The Savings and Credit Mutual of Public and Parapublic Sector Agents (Mecap), despite its progress, is facing some difficulties linked mainly to delays noted in payments from the Treasury and those of its traditional partner, La Poste. In crisis for quite some time, Sn La Poste now owes Mecap nearly 3 billion CFA francs.By Dialigué FAYE –
As part of the first edition of the celebration of World Savings Day in Senegal, the Minister of Microfinance, Social and Solidarity Economy, Alioune Dione, paid a visit to the Mutual Savings and Savings Association. credit of public and parapublic sector agents (Mecap). An opportunity for the leaders of this mutual organization to present their progress, their perspectives, but also to submit to the authority the difficulties they face. From its relations with Sn La Poste, its traditional partner, a certain number of difficulties arose, according to Assane Sakho, Director General of Mecap. Among other things, Mr. Sakho highlights the delay noted in the “regularization of payments, the problem of access to funds in postal accounts, the resumption of credits to members employed by La Poste”.
La Poste today owes Mecap nearly 3 billion CFA francs, according to Amadou Diouldé Bâ, director of Postefinance.
Also, “it often happens to note delays in relation to the expected payments from the Public Treasury, which disrupts cash management,” adds Assane Sakho. Which specifies that monthly payments from the Treasury, estimated at 1.6 billion CFA francs, represent the bulk of Mecap’s cash flow.
The managers of the mutual therefore expect support from the authorities to overcome these problems.
“We want these delays, creating enormous cash flow strain, to be a thing of the past. This is a complaint that we express as a professional association. If this type of situation is repeated, it could have a negative impact on Mecap and its viability,” argued Sidy Lamine Ndiaye, Executive Director of the Association of Professionals of Decentralized Financial Systems (Apsfd).
Mecap started its activities in 2000. With an initial endowment fund of 750 million, “Mecap today weighs nearly 30 billion in terms of total assets”. From 100 founding members, the mutual membership has grown to nearly 40,000 members.
It attaches paramount importance to the mobilization of savings. Its outstanding savings, according to the CEO, “exceed the amount of 15 billion CFA francs and are the institution’s primary resource. For a minimum of 7,500, some of our members save up to 150,000 francs per month. This is how members have been able to build up quite large amounts, sometimes reaching more than 10 million upon retirement.”
Other savings products are also offered, such as “contingency savings which allow beneficiaries to build up reserve funds to meet unforeseen or current expenses, blocked savings, term deposit remunerated at a rate of 3.5 % per year…”.
Savings occupy an important place in the orientations set out in the national transformation agenda “Senegal 2050”. This is why Minister Alioune Dione invites all stakeholders to work to strengthen the conditions for mobilizing savings. For its part, he said, “my department will spare no effort to support public or private initiatives aimed at promoting and developing savings. Your requests will be transmitted to the competent authorities with permanent monitoring to arrive at the best solutions.
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