70
Box 4.1 Public-private partnerships: Senegal’s Accelerated Growth Strategy
Senegal’s Accelerated Growth Strategy (SCA) was established in January 2005, as a framework for
public-private-partnership, aiming to improve the business enabling environment and at promoting
specific sectors or “grappes” as engines of economic growth.
To identify pilot grappes, five key factors were taken into account: the growth potential of the grappe,
the ability of the grappe to generate value-added, the ability of the grappe to compete on the
international market, the potential for export, and the likelihood that the grappe would create new
professional and non-professional jobs.
The five grappes selected by the SCA are:
• Tourism, Cultural Industries, and handicrafts
• Agriculture and Agro-industry
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and related services
• Clothing and Textiles
• Fisheries and Aquaculture
The presidency of each grappe is composed of a President chosen from among the private sector
representatives of the grappe’s industry, a vice-President (a high ranking public official from the main
administrative department of the grappe), and one coordinator hired by the SCA. Members of the
grappe represent the variety of stakeholders in the industries associated with the grappe, including the
public and private sector, civil society, academics, researchers, training institutions, financiers, and
consumer associations.
Source: AfDB.
Typically, the main services provided by TPOs include:
provision of information about overseas markets;
business consultancy for new exporters or companies that intend to expand their
international business;
networking with potential business partners in foreign markets;
support in participation to trade fairs and organisation of mission tours to foreign
markets;
seminars and training courses to enhance the managerial ability of exporters and/or
mentoring services
financial support to exporters
Although in most of the surveyed countries, in principle, TPOs are offering services across the above
described range, the degree of specialisation of the agencies may vary substantially across countries.
In particular, financing services to exporters, in the form of export grants, export credits or export
insurance, is sometimes provided by other specialised institutions. This generally depends on the
existence of one or more trade promotion institutions in the country and possible specialisation of
functions across these institutions.
For instance, within the framework of Uganda’s National Export Strategy (see Table 4.1), the Uganda
Export Promotion Board (UEPB), the TPO that operates under the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and
Industry, focuses largely on technical assistance, training and capacity building, whereas the Bank of
Uganda (BOU), commercial banks and private sector foundations are the lead institutions providing
financial support to producers and exporters. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia, two of the main
entities engaged with expanding Saudi non-oil exports are especially dedicated to providing financial
assistance or include financial incentives among their main tools. The Saudi Export Programme (SEP)
of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), established in 1999 as the official national export credit
agency, aims, inter alia , to help exporters overcome difficulties in receiving export proceeds for