In Senegal, factories that train: German firms bet on local skills — and hire 100% local

In Diamniadio, Senegal's new industrial hub, the Klingele paper and packaging plant runs on a deliberate choice: every member of staff is hired locally, some sent to train in Germany and brought home with new skills. Across the group's three African factories, 100% of employees are local. Nearby, engineering firm GAUFF is extending rural electrification toward hundreds of villages. Regional director Guillermo Rodríguez says Senegal's edge revealed itself quickly — a dense network of professional training schools meant skilled people were ready. 'We considered that Senegal was the gateway to ECOWAS,' he says, referring to the West African economic bloc. It is investment measured not just in buildings, but in people who stay.

SDG 8 · Decent work and economic growth — Mechanism: market force