Senegal

Senegal is a sub-Saharan country located in the far west of the African continent. It covers an area of 196,712 km² and is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, the Republic of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south and by 700 km of Atlantic coastline to the west.The climate is of the Sudano-Sahelian type, characterised by an alternating dry season from November to May and a rainy season from June to October.

A large proportion of the Senegalese population is inactive; the majority being women, in particular housewives and pupils/students. Senegal continues to be a country with a high poverty rate.

Senegal has a considerable number of social microfinance institutions, but the needs of the population in terms of access to financial and non-financial services are far from being met. This situation is due to :

• The credit conditions, which exclude vulnerable people which means a very large part of the population
• the lack of innovation by MFIs, which are content to offer the same services without taking into account the different needs of the various target customers
• The microfinance institutions’ lack of innovation: always offering the same services without taking into account the differing needs of their target beneficiaries.
• the virtual absence of socio-economic services (training, follow-up and support for beneficiaries) before or after granting loans.

Entrepreneurs du Monde in Senegal

Entrepreneurs du Monde has created four programs in Senegal: Ligoden, Muricasa, Fawrou Remobe and Fansoto.