SENEGALThe Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group have approved the granting of a loan of 108.36 million euros (US$122.32m) to Senegal to help finance the Acceleration Support Program industry, competitiveness and employment (PAAICE).

The financial support consists of two loans: the first of 96.1 million euros (US$108.48m) from the African Development Bank, and the second of 12.26 million euros (US$13.84m) from the African Development Fund, its concessional financing window.

The program, which is scheduled to run until 2025, will also benefit from a contribution of five million euros (US$5.64m) from the government of Senegal.

The objective of PAAICE is to support economic recovery, acceleration of industrialization and job creation in Senegal by improving the competitiveness of value chains, productivity and the adoption of material and organizational technologies, access to finance and private sector development.

The program is structured around the four pillars: strengthening the competitiveness of the private sector; improve access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises; stimulate productivity gains and access to technology; and promote private investment.

“This is a program focused on strong results that accelerate the development of the private sector and key dimensions of competitiveness,” the Managing Director of the Bank for West Africa, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said.

The program is part of the overall framework of the post-Covid-19 recovery of the Senegalese economy, while working to accelerate the structural transformation driven by the Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE).

The program will benefit project leaders, very small and medium-sized enterprises, self-entrepreneurs, including actors in the informal sector, who represent more than 90% of the Senegalese economic fabric, and a large part of whom are young people and women.

“This program demonstrates the commitment of the African Development Bank to support Senegal in its industrialization and job creation. It is perfectly consistent with the infrastructure projects financed by the Bank to support the competitiveness and regional integration of Senegal,” said the representative of the African Development Bank in Senegal, Mr. Mohamed Cherif.

The Industrial Acceleration, Competitiveness and Employment Support Program is aligned with the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP 2021-2025) for Senegal, which is itself aligned with the Senegal Plan.

As of October 31, 2021, the active portfolio of the African Development Bank Group in Senegal included 29 operations for a total commitment of 1.5 billion units of account. The public sector portfolio includes 23 transactions valued at 1.38 billion units of account (87% of total commitments).

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