The Agence d'encadrement et d'accompagnement des PME (ADEPME) is committed through the second edition of the "Business plans" to support the competitiveness of Senegalese SMEs as part of the post-COVID19 economic recovery, according to its director, Idrissa Diabira.

"This second edition aims, in the context of COVID 19, to support existing companies to recover faster to generate more wealth and jobs," he reaffirmed, Monday, on the occasion of the launch ceremony of this edition.

For him, "the particularity is that this competition targets already existing companies".

They will be supported to strengthen their resilience through an endowment of working capital, investment, to ensure that they are in good financial health and able to generate wealth and employment, he explained.

"This is an important contribution in the response to the post-COVID recovery will of the Head of State," said the director of ADPME, adding that 120 companies will be supported and rewarded even though, several thousand will participate.

At the first edition, 6,000 companies took part and in the end, 800 were supported and 146 financed through a grant, he recalled, stressing that companies will be supported in a personalized way through digital tools.

Idrissa Diabira also revealed that a survey conducted by ADPME had concluded that 90% of companies were very negatively or not negatively impacted by the pandemic.

"Some have lost between 60 and 100% of their turnover, others are between 30 and 60%," said the director of ADEPME. In this regard, he referred to the measures taken by the State of Senegal whose vocation is to further support companies to regain good financial health more quickly.

"It's about correctly identifying the actors. The challenge is to support the target companies, support the competitiveness of Senegalese SMEs as part of the post-COVID 19 economic recovery. Nearly one billion francs have been made available from the partners' programmes to support these impacted SMEs. This support concerns SMEs from 1 to 7 years of existence, having legal recognition and keeping accounts," Diabira said.

"The selected companies will receive grants of up to 20 million CFA francs in addition to technical assistance in the form of training, modernization of the management tool, support for certification, assistance with market access and financing", he added.

The Director General of ADPME also returned to the achievements of the first edition of this competition, judging it "very satisfactory and very instructive" by having allowed, in the end, to see 152 companies financed, 800 others, Accompanied by.

"It was a craze throughout the country and exceeded objectives in terms of jobs. It is an indicator of the usefulness of companies," he said