the developer, insisting on the titre foncier for the site and the building permit, accepting only payment calls backed by a progress certificate, and having a firm delivery date with late penalties written into the deed.

• VEFA: how we audit a development
• Guide: securing the land position before you buy

Landlords generally ask for identification, proof of income or an employer's letter, a deposit equivalent to one to three months' rent and, in some cases, a guarantor. The written lease sets out the term, the rent, the charges, how the rent may be reviewed and the inventory taken at move-in. Where a company takes the lease, an employer's letter of undertaking usually replaces the tenant's personal file.

• Properties to rent in Senegal
• Housing for expatriates and relocating executives

Yes. Medium-term furnished letting is common in Dakar for assignments, relocations and settling-in periods: the home is equipped, connected and ready to live in, on a three- to twelve-month lease that is usually renewable. Les Almadies, Ngor, Mermoz and Plateau hold the stock suited to expatriate executives. We also prepare the arrival — electricity, water, internet, household staff — so the home works from day one.

• Furnished apartments and villas to rent in Dakar
• Our turnkey offer for expatriates

Delegated rental management covers finding and vetting the tenant, drafting the lease, the inventory, collecting rent, tracking charges, routine maintenance and periodic reporting. It is the essential arrangement when you live outside Senegal: you keep the decisions, we execute on the ground. As an indication, a well-located Dakar property often yields a gross rental return of between 6% and 9% a year.

• Our rental management service in Dakar and Saly
• Guide: making a property pay from abroad

A sale begins with a valuation grounded in real transactions in the neighbourhood, then a written mandate fixing the price, the term and the remuneration. Next come preparation of the legal file, targeted marketing — including to the diaspora and off-market where discretion demands it — selection of financially sound buyers, the preliminary agreement and signature of the deed before the notaire. Our valuation is returned within 48 working hours.

• Request a valuation of your property
• Guide: Dakar price benchmarks

The original titre foncier or lease, identification, the certificate of no dispute from the conservation foncière, tax clearance, receipts for ground rent or property tax paid to date and, for land, the boundary survey plan. In a co-ownership, add the regulations and the service-charge demands. Assembling these papers before listing shortens the time to signature appreciably and reassures diaspora buyers, who are often wary of incomplete files.

• Prepare the sale with our consultants
• Guide: the papers tied to the land title