The Warehouse Receipt System Regulatory Body (ORSRE) and the Union of Mutual Credit Unions of Senegal (UCCMS) concluded a major agreement aimed at transforming access to financing for actors in the agricultural sector through the Warehouse Receipt System (SRE) this Friday, December 5, 2025 at the ORSRE headquarters.

The ceremony, attended by Fatou Sagna Sow, representative of the Minister of Industry and Trade, was hailed as a decisive step towards modernizing the marketing and storage of agricultural products in Senegal. This initiative aligns with the government's vision of modernizing and developing agriculture to make it an engine of growth and food sovereignty.

The two institutions thus aim to sustainably revitalize the agricultural value chain in Senegal. On behalf of the Minister of Industry and Trade, Fatou Sow emphasized the strategic importance of this partnership and stressed the SRE's capacity to reduce agricultural losses and strengthen national food security.

She also assured of the State's full commitment: "The Ministry of Industry and Trade will fully contribute to giving concrete and lasting content to this memorandum of understanding, and ORSRE, the central mechanism of the ministry, will play a key role in operationalizing this agreement."

A mechanism to secure, enhance and better finance agricultural production

The Director General of ORSRE, Issa Wade, noted that only two countries in the sub-region currently have a structured warehouse receipt system: Senegal and Guinea. He emphasized the need to extend this system to the entire region to improve the competitiveness of agricultural sectors. "This mechanism will help secure agricultural stocks, a crucial issue in a context where product preservation remains a major challenge. Thanks to accredited professional warehouses, producers will be able to obtain financing more easily and sell their harvests under better conditions."

Amadou Diop, CEO of UCCMS, reiterated Crédit Mutuel's long-standing commitment to rural communities. He emphasized the importance of the SRE (Supplementary Retirement Savings Plan) in mitigating risks associated with agricultural credit by securing harvests, the primary source of repayment. This will allow CMS to provide larger loans while reducing its risk exposure. "Sometimes, due to inadequate storage conditions, production is lost entirely or partially, making repayment difficult," he explained.