Senegal launches initiatives to boost female entrepreneurship and agricultural storage

In Senegal, the Fonds de garantie des investissements prioritaires (FONGIP) has launched a National Pact to promote financing and support for women entrepreneurs. The initiative aims to address a major economic anomaly where women, who lead one-third of the country's SMEs, receive only a small fraction of available bank credit. The pact establishes a collaborative framework between public institutions and financial entities to modernize risk assessment and provide flexible guarantee mechanisms.

Simultaneously, the Délégation générale à l’entrepreneuriat rapide des femmes et des jeunes (DER/FJ) is implementing several regional economic projects. In Saint-Louis, the agency is rolling out a program for 29 groups, benefiting 725 individuals with a total envelope of 725 million FCFA, targeting sectors such as fishing, agriculture, and cultural industries.

In the Louga region, the DER/FJ has also broken ground on a 300 million FCFA storage infrastructure in Potou. This facility, which includes both dry and cold storage with a 1,500-ton capacity, is designed to support the onion sector by reducing post-harvest losses and stabilizing market prices.