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Senegal
>> Regional Overview >> Senegal Overview Program Data Sheet
685-001
USAID MISSION: Senegal
PROGRAM TITLE: Private Enterprise (Pillar: Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Sustainable Increases in Private Sector Income-Generating Activities in Selected Sectors, 685-001
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $4,800,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $6,726,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1998 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006Summary: The objective of this program is to increase private sector activity, especially small and micro-enterprise, by addressing key impediments to market-based enterprise growth in the areas of policy, finance and business practices. Ultimate customers include women and men entrepreneurs, business associations and their members, and financial institutions. The program includes:
- technical assistance to improve the legal, regulatory and policy environment for business;
- technical assistance and training to increase the availability and quality of financial services;
- training to improve enterprises' technical and managerial practices; and
- technical assistance and training for increased commercialization of non-traditional agriculture products, and marketing of natural products.
Inputs, Outputs and Activities: FY 2002 Program: USAID will use FY 2002 funds to assist the Government of Senegal (GOS) to remove administrative barriers to private investment by supporting the newly created Investment Promotion Agency. Technical assistance will be provided to Senegal's Arbitration and Mediation Center to continue to resolve business litigation cases in less time than in traditional courts. USAID will continue to strengthen microfinance institutions (MFIs) as a means of giving rural and urban entrepreneurs, particularly women, access to secure savings and credit services. Selected MFIs and non-government organizations will receive technical assistance and institutional and technical training to help them provide higher quality financial services to a greater number of clients. USAID will introduce MFIs to audits and assessments as management tools while developing a cadre of local firms capable of conducting such work in the future. To increase the skills of small and micro-enterprises, training will be provided in management, business planning, marketing, and production techniques. FY 2002 funds will also be used to launch a new Agriculture and Natural Resources Management (AG/NRM) activity, jointly funded with the local governance program (685-002), to promote sustainable community management of agriculture and natural resources. The private enterprise aspect of the activity involves technical assistance and technology transfer to promote profitable joint ventures between communities and the private sector for marketing natural products and the cultivation and/or processing of non-traditional agricultural products for national and regional markets. USAID will develop the capacity of communities to link with private sector partners to upgrade and market their natural and agricultural products.
Planned FY 2003 Program: USAID will build on the momentum achieved in microfinance activities, increasing the number of partner MFIs and helping them to provide more clients with quality savings and loan services. To develop essential business skills, USAID will continue to provide entrepreneurs with appropriate management and entrepreneurial skills, including business start-up, marketing and product transformation and quality control techniques, on a cost-sharing basis. USAID will explore mechanisms for boosting Senegal's exports to neighboring countries and will fund training to increase the GOS capacity to participate effectively in the World Trade Organization and other trade fora. In FY 2003, AG/NRM technical assistance and training will be directed at promoting high-value, non-traditional agricultural crops; establishing profitable joint ventures between communities and the private sector for marketing natural products from communal or protected forests (such as tourism or non-timber products); and developing grades, standards and quality control measures for commercially viable agricultural products.
Performance and Results: At the end of the USAID program, it is expected that the business environment will be improved and entrepreneurs will have increased their capacity for economic growth at the grassroots level. So far, to develop the capacity of MFIs, USAID provided seven MFIs and networks representing 95 individual bank branches with institutional support and technical training, computers and office equipment. The MFIs opened new branches in areas that were not served, expanded and strengthened their existing branches, increased clients' confidence, and greatly developed their outreach. Consequently, the number of clients, the volume of savings mobilized and the value of loans increased sharply. From 1999 to 2001, the number of new clients in assisted MFIs rose from 10,214 to 40,214, savings deposits grew from $546,000 to $2,785,000 and the number of loans increased from 8,406 (valued at $995,000) to 11,438 (valued at $5,980,000). To improve regulatory oversight of MFIs, a computer network is being installed for the GOS's microfinance regulatory unit. Four staff members from this unit have benefited from technical courses to increase their microfinance expertise. A total of 231 entrepreneurs have paid for training in basic accounting, marketing and management, entrepreneurial skills and specific topics such as internet cafés and silk screening techniques. USAID is successfully implementing its job creation and income generating fuel-efficient stove activity and more than 10,000 stoves have been sold in FY 2001. A USAID-funded study on distortions in Senegal's tax system identified steps the GOS should take to streamline tax incentives and procedures for business.
As a result of USAID technical assistance and training, 95 MFIs (individual institutions or branches of networks) greatly improved access to financial service and increased confidence in the microfinance sector. Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Chemonics International Inc. is the prime contractor for microfinance and business development (subcontractors: the Center for International Private Enterprise; International Business Initiatives; Umbrella Support Unit and dozens of Senegalese sub-contractors). Grantees include EnterpriseWorks, a U.S. non-governmental organization, for fuel-efficient stoves; The Center for Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation (Senegalese NGO) for alternative dispute resolution and the Senegalese Association for Support to the Creation of Social and Economic Activities (NGO) for microfinance and business development in the Casamance region.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
685-001 Sustainable increases in private sector income generating activities in selected sectors DA DFA Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 19,088 100 Expenditures 3,950 0 Unliquidated 15,138 100 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 3,562 0 Expenditures 5,657 87 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 22,650 100 Expenditures 9,607 87 Unliquidated 13,043 13 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 0 0 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 4,800 0 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 4,800 0 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 6,726 0 Future Obligations 36,124 0 Est. Total Cost 70,300 100
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
