Study Tour in Senegal on Expanding Contributions of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) to Accelerating Progress towards SDGs in The Gambia

Background
Documentation

Background

The study tour is organized in response to the request of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE), The Gambia, to DSDG/DESA on strengthening capacities to expand MSME contributions to progress towards SDGs in The Gambia. It is organized in five days from 28 November to 2 December in Dakar, Senegal. Sixteen policymakers and private sector representative from The Gambia have participated in the tour, including Ms. Ndey Fatou Trawally, Deputy Permanent Secretary, MOTIE. The study tour has strengthened capacities of Gambian policymakers and private sector representatives on formulating enabling policy environment and delivering demand-driven support that expand MSME contributions to progress towards SDGs in The Gambia. During the five-day study tour, fourteen meetings were carried out with Senegalese government departments, private sector and stakeholder groups on MSME growth, focusing on topics, including strengthening policy coherence to support MSME, enhancing MSME entrepreneurial skills, elevating product quality, investing in MSME clustering and expanding MSME access to high-value market opportunities. The study tour is highly rate by participants. Twelve of the sixteen participants expressed the study tour has strengthened their capacities, in a great deal, to support MSMEs in expediting progress towards SDGs in The Gambia. Eleven participants have expressed they are very satisfied with knowledge exchanged and learnt. MOTIE is planning follow-up actions to translate knowledge learnt from the study tour into demand-driven support to MSMEs in The Gambia, in areas of enhancing MSME resilience against uncertainties and supporting MSME access to high-value market opportunities emerged from regional market integration mechanisms, such as the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Group photo