In Ziguinchor, IBP Senegal sounds the alert on the local budget March 29, 2026

On a national tour to strengthen territorial budgetary governance, the NGO IBP Senegal made a stopover in Ziguinchor. Between the expectations of elected officials, technical challenges and the requirements of the program budget, the discussions revealed the urgency of better control of local finances to guarantee more effective public policies.

ZIGUINCHOR- The Ziguinchor region welcomed, this weekend, a team from the NGO IBP Senegal whose trip aims to strengthen territorial budgetary governance. Led by the program director, Djibril Badiane, the mission aims to support local authorities in a better understanding and management of public finances, thanks to a partnership recently sealed with the General Directorate of Territorial Administration (Dgat). During this visit, the delegation spoke with administrative authorities, in particular the regional governor, as well as with several local elected officials, including the president of the departmental council and municipal representatives. The discussions mainly focused on the challenges linked to the appropriation of the program budget, now in force in Senegal, and its implications for local authorities.

According to Djibril Badiane, the meetings highlighted significant capacity building needs. “The discussions clearly revealed that territorial stakeholders express a strong demand for support to better manage public policies at the territorial level,” he explained, highlighting the persistent difficulties linked to the control of budgetary mechanisms. Among the concerns raised are the lack of qualified human resources, a still partial understanding of budgetary management tools and the need to better define the role and status of local elected officials in the current institutional architecture.

The participants also insisted on the importance of deepening knowledge in terms of decentralization and deconcentration in order to streamline collaboration between the territorial administration and local authorities. This Ziguinchor stage allowed IBP Senegal to collect several contributions intended to develop training modules adapted to realities on the ground. At the end of the national tour, the said structure aims to consolidate the data collected to propose targeted actions capable of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of local budgetary policies. An approach which is part of the perspective of more inclusive and better managed territorial development across the country.