The Strategic Steering Committee (SSC) of the Support Program for Municipalities and Urban Areas of Senegal (PACASEN) met this Monday, January 12, 2026, in Dakar, under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Territorial Development, Papa Alioune Diouf, and in the presence of the Director General of the Municipal Development Agency (ADM), Dr. Mahmouth Diop, and representatives of the program's stakeholder organizations, including the coordinator of the ARD directors, Ousmane Sow. The meeting focused on reviewing and validating the 2025 performance reports of the stakeholder organizations, as well as presenting the program's progress and planned activities for the coming months.

Proven results after 5 years of implementation

The Support Program for Municipalities and Urban Areas of Senegal (PACASEN) continues its momentum in strengthening local authorities. This 7th session of the PACASEN steering committee follows the well-established tradition of annual program reviews, which have consistently delivered positive results for participating local authorities and the populations benefiting from the investments made. The session provided an opportunity to examine the remarkable results achieved since November 2018 and to validate the strategic directions for the continuation of the program, supported by the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD).

According to the Director General of ADM, the PACASEN program, benefiting from an additional €101.7 million in funding approved in June 2024, has enabled major progress in local governance. This includes strengthening transparency and predictability: systematic inclusion of allocations in the Finance Law and guaranteed payment before March 31; performance-based allocation: implementation of a performance evaluation mechanism for the 124 pilot local authorities, with continuous year-on-year improvement; and digitalization: operationalization of the GFILOC system in 123 local authorities and implementation of the E-Portal for local authorities.

On the financial front, Dr Mahmouth Diop reports that the program has enabled the renovation of the Local Authorities Equipment Fund (FECT); the reform of the Business License in CELVL and CELVA, guaranteeing a minimum of 14 million FCFA to each of the 601 local authorities; the installation of 124 Local Taxation Commissions (CFL), contributing to the increase in own revenues; and finally, the ongoing restructuring of the Decentralization Endowment Fund (FDD).

More than 38 billion FCFA invested in the territories

The Director General of the Municipal Development Agency revealed that, since its start, PACASEN has enabled the realization of 1,393 priority projects in strategic sectors (education, sanitation, health, transport, living environment and commercial sector), mobilizing more than 38 billion CFA francs.

Challenges identified and a clear roadmap

During the meeting, the PACASEN Strategic Steering Committee also identified constraints to be addressed to optimize program execution, including delays in contract execution with certain technical partners, the necessary strengthening of technical capacities of certain communities, and the punctuality of resource transfers.

It should be recalled that PACASEN is fully aligned with the Government's vision of making decentralization a major lever for territorial development, while now integrating the dimension of climate change into its interventions. Its governance, established by decree no. 013923 of April 3, 2019, is ensured through the Strategic Steering Committee (CPS), chaired by the Minister in charge of local authorities, which meets at least twice a year; the Operational Technical Committee (CTO), chaired by the Chief of Staff of the Minister in charge of local authorities, which meets whenever necessary; and the Municipal Development Agency (ADM), which ensures the overall coordination of the program and the management of the Continuous Territorial Coaching (CTC) component, in conjunction with the Regional Development Agencies (ARD). The stakeholders of PACASEN consist primarily of the 124 pilot CTs and structures such as DCT, IAL, DSPL, BCT, DF/CNFPL, DCMP, ARCOP, DGAT, DIREC, Court of Auditors, etc., involved in the implementation of the program. Each stakeholder structure is linked to the ADM by a performance protocol, while the pilot CTs have signed performance agreements with the Ministry of Urban Planning.