The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), will be premiering a documentary on the second country pilot of the West Africa SME Program that was launched in Senegal in 2019. The documentary will air on Afrique Media TV from the 19 to the 30 January 2023 and will be featured on ITFC social media platforms.
The West Africa SME Program is an ITFC flagship program designed to improve SMEs’ access to funding and provide technical support in the sub-region of West Africa. The program was launched in Burkina Faso in 2018 and has seen a successful second edition organized in Senegal. The Senegalese pilot was launched right before the emergence of Covid pandemic. The impact of the shutdown in Senegal required ITFC to urgently alter the program’s scope to ensure that diverse support was provided to participating SMEs during the shutdown and in the post-covid era.
Organized in partnership with the Délégation Générale à l’Entreprenariat Rapide (DER), the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and Coris Bank International and implemented by the Rencontre Des Entrepreneurs, the program provided hundreds of entrepreneurs access to tailored training, funding and networking opportunities. The selected entrepreneurs who are active in software development, agribusiness, fashion, delivery services, hospitality and manufacturing among other key sectors reflect the diversity of the Senegalese economy.
Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC, commenting on the documentary said: “The West Africa SME Program underlines ITFC’s commitment to one of the key sectors of the sub-region’s economy. A more productive and effective SME sector will shape the future of the sub-region and of Africa as a whole, especially in the wake of the post-Covid economic recovery initiated in host countries. We are elated by the impact we are creating with our program partners and will continue to support the sector directly through the West Africa SME Program and indirectly through financing government and private sector initiatives. This documentary highlights the effectiveness of well-tailored interventions towards the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8, which is supporting decent work and economic growth in Africa.”
The third phase of the West Africa SME Program has been successfully launched in Côte d’Ivoire to provide crucial support for SMEs in Francophone West Africa’s leading economy.
Catch the West Africa SME Senegal documentary on TV and online.
