Participatory Local Democracy

Supported by UNDEF 2012-2014

Senegal

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senegal-political-mapPopulation: 16.74 Million

HDI ranking: 168/189

HDI score: 0.512

In 2009, Senegal created a Ministry of Local Government, which has continued to promote the Law of Decentralization. However, a lack of administrative capacity and fiscal control at the local level remains a challenge for participatory local governance (World Bank, 2013).

Local governance at a glance

  • The Ministry of Planning and Local Government (Le Ministère de l’Aménagement du Territoire et des Collectivités Locales) was established in 2009 and is in charge of decentralization. The Directorate of General Affairs of the Territorial Administration (DAGAT) within the Ministry of the Interior manages relations with governors (World Bank, 2012).
  • The local government in Senegal is composed of three tiers of territorial collectives (CTs) (World Bank, 2013):
    • 14 regions, led by a governor appointed by the President and a directly elected regional council.
    • There are 550 municipalities (151 urban, 353 rural, and 46 urban sub-districts), all of the local governments being administered by directly elected bodies, among which the head executive is nominated (OECD, 2016).

Civil society actors include

Capacity building institutions

  • The Local Government Association (Association des Maires du Sénégal) works to strengthen relationships between towns in Senegal and promote decentralized cooperation among local entities.

Fiscal control

  • Central government transfers represent about 20 percent of the total expenditure of local governments.  Local authorities are working to increase the level of local revenue in order to increase fiscal autonomy (World Bank, 2013; CERDI, 2011).
  • According to Senegal’s Constitution, “Any transfer of powers to a local authority should, at least, be accompanied by a concomitant transfer from the State of the resources and means necessary for the normal exercise of these powers” (World Bank, 2012).
  • The Decentralization Allocation Fund (FDD) was established in 1996 to pay for the newly assumed responsibilities of CTs (World Bank, 2012).
  • “The regions do not have taxation powers, unlike the municipalities, which can raise a high diversity of local taxes: direct taxes (fiscal minimum tax, business tax, tax on property); and additional percentage tax perceived through the national taxation. In general, subnational revenues have slightly increased (0.6%), after having decreased in 2012. It must be noted that in 2013, 70% of tax revenues had been realized in the Dakar region. Taxation in local governments is managed by the central State, which is responsible for tax collection and tax rates” (OECD, 2016).
  • “Central governments provide several subsidies to the local governments. The decentralization allocation fund (FDD) aims to compensate for the expenditures induced by the transfer of competencies and is dedicated to funding operating expenditures. The 2007 law states that the fund should represent 3.5% of VAT. Its allocation is based on the costs of transferred responsibilities and on the current costs of local administrations. The local government investment fund (FECL), created in 1977, is a capital grant dedicated to the enhancement of LGs investment capability. Its size depends on a percentage of the VAT (around 2%) decided in the annual budget law. Its recipient is the overall subnational governments, and the special purposes investment programs. These grants represent a relatively modest share of LGs revenue, as not all the competencies assigned to local governments have been effectively devolved to them” (OECD, 2016).

Key initiatives for participatory local governance

  • Senegal has accomplished several rounds of transparent elections and democratic transitions since independence in 1960 (World Bank, 2013).
  • The 1996 Law on Decentralization shifted many responsibilities over to the local governments. This framework was further strengthened in the 2001 Constitution (Arial, 2011; World Bank, 2013).
  • The 2004 “Build-Operate-and-Transfer Law” aimed at supporting local authorities by promoting the private sector to get involved in public infrastructure development (Arial, 2011).
  • In 2009, Senegal elevated the national entity in charge of decentralization to the ministry level with the creation of the Ministry of Local Government (World Bank, 2012).
  • Senegal has established the Programme National de Developpement Local (PNDL).
    • “The purpose of the PNDL is to contribute to the reduction of poverty through the combined action of the ministerial departments, the local communities of basic communities, and the private sector. Its main objective is to promote the provision of basic socio-economic services in an efficient, effective, and sustainable way” (Devex, 2007).
  • GIZ has established a program in partnership with the Ministère de la Décentralisation et des Collectivités Locales.
    • The objective of the program is, “Access to public services such as health care, education, and water is improved in the program region. Local people participate in the political decisions taken by their communities, and the conditions for economic development are improved in the long term. All actors for decentralization are better qualified, their management skills improved” (GIZ, 2013).
    • “Access to social infrastructure and services in the project area has improved considerably: All communities are supplied with drinking water. The availability of schools and other institutions has risen by 15 percent since 2004; all such services are in use. Compared with 2004, approximately 40 percent more people have access to healthcare facilities in the program area.”
  • “An important step in funding the fight against climate change was taken in 2015 with the establishment of the National Climate Fund (NCF). This fund, administered by the Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), is designed to take advantage of the opportunities for international partnerships and funding agreements created by the Green Climate Fund. The NCF will raise and manage US$60 million per year to combat the negative effects of climate change and ensure sustainable development” (Near East, 2015).

Challenges for participatory local governance

  • A 2012 World Bank report identifies challenges for Senegal, including (World Bank, 2012):
    • In practice, the auditing of subnational accounts is far from the standard established in law. Many CTs reportedly do not keep full accounting records.
    • Tax rolls are “always very late” and the “identification of tax bases is often inaccurate” and “unreliable.” In addition, “companies delay paying their taxes” while the “central government grants exemptions, mainly to companies, without informing or compensating the CTs concerned.”
  • According to a 2013 World Bank report, Senegal faces the following challenges (World Bank, 2013):
    • “Poor governance has slowed progress in poverty reduction.” Though “Senegal traditionally had a good system of public accountability and transparency…these systems were severely weakened between 2006 and 2011, as illustrated by Senegal’s drop in the Governance indicators.”
    • “Senegal is vulnerable to four main natural hazards: drought; locust invasion; flooding, often with associated epidemics; and a sea level rise associated with coastal erosion. The government needs to put in place strong governance and cost-effective systems to manage these economic, social, and climate-related disasters in order to protect growth and secure livelihoods.”
    • “While the size of the government has grown from 24.1 percent of GDP in 2005 to 29.7 percent in 2011, access to improved services and the quality of services have not improved in many social sectors. Overall, a lack of clear governance and accountability systems is undermining performance in the social sectors.”
  • “Today there is still a lack of properly functioning institutional mechanisms. In the 441 local regional bodies, there is a lack of appropriate resources and knowledge for the effective fulfilment of their responsibilities. Significant weaknesses are also evident in cooperation between the national level and the regions” (GIZ, 2013).
  • “The management and disbursement of climate funds still rests with national-level bodies or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), leaving local government and communities with little control over financial decision-making and management. Their concerns and priorities often are not sufficiently accounted for when spending decisions are made” (Near East, 2015).

Recent posts on this website about this country:

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List of sources (in order of citation):

UN Human Development Index (UNDP), 2012: “Senegal”

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2016: “Senegal”

World Bank, 2013: “Senegal Overview”

World Bank, 2012: “ The Political Economy of Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Cerdi, 2011: “Does the System of Allocation of Intergovernmental Transfers in Senegal Eliminiate Politically Motivate Targeting?”

Arial, 2011: “Senegal”

Devex, 2007: “Programme National De Developpement Local (PNDL)”

GIZ, 2013: “Support for Decentralisation and Local Development”

Near East Foundation, 2015: “Decentralising Climate Funds (DCF)”