The companies Club, Tiossane and Entreprise Aissatou Gaye (EAG) of Senegal have benefited from co-investment grants totalling $1.43 million (780 million CFA francs) from the West Africa Trade & Investment Hub.

The USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub has awarded co-investment grants to three promising Senegalese companies: Club Tiossane, a company that delivers fresh produce purchased online, and two women-led agribusiness companies, Biosene and Entreprise Aissatou Gaye (EAG). These investments will help these businesses meet market demands, create jobs and mitigate the economic impact of the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Club Tiossane will leverage USAID's co-investment and its own resources to purchase 14 delivery trucks to increase its volume of home deliveries from 1,200 to 4,000 deliveries per week. To meet the needs of the market, Club Tiossane will establish partnerships with 400 additional small producers in Senegal, bringing the number of producers to 500 for its supply.

Biosene, a women-led food company that sells products made from local raw materials, will use USAID funds to strengthen its supply chains in Senegal and the West Africa region that have been... eacute; affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Biosene will purchase 340 tonnes of semi-finished products and raw materials composed of millet, fonio, baobab fruits and powder, hibiscus, moringa and white beans from 6,600 farmers and processors of agricultural products. The second women's company involved in these co-investments is Entreprise Aïssatou Gaye (EAG), a rice production company based in the Ross-Béthio area of the Saint Louis region. The company will use the new funds to overcome its challenges in terms of working capital, farm advisory services and processing capacity.