Contacts In Washington: Aby Toure (202) 473-8302 akonate@worldbank.org In Dakar: Mademba Ndiaye (221) 338495000 mademba@worldbank.org Senegal Receives $80 Million to Increase Availability of Electricity WASHINGTON , June 19, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an $80 million credit to support the Senegal energy sector to ensure a sustained and sound long term development of electricity services and supply of petroleum products. According to Michel Layec, Task Team Leader for the World Bank, “the implementation of an energy sector reform program centered on the electricity and the hydrocarbon sub-sectors constitutes a key element of the Government strategy”. The credit is to add financial support to allow the national company of electricity (SENELEC) to restore, by the end of 2009, its financial equilibrium and to meet standard financial rations and credit worthiness. Mr. Layec added that the credit will support policy measures aimed at ensuring that “the electricity sub sector and the downstream hydrocarbon sub-sector develop and operate in an efficient and transparent way with adequate governance.” Noting that the energy crisis led to significant pressures on the national budget and on the fiscal position of Senegal, Mr. Madani M. Tall, Country director for Senegal, said that the “public resources that should have been assigned to the social sectors were redirected to the energy sector; in the last three years, about US$350 million were transferred from the budget to the energy sector”. He added that the energy crisis also had direct and measurable consequences on Senegal ’s economic performance; the weak economic performance of 2006 (with a real GDP growing by 2.3 percent) is for a large part related to the problems of the energy sector. Benefits are expected to accrue to the Government budget through reduced subsidy requirements to the SENELEC and the refinery (SAR), thereby freeing up scarce public resources for growth and poverty reduction measures, noted Mr. Tall. Mr. Layec also noted that “beneficiaries will also include the consumers of electricity and of petroleum products who will enjoy increased quality of supply at the lowest cost from a more performing energy sector.” The TTL revealed that the credit will be disbursed in two tranches between September 2008 and June 30, 2010. ### For more information about the World Bank and Senegal, please visit: www.worldbank.org/senegal | 
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