Dakar, Senegal, March 23, 2010
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and ADEPME, Senegal’s agency for developing small and medium-sized businesses, are helping smaller businesses in Senegal better understand the benefits of leasing, an alternative financial instrument that will help them more easily acquire the equipment or vehicles they need to grow.
IFC and ADEPME organized a two-day leasing forum in Dakar that was attended by about 1,200 smaller businesses, financial institutions, regional leasing companies, and government officials. The forum sought to explain leasing to smaller businesses and to help increase its availability in Senegal’s economy, where it supports broad economic growth.
Minister of State, Director of the Cabinet for the President of the Republic of Senegal, Habib Sy, said at the forum, “I thank IFC and ADEPME for helping train 1,200 SMEs to understand the leasing mechanism. It is necessary for financial institutions to provide more credit to SMEs so that they may act as our country’s engine of growth.”
Eme Essien, IFC Manager SME Initiatives for Africa, said, “IFC Advisory Services has invested more than US$1 billion in more than 100 leasing companies in 58 countries and has advised local authorities on the law of leasing in more than 50 countries. Our partnership with ADEPME is offering us the opportunity to replicate this success and use that same experience in Senegal.”
The leasing forum is providing a unique platform for small businesses to meet financial institutions face-to-face and describe the types of equipment they need to grow. Financial institutions will be able to better understand the financing needs of small businesses and to work towards new solutions.
IFC is supporting Senegal’s efforts to expand the availability of leasing for smaller businesses in the country, which often lack the capital they need to purchase new equipment. IFC also helped develop the strategy and vision for enhancing the country's leasing market and has received a mandate from Senegal’s government to draft its new leasing law.
ADEPME Director, Marie Thérèse Diedhiou, said, “This forum is an occasion thanks to the support of IFC to bring together SMEs, and urge them to create relationships with financial institutions in Senegal. ADEPME recognizes the role leasing can play in improving access to finance for our SMEs.”
IFC is the only international financial institution focused exclusively on the private sector, the engine of sustainable development in emerging markets. It is currently seeking a capital increase to strengthen its ability to create opportunity for the poor in developing countries -- including supporting the growth of small businesses.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About ADEPME
ADEPME, Senegal’s agency for developing and training small and medium enterprises, is the focal point of the technical support system for businesses in Senegal. In recent years it has mentored some 2300 SMEs in the food, construction, tourism and handicraft industries. For more information, please visit
http://www.adepme.sn/
.
