The Agency for the Development and Support of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME), created by Decree No. 2001-1036 of 29 November 2001, amended by Decree No. 2013-996 of 16 July 2013, has the task of densifying the fabric of SMEs, assisting and supporting small and medium enterprises as well as microenterprises that request it or benefit from state loans, and strengthening the competitiveness of Senegalese SMEs. In view of its missions, ADEPME is the operational arm of the State of Senegal for the promotion of SMEs and entrepreneurship and proposes targeted actions to support the technical and financial development of enterprises in Senegal: support, advice, studies and monitoring, training and thematic workshops, problem solving, networking, etc.
In addition to its traditional activities, ADEPME is a project and programme implementation agency for technical and financial partnerships. Among the initiatives currently underway:
- "Developing employment in Senegal" and " Support Programme for Solidarity Initiatives for Development - PAISD" for the European Union and the French Development Agency
- "SME Business Training & Coaching Loop" for GIZ, the German international development cooperation agency
- "Programme for the Development of Youth Skills and Entrepreneurship - PDCEJ" for the African Development Bank
- "Tourism and Enterprise Development Project - PDTE" for the World Bank UN Women.
In addition, ADEPME has set up a large number of tools covering the specific needs of business project leaders: The Fonds à Frais Partagés - FFP, a subsidy mechanism that facilitates access to consultants and experts for SMEs.
The "eRating" system, an electronic platform for diagnosing the ability of an SME to meet its financial commitments over a three-year period. The Enterprises in Difficulty Unit, an intermediate mechanism for assisting enterprises to deal with their loss of competitiveness and the economic and social issues that may arise from it.
Assistance in identifying suitable technologies, a technology transfer mechanism led by an agribusiness engineer. Incubation and delivery: a project to create incubation centres has begun with the one in Sokone (central Senegal), which offers entrepreneurial incubation services and provides producers with processing equipment.
