Mbellacadio, May 23 (APS) – The Minister of Industrial Development and Small and Medium Industries, Moustapha Diop, officially launched on Monday, in the commune of Mbellacadio (Fatick), the works of the Fatick regional module of the Agropole center, found the APS.
“Scheduled over a period of 15 months, the work of the regional module of Fatick, is a decisive step in the establishment of the Agropole center which is a flagship project of the Emerging Senegal Plan”, said the minister during this launch. official marked by a ceremony of laying the first stone.
“The generous and fertile land of Sine welcomes the first pickaxes of the works of the Agropole center, one of the epicenters of the industrial revival of Senegal”, he added.
He recalled that the Agropole center project polarizes the regions of Fatick, Diourbel, Kaffrine and Kaolack.
It will include a central module in Kaolack, with agro-industrial units for secondary processing and related services, according to a document released to the press.
The regional modules of Kaolack, Fatick, Diourbel and Kaffrine “will host administration and business areas for primary processing and fifteen departmental platforms for the collection and storage of agricultural products”, adds the same source.
These regions which polarize the Agropole center, alone, contribute in particular for 61% to the national production of groundnuts, 50% to that of millet, and 33% for corn, according to the minister.
“This therefore means that the central zone of our dear country is called upon to play a leading role in the national food security strategy”, he underlined.
“The Agropole project will undoubtedly also contribute decisively to achieving the government’s objectives of tripling exports per capita between 2017 and 2023, and increasing the share of exports of manufactured goods to 45 .2%,” he said.
According to him, this project will be a powerful lever for economic transformation.
“In terms of economic results, he explained, achieving the objectives will generate a turnover of 234 billion CFA francs with a 3.3% increase in exports and a reduction in the trade balance deficit. of at least 5.2%”.
Also, the Agropole center project will ultimately create, according to him, nearly 27,000 jobs, including 4,852 direct jobs and 7,278 indirect jobs and 14,556 induced jobs.
The Agropole should also qualitatively change the socio-economic environment of the area, he says.
A regional delegation led by the governor of the Fatick region, Seynabou Guèye, took part in the ceremony, in the presence of highly mobilized local populations.
Technical and financial partners also took part in the event.
The Agropole center is financed to the tune of 115 billion CFA francs.
Senegal aims to create agropoles in all areas of the country (south, center and north), with the aim of strengthening the added value of agricultural products and reducing the country’s dependence on food imports through sustainable industrialization. and inclusive.