On last April 26th, 2021, I committed with pride and emotion Locafrique into a partnership agreement designed to modernize the artisanal fishing sector in Senegal. Alongside our partners WAC Advisors (West Africa Capital Advisors) and SIRN (Société des Infrastructures de Réparation Navale), we signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the financing of infrastructure in the sector. Over the next ten years, our ambition is to sustainably transform the entire fishing industry.
This modernization program will essentially consist in the replacement of wooden pirogues with fibreglass canoes; the reinforcement of Senegal’s position in the naval repair sub-sector and the implementation of fishing harbors housing, among other things, processing units.
The era of modernization will soon blow over in this sector, enlivened by nearly a million Senegalese. Discover or rediscover my speech following the signing of this agreement:
“It is with honour and pleasure that I am given the privilege of speaking today, on the occasion of the signing ceremony of the partnership agreement between SIRN, WAC Advisors and Locafrique, which is in many respects an important moment.
On behalf of myself, of the Managing Director of WAC Advisors and of our respective collaborators, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy for having associated us with the ambitious program to modernize fishing equipments.
The personal experience of the General Director of SIRN in the fishing activity has been very useful in the process of structuring our services. We thank him very much.
The act that we have just carried out is the result of a work that has been underway for several months, in a dynamic of co-construction, by the parties involved in the partnership agreement.
Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, the implementation of the partnership agreement will inevitably lead to a drastic change in the ecosystem of the fishing sector in Senegal. This is why Locafrique could not fail to participate and play its part.
The financial sector must dare and step out of its comfort zone
Our commitment to this programme is a concrete expression of our mission to offer alternative and innovative financing solutions adapted to the needs and specificities of SMEs and VSEs, in order to sustainably transform the Senegalese economy.
We are convinced that the banking sector as a whole must finance the real economy and the primary sector even further. The fishing industry, in particular, is a mass market that financial institutions must revive by offering adapted, but above all accessible products.
The State cannot afford to handle everything on its own. The financial sector needs to be involved at the forefront and dare to leave its comfort zone to move towards sectors with national stakes: where the majority of Senegalese people work.
Our actions to modernize Senegal
Locafrique, a 100% Senegalese private credit institution, has already made of the primary sector its entire priority, and devotes 40% of its financing to it. We have thus been able to play a leading role in the modernization of rice growing by investing billions in producers and farmers in the Senegal River Valley. We will be accompanying them in this initiative and will provide our expertise in the financing of this important sector for our economy. It is the same desire that drives us to modernize the fishing division, whose economic and social axes are well known.
Locafrique is a pioneer in leasing in Senegal with more than 40 years of experience in modernising by all means, in a view to meet the expectations of partners in accordance with its ethics values and professionalism.
We remain open, following the signing of the convention to initiate, with all stakeholders, the necessary reflections in order to achieve funding structures that take into account the needs as well as the capacities of the various partners.
I cannot conclude without wishing everyone an excellent Ramadan. May this holy month bring you health, joy and prosperity!
Khadim Bâ