The Senegal Feed the Future Program for Increasing Investment in Agriculture in Africa, implemented by Africa Lead, is issuing a call for proposals for the recently launched Policy Reform for Investment Mobilization (PR4I) Program Small Grants Award.
Senegal is one of the three African countries, along with Kenya and Tanzania, to benefit from grant funding for the PR4I, a project is designed to foster public-private dialogue and collaboration in achieving the objectives of the African Union Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to increase investments in the agricultural sector.
In Senegal, the grants will be awarded to projects that will be implemented in country’s northern regions (Louga, Matam, and Saint Louis). The PR41 project will provide grants of up to $40,000 USD (approximately 22 million FCFA) to private organizations such as Employer Organizations, Producer Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Private Operators’ Platforms, etc., to devise innovative projects that contribute to improvement in agriculture value chain policies and result in increased private sector investment in the agriculture sector. The projects are to be realized within a six-month period ending in June 2019.
The PR4I project was launched in Senegal in December 2018. Africa Lead supported the organization of the inaugural meeting for the establishment of the Senegal PR4I Steering Committee. The meeting was held Dec. 24, 2018, in Saint Louis, in the office of the Plateforme Territoriale d’Investissement de Saint-Louis (Territorial Investment Platform of Saint-Louis). The meeting brought together 13 participants from government, the private sector, and academia.
Participants confer about the Policy Reform for Investment Mobilization (PR4I) Project during the PR4I Steering Committee organizational meeting in Saint Louis. Photo Credit: Africa Lead/Baila Talla
At this meeting the PR4I Steering Committee was established. It will be chaired by the Secretary General of the Chambre des Métiers (Chamber of Trades) and the Secretariat provided by the Regional Representative of APIX, Senegal’s national Agency for Investment Promotion and Major Projects (Agence pour la promotion des investissements et des grands travaux). Also, the Grant Review Committee was created. It is chaired by the representative from the Société Nationale d’Aménagement et d’Exploitation des Terres du Delta du fleuve Sénégal et des vallées du fleuve Sénégal et de la Falémé (SAED) ( the National Society for Development and Exploitation of the Senegal River Delta, Senegal and Faleme River Valleys (SAED).
The Northern region of Senegal (the areas of Louga, Matam and Saint Louis) has been targeted for the PR4I project because it’s the area that is attracting the most investment in the agricultural sector and interest in the area is booming.
However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region are facing challenges and constraints that are hindering their ability to invest in the agricultural sector and thus fully contribute to growth in the overall business environment
Africa Lead will continue to support the PR4I Steering committee with its activities.
The deadline for the PR4I Grants awards proposal submission is 2 Feb. 2019 at Noon. For more information about the program and the modalities for the candidature visit the following link: https://bit.ly/2SXtTS3