EVEREST Finance launched Sama Naffa in Dakar on Thursday, September 10, a savings platform accessible from as little as FCFA 1,000 (USD 1.77), against a backdrop in which collective savings mechanisms continue to play an important role in the financial practices of Senegalese households. The solution combines a digital service with a network of local agents whose role includes assisting users with opening accounts and getting started on the platform. EVEREST Finance plans to gradually expand the service beyond Dakar.
The launch comes at a time when formalizing savings and broadening access to financial services remain key challenges for the development of the WAEMU regional financial market. In Senegal, tontines, neighborhood savings groups and other forms of community-based savings remain widely used, particularly to finance everyday expenses, projects or cope with unexpected costs.
Sama Naffa aims to bridge these traditional practices with the instruments available on the regional financial market. EVEREST Finance also intends to contribute to broadening the investor base and improving the mobilization of domestic savings.
“Concretely, our ambition is to enable every individual, regardless of income level, to open an account in their own name and gradually begin saving and investing in the regional financial market. Through a fully digital journey accessible from a mobile phone, everyone will now be able to access savings and investment solutions more easily,” said Khady Diouf, Managing Director of EVEREST Finance.
Ms. Diouf also noted that periods of budgetary pressure make saving more difficult, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of being able to prepare for unforeseen expenses and plan ahead for future projects.
Licensed by the WAEMU Financial Markets Authority (AMF-UMOA) since 2016, EVEREST Finance is active in areas including securities issuance, facilitating companies’ access to capital markets and portfolio management.
