CDP for Senegal: the first initiative with EU blending

CDP for Senegal: the first initiative with EU blending

An agreement has been signed with the European Commission and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation to launch PASPED, the Program to combat irregular migration: over 6,000 jobs for youth and innovative financial instruments for local businesses

Rome 10 January 2019

Following projects in Ethiopia and Jordan, CDP's commitment to International Cooperation continues with the first EU blending initiative of the Italian System for Cooperation. On 14 December a collaboration agreement was signed by CDP, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), and the European Commission for the implementation of PASPED, the Program to combat irregular migration through support for the private sector in Senegal, financed with European Union grants totalling 14 million euros for the "La Valletta" Trust Fund.

The initiative will be added to a13-million-euro aid loan already granted by CDP, and a 13-million-euro fund managed by the Senegalese Ministry of Finance deriving from loans returned by over 580 local companies backed by Italian cooperation in the period 2010-2015. Thus, the new project will be able to count on financing of about 40 million euros, which will allow the start of activities for the insertion of about 1,200 youth in the local labour market through training internships in start-ups, micro-enterprises and SMEs, due to the greater involvement of the public and private sectors.

The creation of information desks in Italy and Senegal will also be financed, in synergy with the approach established by the strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, to strengthen the role of the diaspora in Italy in order to allow the Senegalese in Europe to effectively contribute to the development of their country of origin through a series of investments.                                                  

The PASPED program will thus contribute to reducing irregular migration and support returning migrants, favouring the creation of more than 6,000 jobs, of which about half for youth in the areas giving rise to the greatest irregular migratory flows, as well as market consolidation and support for almost 500 small and medium enterprises. In fact, the funds made available by the European Union will allow the implementation of additional activities compared to the granting of facilitated credit to SMEs and will propose a series of innovative financial instruments to allow even the weakest businesses to establish themselves in the local context.

The new initiative confirms CDP's commitment to international cooperation, a fundamental asset of the 2019-2021 Industrial Plan.