ADEPME and FDCUIC strengthen their cooperation September 4, 2026
The Agency for the Development and Supervision of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME) and the Fund for the Development of Urban Cultures and Creative Industries (FDCUIC) signed, Thursday, September 3, 2026 in Dakar, a partnership agreement intended to better support companies and project leaders operating in the cultural and creative sectors.
A new stage in the structuring of creative industries in Senegal. ADEPME and FDCUIC now want to bring together their intervention systems in order to offer more integrated support to those involved in urban cultures and creative industries.
Through this agreement, the two public structures intend to articulate their skills. The FDCUIC will notably provide its financial support, while ADEPME will provide its expertise in support, structuring and business development.
“Public support structures share the same targets and the same objectives. Our duty is to pool our interventions rather than juxtaposing them,” underlined Ismaïla Kébé, Director General of ADEPME. According to him, this approach should make it possible to strengthen the coherence of public action and better secure the financing granted to creative companies.
Support from creation to consolidation
The partnership provides in particular for the implementation of the joint CAP STRUC program, intended for beneficiaries of the FDCUIC call for projects for the year 2026.
Two cohorts are planned. The first, called “Consolidation”, will target companies that have benefited from financing. The second, “Tremplin”, will be aimed at unsuccessful candidates, with the aim of preparing them for the next calls for projects.
The agreement also provides support for the formalization of businesses, capacity building and access to financing, in particular through the Single Window for Access to Financing for SMEs (GUF-PME).
The two partners also intend to strengthen their presence in the main meetings devoted to entrepreneurship and the creative industries. They are therefore planning cross-participation in the Creative Industries Village of the SME Forum and the National Exhibition of Urban Cultures and Creative Industries.
Bringing out “cultural champions”
Beyond supporting existing businesses, ADEPME and FDCUIC also want to identify cultural businesses with strong growth potential.
The system thus provides for the detection of “cultural champions”, understood as companies likely to generate more jobs, added value and export opportunities.
Through this cooperation, the two structures demonstrate their desire to contribute to the transformation of cultural activities into real businesses capable of structuring themselves, developing and conquering new markets.
An orientation that is in line with the ambitions of the Senegal 2050 National Transformation Agenda, particularly in terms of job creation and enhancement of the economic potential of young people and women.
The challenge now is to make urban cultures and creative industries not only spaces of cultural expression, but also economic sectors that are structured, competitive and capable of contributing sustainably to the creation of wealth in Senegal.
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