Microfinance institutions inject monthly more than 35 billion CFA francs directly into the economic activities of the country, that is approximately 420 billion per year. The revelation is made by the Minister of Microfinance, Social and Solidarity Economy, Zahra Iyane Thiam. Maintenance !

President Macky Sall chaired, the day before yesterday, the Presidential Council on economic recovery. What can we learn from this meeting?

What we can remember is first of all two main things. The first is that the President of the Republic, Macky Sall, as usual, has always advocated the participatory and inclusive process. He has always, before making major decisions, associated with reflection, with the contribution of all the living forces of the nation. This is what was also done with the recovery plan piloted by the Ministry of the Economy which, after meeting all the actors in Senegal, compiled new guidelines on the basis of the Pse in its PAP 2 part. The PSE subdivided into four PAPs (Priority Action Plan) and therefore we are in phase 2. That is a first element, therefore a participatory, inclusive process like what the president does for all major decisions. Because the pandemic is a national affair and as you have seen, around certain questions, all the living forces met at the Palace of the Republic to discuss with the Head of State.

And what is the second element?

The second element is the lessons we learn from Covid-19. What are our vulnerabilities? What are the new priorities? The new resizing that we must have priority actions to first return to the growth which has taken a hit with the slowdown or sometimes the stoppage of economic activity but also to maintain this growth and really go towards the ambitions of the PSE . From this point of view, the discussions were high-level and we have a plan that is close to 14,000 billion, a little less than 15,000 billion precisely to boost priority sectors such as agriculture, tourism, etc. You know that no one would have believed today that the world would stop. This is what happened with Covid-19. All countries have closed their borders and people have been asked to stay at home. So no one would have imagined this scenario. And if that can be done, what will happen to our food and pharmaceutical sovereignty? Because it was a question of taking care of oneself, of nourishing oneself. All these questions were the basis of these new political orientations that President Sall took in relation to all the actors concerned by the subjects.

To succeed in this revival, don't you think that the population must be involved?

Yes, the population is the basis of any policy because it is an actor and it is also a beneficiary. So, of course, the population is involved through the different sectors. When you talk about agriculture, it's farmers' organizations among others. It is therefore the populations from their sectors of activity that are necessarily impacted by the programs. And when I said that all the actors were present, it's first of all the professional organisations, but it's also civil society, it's also the press. It is everyone confused who makes Senegal alongside the State.

You are at the head of the Ministry of Microfinance and Social and Solidarity Economy. What role should your department play in this recovery?

It must be said that in Senegal, microfinance has made significant progress. These are advances that have been noted thanks to the strong support of the populations for decentralized financial systems precisely because microfinance is a tool for inclusion. This should allow vulnerable groups, people with modest means or material or financial means able to contribute through their profile to the creation of wealth. So, there is a traditional banking system which is there but which cannot open up to all the diversities of our populations. And to overcome this, the State of Senegal has bet on the microfinance sector. Today, we have an area that polarizes over 3,500,000 members. The microfinance sector with its 303 microfinance institutions injects approximately 35 billion per month into this sector. That is to say that it is of capital importance. That's the first element, but the second is that the targets in this microfinance sector, whether women, young people, organizations, entrepreneurs in general, this target is strongly affected by the pandemic. Since this pandemic had caused emergency measures which had a strong impact on the economic activity of this target where we find several players in the informal sector. Therefore, microfinance must play a key role in this revival. Because as I indicated earlier, public policies are intended for populations. It is therefore a large population that is concentrated in this sector. They will necessarily have to be taken into account and this is what is done since a substantial part of the recovery budget will be through the various mechanisms that the state will make available to the populations through the decentralized financial systems. . Now, we ourselves will work at the ministry level to ensure that the service offers for the recovery can really respond to economic realities. This is why we have created instruments such as the national microfinance fund (FONAMIC) which, we hope, if it is properly endowed and if there is overall consistency in institutional action, will be able to do a lot impact on the recovery, particularly on the question of interest rates, which is a major concern of the Head of State.

