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USAID Information:
External Links:
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Senegal
The Development Challenge: Senegal is a democratic and moderate Muslim nation committed to fighting terrorism. One of the most stable countries in an unstable region, and a model of religious and ethnic tolerance, it plays a key role in conflict resolution in West Africa and beyond. A founder of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the country is an advocate for private sector-led growth and trade as the essential engines of Africa's economic growth. Senegal is one of the few African and Muslim countries ranked as free by Freedom House. More than ten active political parties, a vibrant civil society with a right to protest, a capacity to organize and administer free and transparent elections, an independent and diversified media, and the recent appointment of a human rights ombudsman in the President's office are evidence of Senegal's democracy.
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Senegal's economy, in contrast, remains weak and is not growing fast enough to provide jobs for the rapidly growing population, of which more than half are under 20 years old. While economic growth averaged 5% from 1995-2002 and is estimated at 6.4% in 2003, largely due to excellent rainfall and consequent high crop yields, the country is struggling to put in place the institutional reforms that are necessary to sustain long term growth. The World Economic Forum ranks Senegal 79th out of 102 countries in growth competitiveness. In this year's competitiveness report, Senegalese businessmen identified access to financing as the single most problematic factor for doing business. The trade system is classified as "open" following the recent elimination of explicit non-tariff barriers. However, Senegal has yet to attract much foreign investment; a Presidential Investors Council launched in 2002 has recommended reforms to improve the investment climate. Fiscal management is good with the budget deficit held to 1% of GDP in 2003 but inefficient public enterprises (notably the peanut and electricity companies) continue to drain public resources. The government is working with the World Bank and other development partners on restructuring plans for these sectors. Corruption is a problem as reflected in Senegal's rank (76 out of 133 countries) in Transparency International's 2003 corruption perception index. The government recently established a committee to fight corruption and developed a plan to improve transparency in public management including the adoption of a new procurement code.
Low levels of education and poor health are at the heart of Senegal's development challenge, although social indicators are improving due to substantial government and donor investments. More than 50% of all adults, especially women, are unable to read or write. Rising primary school enrollment (76% in 2002) will eventually reduce illiteracy. High under-five child mortality (142.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1999) and a high incidence of malaria are among the factors that limit life expectancy to 52 years. While HIV/AIDS prevalence (1% in 2003) is among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal's total fertility rate remains high (5.2 in 1999); use of modern contraceptives is limited (8% among married women in 1999); and maternal mortality is among the highest in the sub-region. Low labor productivity and a Sahelian environment of poor soils, erratic rainfall, and rapidly disappearing forests create the conditions in which gross national income per capita is only $470 (in 2002) and 53.9% of households live below the poverty line.
It is in the US national interest to assist Senegal to enhance the productivity of its people and, in so doing, create jobs for unemployed youth, improve access to education and health care and further institutionalize democracy. If poverty is not visibly reduced, the country risks the sort of struggle with demagoguery that has led to the destabilization of many of its neighbors. The pro-Western orientation and moderate Islam practiced by 95% of the population could also be challenged by radical elements.
The USAID Program: The Data Sheets that follow describe the five objectives for which USAID is requesting FY 2004 and FY 2005 funds. These objectives tackle the key constraints to Senegal's development. To encourage economic growth, the private enterprise program will make it easier to start and operate a business and build trade capacity, particularly for non-traditional agricultural and natural products. To strengthen democracy at the grassroots, FY 2004 and FY 2005 funds will be used to improve the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of local governments and broaden political participation. The health program targets HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and improving the health of women and children, particularly through reduction in malaria and other infectious diseases. The basic education program, in collaboration with the Africa Education Initiative, will increase the number of children, especially girls, who complete middle school. Finally, USAID will provide FY 2004 funds for community-led peace initiatives in the Casamance to reinforce resolution of a long-running conflict.
Other Program Elements: USAID central funds support several agriculture and natural resource management activities in Senegal. The Africa Trade and Investment Policy Initiative funded the University of Minnesota to work with Senegalese farmers to export fresh vegetables to the United States under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Africa natural plant project will market some of Senegal's natural products. The World Resources Institute is investigating the effects of decentralization on the charcoal market and the implications for Senegal's forests. The Earth Resources Orbiting Satellite Data Center has undertaken collaborative research on carbon sequestration with Senegal's Environment Monitoring Center and Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA). In addition, several activities under the Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) are active in Senegal. The cowpea CRSP with the University of California/Riverside and ISRA are continuing research on early-maturing, drought-tolerant, and disease-resistant cowpea varieties to replace traditional long-cycle peanut and millet crops. The Soil Management CRSP also works with ISRA on two activities: the first focuses on the biophysical aspects of carbon sequestration and is led by the University of Florida and the University of Hawaii; the second focuses on the economic aspects of carbon sequestration and is led by Montana State University. The peanut CRSP is working with the National School for Applied Economics on improving product quality and conducting market surveys. Finally, the locust CRSP conducted research on bio-pesticides for grasshopper control for the West African region, including Senegal.
The Presidential Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI) is being piloted in Senegal due to the favorable information technology environment. The DFI will introduce the use of debit cards for small rural businesses, expand use of internet-based business tools by entrepreneurs to boost productivity and profitability, and improve the overall telecommunications environment to allow wider adoption of new technologies at affordable prices. The program pairs skilled volunteers from U.S. information technology firms with local counterparts. The Cisco Networking Academies Program and Hewlett-Packard's potential microfinance solution are examples of activities that have begun.
With FY 2003 funding to develop trade capacity, USAID will help exporters take advantage of trade opportunities in the West African region and overseas through trade agreements and legislation such as AGOA.
Other Donors: Donor collaboration and information exchange are excellent. Donor coordination is led by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Numerous sectoral committees such as the Private Sector Working Group (where USAID is the leading donor) and ad hoc groups allow donors to share information and lessons learned and explore new opportunities. Direct development assistance to Senegal in 2002 was estimated at $320 million (9.5% of GDP). More than half of total development assistance was provided by the World Bank/IDA (22%), France (19%) and Japan (11%). The United States provided $29 million, or approximately 9% of development assistance, ranking it fifth, behind the European Union. Most aid is in the form of project and technical assistance, while 6.8% is budget support. During the last Consultative Group meeting in June 2003, donors pledged some $1.4 billion to finance the 2003-2005 Priority Action Plan of Senegal's Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP). Senegal should reach the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative completion point in 2004, opening the door to a new IMF poverty reduction facility and reduction of the debt stock.
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