Formalization of SMEs: ADEPME is testing its index in Kaolack!

The Agency for the Development and Supervision of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME) launched today in Kaolack the minimum viable product (MVP) of the digital platform of the MSME Formalization Index. Tested in the regions of Fatick, Kaffrine and Kaolack, this platform should make it possible to measure the level of formalization of businesses and better target support systems.

The Kaolack Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (CCIAK) hosted this experimental phase, implemented as part of the “Naatal Sine Saloum” project, in partnership with Enabel. The tool aims in particular to have reliable data on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, to identify business constraints and to improve support mechanisms.

According to the Director General of ADEPME, Ismaïla Kébé, formalization is not limited to obtaining the NINEA or the trade register. It also includes bookkeeping, compliance with tax obligations and those related to the Labor Inspectorate, the Social Security Fund and Ipres. “The work will be widespread throughout Senegal,” said Mr. Kébé, specifying that a committee has been set up by the Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Partner of ADEPME, Enabel has already supported more than 700 companies. “The objective is to make agricultural cooperatives real businesses, providing jobs, in order to settle young people in their land and limit the rural exodus,” explained Bassirou Sarr, project manager in the development of agri-food value chains.