Expanding Business Opportunities in Senegal

Bineta Diagne

21 June 2011

Dakar — At the offices of Ria, a branch of Euronet, the world’s third largest money transfer company a handful of employees provide telephone support to clients across the continent. The rapidly expanding industry has driven the American corporation to open a new office branch in Dakar, Senegal. It is managed by Senegalese national, Malick Seck.

Expanding African partners

After graduating from the Institut d’administration des enterprises de Limoges (a graduate of school for management), Malick Seck worked for four years as a sales representative in France before joining the Shell team in Senegal in 1995. In 2000, he headed the call and money transfer centre of Chaka Computer, an African company based in the Senegalese capital.

Today Malick Seck is heading Ria Africa with one goal: to develop the money transfer network on the continent. At the moment, the company has partnership deals with major banks in Togo, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. In Senegal, Ria already has “seven partners and has established a network of 450 agencies across the country”, explains Seck.

An untapped continent

“There are opportunities for virtually all types of businesses, it’s an untapped continent”, confirms Malick Seck, adding: “The continent has always been ignored by large corporations. However, they tend to forget that there are people in Africa with various needs but very few options.”

Informal economy

According to Malick Seck, exchange “corridors” between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast or between Equatorial Guinea and West Africa are among the most dynamic in the western African region. However, as is the case in many sectors, the informal economy is the highest generator of foreign exchange in the money transfer industry.

Without mentioning the real obstacle to business, Seck favours “professionalisation” in Africa. “There are many informal activities, but informal is more a practice than an economic sector”, he notes. Seck adds: “And this practice often doesn’t contribute to the development of economic sectors. In order to foster development in Africa, there should be formality and transparency”.

Another sign of the dynamic state of business on the African continent is the opening, every year, of numerous specialised finance, management or communication schools in large cities.

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