8.5 billion FCFA from Fonsis and KfW to boost SMEs and female entrepreneurship October 21, 2026

Through a joint press release published on October 16, Fonsis and KfW formalized the launch of an 8.5 billion FCFA program financed by Germany. This grant fund aims to strengthen the capital of local investment funds to support SMEs, innovative start-ups and female entrepreneurship in Senegal.

The Senegalese entrepreneurial ecosystem is taking a key step in its quest for financial autonomy and scaling up. In a joint press release published on Friday October 16, 2026 in Dakar, the Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments (Fonsis) and the German Development Bank KfW announced the official launch of the operationalization phase of their strategic partnership. With a total budget of 13 million euros (or approximately 8.5 billion FCFA), this program is entirely financed in the form of a grant by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

In Senegal, the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is hampered by the rigid requirements of the banking system. To get around this obstacle, the mechanism put in place by Fonsis and KfW favors an indirect investment approach. According to the terms of the press release, this capital will be injected into investment funds based in Senegal, thus providing them with the essential equity to start their activities or accelerate the scaling up of the companies in their portfolio. Thanks to this system, Fonsis aims to more than double the number of funds it sets up or finances, going from 4 structures currently to 9 in the long term.

However, access to this funding will be subject to precise impact criteria. The press release specifies that the beneficiary funds must include in their roadmap the targeting of innovative start-ups as well as companies having a measurable impact on the empowerment of women. This initiative extends actions already undertaken between Senegal and Germany, in particular through the “Oyass Capital” fund.

Commenting on this progress, Babacar Gning, Managing Director of Fonsis, underlined that “this program is perfectly consistent with Fonsis’ strategy to develop the ecosystem of investment funds in Senegal, in order to allow SMEs to have a diversified offer of innovative and flexible financial instruments, essential to their transformation into national champions”. An enthusiasm shared by Dr Josef Haider, Director of the KfW office in Dakar, for whom this operational phase solidifies a solid relationship of trust. “It reflects our common commitment to a more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Senegal,” he indicates in the information note.

Deployed with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning, this partnership intends to contribute directly to the creation of sustainable jobs and the strengthening of economic inclusion, in perfect harmony with the “Senegal 2050” vision. According to the press release from the two institutions, players in the sector will not have to wait; the first disbursement to selected local investment funds will take place in the coming weeks.

Mamadou GUEYE