Investing in Kaolack's Future: Creating Impact Businesses for Youth Employment

Kaolack, the capital of the groundnut basin and a major trading city, hosts the FIKA fair (8th edition in 2024), organized with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, which promotes regional entrepreneurs and businesses. In February 2026, the TAGDev 2.0 project was launched in Kaolack to reach 20,000 young people and women from five communes in the groundnut basin, focusing on groundnut and onion value chains and strengthening agricultural universities. DER/FJ has invested 9.9 billion FCFA in the region, and PROVALE-CV has created 3,182 jobs there, including 1,300 for young people. The Food Technology Institute trained 208 people in agribusiness in Kaolack with PDCEJ, and 26 young people were certified in oil and gas professions at the El Hadji Abdoulaye Niasse technical and commercial high school. In January 2026, the "Fora rural Invest" brought together public actors and the Chamber of Commerce to improve rural youth's access to support, financing, and marketing, as this access remains limited. A Youth and Women's Employment and Entrepreneurship Hub, which includes ANPEJ, DER, and 3FPT, has existed in Kaolack since 2021. This mission mobilizes the Kaolack diaspora to invest in impact businesses (groundnut and onion agro-processing, trade, digital technology, services), transfer skills, and open business networks to serve youth and women's employment.