LocationsLike many countries worldwide, Senegal's economy was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. With the support of various partners, the government implemented a stimulus package that revitalized the economy, offering new opportunities particularly for the youth. This rejuvenation is evident in Mont-Rolland, located in the Thiès region, where young people are now finding renewed hope and opportunities.
Mount Rolland's economy bounces back from COVID
August 8, 2024
Senegal
Photo: UNDP WACA
Tailored support
Mont-Rolland is an astonishing and atypical commune in Senegal located in the Thiès region, about sixty kilometers from Dakar. It alone accounts for over 12% of agricultural households in Senegal. In a valley, Mont-Rolland is a rural community composed of about twenty small villages and fifteen hamlets where almost 20,000 people live.
Every day, the main square of Mont-Rolland comes alive with its market stalls and small shops. Among the most popular stores in the area is Charles Mbengue's shop. This young shoemaker and leatherworker opened his shop five years ago. His business was hit hard during the pandemic, but his passion did not fade away. Charles received support from UNDP as part of the pandemic response plan.
"I was able to buy three machines...two sewing machines and one finishing machine. It was harder before because I did almost everything by hand. Now, I can do what I used to do in thirty minutes in two hours."Charles Mbengue, Shoemaker and Leatherworker.
"Now that I have attained some stability, my ambition is to hire one or two apprentices to allow them to benefit from training and a profession. In order to grow, everyone must act at their own level and in their field. That's what I'm trying to do because I believe in the strength of the youth," he concludes.
Significant focus on training
In Mont-Rolland, where youth is an essential but fragile link in the economic fabric, the support plan has contributed to the resilience of vulnerable micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as well as cooperatives, family businesses, and income-generating activities (IGAs) carried out by young people and women. Their production units have been scaled up and, in some cases, converted into materials and products while encouraging each actor to innovate.
In total, six promising projects in areas such as handicrafts, agriculture, training, and services have received nearly 26 million CFA francs in support. The total amount given to all beneficiaries of the platform stood at 52 million CFA francs or about 80,000 euros.
The Anne-Marie Ngoné Faye Center is one of the projects chosen based on its potential. The structure offers various training programs to about twenty women with disabilities, including sewing, fruit and vegetable processing or sanitary products, market gardening, and more. For President Fatou Ciss, the 2.5 million FCFA grant awarded as part of the COVID-19 platform was a breath of fresh air.
Overall, Mont-Rolland showcases the effectiveness of tailored support to help vulnerable communities recover from the pandemic's economic shocks.
"The aid has allowed us to take in more young women and increase our production capacity, so our trainees can now think about their future," she shares while the beneficiaries work diligently in the various rooms of the building.
Another training center, this time for young women excluded from the traditional school system, is the Émilie de Villeneuve sewing center. Housed with the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, the support has allowed them to recruit more trainers like Marie-Lucienne Ciss, the head teacher of the sewing center.
"Having solid training allows young people to have a profession. This provides means of livelihood for families and reduces poverty in our community. The more we work, the more we contribute to development. As an elder sister and teacher, I have a role to play in raising this awareness," the young woman asserts.
A spirit of convergence
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, often driven by the informal sector, represent 90% of total employment and more than 45% of GDP. Among the many response plans put in place by the Senegalese government and its international partners, the joint "COVID-19 Platform for the Support of the Productive Sector of Vulnerable Groups" project, implemented in 2020 by UNDP and the Ministry of Commerce and Small and Medium Enterprises, has helped to safeguard or create jobs, especially in rural areas inland. A total of 30 companies are involved.
In Mont-Rolland, as in four other concerned municipalities, the COVID-19 platform relies on the "Communes of Convergences" concept.
"This is a group of stakeholders sharing common or convergent objectives and interests, working together in a commune to increase the impact of their actions on the economic and social well-being of the population, and to strengthen the resilience and social cohesion of communities, as opposed to a situation where they would carry out their activities in isolation."François Samb, UNDP Community UN Volunteer in Thiès, Senegal.
To ensure their sustainability, the selected activities are regularly monitored. And in Mont-Rolland, they do not intend to stop there. To continue strengthening the local economy and social and territorial inclusion, a digital entrepreneurship project with around twenty young people has just been launched.