"It is necessary to lower interest rates ... which are abnormally high in Africa," the Senegalese Press Agency reported Sall as saying.

He protested against "the exorbitant application of prohibitive interest rates on agricultural credit, credit for social housing and credit for women and young children fighting poverty."

The West African Central Bank (BCEAO) is the issuing bank for the eight members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA): Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal.

Several leaders of local and international financial institutions are attending the two-day symposium, including International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy director Min Zhu.

Zhu will also meet with Senegalese authorities on the country's economic outlook.

On Sunday he visited a partially-finished new highway which was the first to be financed in a public-private partnership and will link Dakar to outlying suburbs.

"Infrastructure investment is important because it will generate prosperity in the country. The authorities of this country have shown a remarkable commitment in this area," Zhu was quoted as saying.