You made a national tour as part of the Covid-19 sector support program. An envelope of 800 million had been released. What is your assessment of this tour?

With Covid-19, President Macky Sall had very quickly put in place an economic and social resilience program that was hailed around the world. The said program with a budget of 1,000 billion, divided between four pillars, had devoted a share to the microfinance sector and the actors of the social and solidarity economy. We ourselves have granted an initial amount of 800 million from our general budget. We are in the evaluation phase. A report will be available very soon and to date we have exceeded 800 million for this microfinance, social and solidarity economy sector support programme. What should be remembered is that we were able to refinance 22 isolated mutuals because the goal was to maintain the economic activity of microfinance structures. But we targeted the isolated mutuals which were the emanation of the populations. So these are local initiatives, most often isolated mutuals or sectoral initiatives. We thought it was going to have a direct effect on the beneficiaries: the populations. A part reserved for isolated mutuals, another part, and it is through Senegal, reserved for actors of the social and solidarity economy that we were able to identify. Since I took over as head of the ministry, the first ambition we have had is to have statistical data on the sector because that did not exist. We have an agreement with the ANSD to have a reference situation. We also had organizations and programs related to territorial administration on TRDs that we had held. We have started to consolidate, to send data to have a file of actors in the social and solidarity economy. We will come back to the figures in more detail because the report is being finalized. But, it is a program that was much appreciated by the actors. There were perhaps some difficulties, some areas, some pockets that were not taken care of. There too, it will be a question of rectifying in the future. But overall we can say that this program which was executed in connection with FIMF and the Post Office within the framework of the payment of subsidies, was appreciated and executed up to 95%

What are the relations between the Ministry of Microfinance, Social and Solidarity Economy and the Professional Association of Decentralized Financial Systems (APSFD)?

It is an association that brings together all the approved structures in the field of microfinance. So, this stems from a community obligation of UEMOA. Then in this capacity, as a structure for the defense and promotion of DFS, microfinance institutions, it remains a privileged partner of the ministry for the promotion and development of the sector. You know that the microfinance sector is straddling two feet. It is first of all this regulatory and supervisory part which is managed by the Ministry of Finance and Budget. And all the promotion part, public orientation is managed by the Ministry of Microfinance. We have frank and fruitful collaborative relationships that I have also formalized through a partnership agreement that has bound us for more than a year. We have an agreement to deal with their concerns because this is a sector which also has proven difficulties. We must take charge of these difficulties, discuss to find solutions. We must provide solutions in accordance with the desire for inclusion of President Macky Sall.

Senegal was ranked 2nd in the fight against Covid-19. What is your comment on Senegal's handling of the pandemic?

Allow me first of all to thank and congratulate all the actors, the living forces of Senegal headed by the President of the Republic who earned us this national distinction. This is all the more important since it must be remembered that the management of the pandemic has caused a lot of ink to flow, especially at the very beginning with the repatriation of our children from Wuhan. But, we must note today that the choice of the State to form a technical committee, of experts around the president was the right solution. At a time when all countries were wondering about Africa's resilience in the face of the pandemic, we saw all the debates around it. So, we have to look at the leadership choices taken more particularly by Senegal. President Sall took crucial decisions that were sometimes difficult, misunderstood, but that yielded the expected fruits. It is as he recalled during the presidential council on the revival of the economy, it had to be done calmly, with serenity, with wisdom but above all with rigor. I think that all the measures from non-repatriation to the emergency situation, to restrictions in accordance with our sociological reality have earned us this distinction but above all particularly the selflessness and commitment of the health personnel who have been on the front line by risking his life, by being at the side of their people. We must congratulate ourselves on this but above all not to relax. You know that the last turn is always the hardest turn. And today more than ever community engagement needs to be strengthened because we are seeing a downward trend. Which is a good thing for us and I hope that in a few days we can say that we have no more cases. For that, we need more rigor towards ourselves. We must still respect the barrier measures and now go together in reviving the economy through the different sectors, through the directives and recommendations provided by the President of the Republic.