VisionFund Sénégal: microfinance as driver of female entrepreneurship

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Published on March 18, 2026

Agnès Diene, CEO, VisionFund Sénégal, and Christine Fages, French Ambassador to Senegal, on 6 January at VisionFund’s offices in Dakar.

Last January, Christine Fages, the French Ambassador to Senegal, met with Agnès Diene, CEO of VisionFund Sénégal microfinance institution. The meeting highlighted the shared commitment of VisionFund Sénégal, Proparco and France to strengthening the economic empowerment of Senegalese women.

VisionFund Sénégal – supported by Proparco through a loan of €2 million equivalent in CFA francs signed in 2025 – partners thousands of women in rural areas by providing them with access to financing solutions. As Agnès Diene, the institution’s CEO points out, “Senegalese women face numerous challenges: early marriage, the need to choose between family and a career, preconceived notions and limited access to finance, land and decision-making processes.” Female entrepreneurship represents much more than an economic activity: it is a vector of stability and future prospects for women, their families and their communities.

Voices for Change: cross perspectives on female entrepreneurship in Senegal

Check out the video to discover the shared vision of Christine Fages, French Ambassador to Senegal, and Agnès Diene, CEO of VisionFund Sénégal, on the role of microfinance in female economic empowerment.

Shared women’s experiences

On 6 January, Christine Fages, France’s Ambassador to Senegal, visited the headquarters of VisionFund Sénégal in Dakar to meet its CEO, talk with the teams and gain a deeper understanding of the institution’s business model. It was an inspiring exchange around the challenges of female financial inclusion in Senegal. She stressed that, “Mutual support and knowledge-sharing are genuine vectors for resilience and innovation. Female entrepreneurship is underpinned by sustainable collective values that are deeply rooted in Senegalese society.”

Caroline Richard, Head of Proparco’s Senegal office believes that: “This visit alongside the ambassador to VisionFund Sénégal’s HQ highlighted the exceptional commitment of their teams. Beyond financing, it is the human and educational support provided to women’s groups that represents their true added value.” By drawing upon tontine-inspired collective savings schemes, VisionFund Sénégal offers far more than a loan: it provides a concrete means of economic empowerment.

A transformative partnership between Proparco and VisionFund Sénégal

In 2026, Proparco began supporting VisionFund Sénégal with a new phase of its development, in line with France’s priorities in terms of inclusive microfinance and agricultural resilience, as part of the FARM initiative.

As Clémence Guyot and Camille Lot Baillis, investment officers working in Proparco’s financial inclusion team, explain: “The loan granted to VisionFund Sénégal reflects Proparco’s commitment to strengthen financial systems and support entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises. It forms part of a strategy for sustainable transformation through microfinance, an essential tool for financial inclusion for female entrepreneurs.”

France’s Ambassador to Senegal, Christine Fages concludes by noting that, “With partners like Proparco, we support microfinance institutions that play a key role in strengthening the local entrepreneurial fabric. VisionFund Sénégal is a perfect example of this.”