Decentralization: making Senegal a reference in Africa
Closing, this Friday in Kédougou, the second day marking the end of the 18 months of national consultations on Act IV of decentralization, the Minister of Urban Planning, Territorial Communities and Territorial Planning, Balla Moussa Fofana, recalled the ambition carried by this reform: to raise Senegalese decentralization to the rank of reference in Africa.
At the end of these two days of work, the minister indicated that these in-depth consultations made it possible to identify the essential and specific points of the reform, likely to position Senegalese decentralization at a level comparable, or even higher, than that of certain African nations.
In the same vein, the director of Territorial Communities, Arona Bâ, stressed that Senegal is lagging behind regional standards. A situation which, according to him, makes it necessary to clarify rights, obligations and legal guarantees in order to secure the exercise of territorial mandates.
“The central objective is not to relieve elected officials of their responsibilities, but to professionalize local governance while strengthening the transparency and effectiveness of public action. By structuring this legal framework, the project aims to restore the credibility of institutions and support efficient and protective decentralization in the face of new challenges in territorial management,” he explained, speaking on the status of elected officials.
The inclusive approach carried out with the umbrella organizations, the administration and all territorial stakeholders has made it possible to identify 15 essential reform points.
“Among the priorities are the establishment of taxation specific to municipalities, the creation of a local civil service, as well as a better organization of municipal services. A municipality only has meaning when it is capable of impacting the daily lives of Senegalese people, because it represents the State to the citizen,” declared Balla Moussa Fofana, emphasizing the importance of the technical and social viability of communities.
The reform also gives a central place to local governance, particularly at the neighborhood level.
“There can be no change if it does not happen at the neighborhood level,” he insisted, citing the example of participatory budgeting and the direct involvement of citizens as essential levers for local development.
Adapt the reform to the realities of each territorial center
Speaking on innovative financing mechanisms for territorial development, Papa Mamadou Cissé, local development engineer, and El Hadji Fall from PACASEN, emphasized the urgency of going beyond traditional state transfers in the face of the challenges of galloping urbanization and climate change. They called for a strategic transition towards innovative financing such as public-private partnerships, green bonds and climate finance, in order to provide territories with structuring and resilient infrastructure.
According to the minister, decentralization cannot be uniform across the entire national territory.
“The issues do not arise in the same way in eastern Senegal, in Casamance, in Saint-Louis or in Matam,” he explained, thus justifying the taking into account of the specificities of each territorial center to reduce inequalities and strengthen national cohesion.
The Kédougou stage has, in this regard, a highly strategic dimension.
“Kédougou is not a distant point, it is a door that opens us to Africa,” declared the minister, highlighting the cross-border position of the region as well as its agricultural, mining and tourist potential.
Balla Moussa Fofana also wanted to reassure local populations:
“The Republic must bring together, reassure and unite. Every citizen counts, every neighborhood contributes,” he said. He insisted on the need to professionalize the status of local elected officials and to strengthen financial engineering to mobilize innovative financing, beyond simple State transfers.
Ultimately, Act IV of decentralization aims to establish a bottom-up development model, where the nation is transformed from the citizen, the neighborhood, the locality and the territory. An ambitious vision which intends to make Senegal a driving country for territorial development in Africa.
