Countries & Regions

The Senegalese microfinance market has shown dynamic development over the past three decades as a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and has also benefitted greatly from the support of numerous financial and technical partners. The sector was however hit hard by the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008, causing client growth to stagnate and funding sources to tighten their purse strings. An analysis of how MFIs have weathered these hard economic times and a discussion of how they are beginning to recover can be found throughout the Senegal Country Briefing:

• Overview: Senegal has a dynamic microfinance sector with penetration rates of more than 10% of the total population. The sector has been formalized with a regional regulatory framework and national microfinance legislation.
• Supply & Demand: The recent global financial crisis has had a direct effect on growth in the microfinance sector, causing shifts in the types of products and services offered to clients.
•  Funding: A favorable regulatory framework allows MFIs to cover more than 50% of their financing needs with client deposits, with the remainder of funding predominantly coming as debt taken from a variety of financial institution types.
•  Performance: After several years of decreasing ROA on average, profitability in the sector picked up in 2009 due to increased operational efficiencies.

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