The main principles of Decentralisation Act III

What is decentralisation?

Decentralisation is a process by which the State transfers certain powers and the corresponding resources to local authorities.

These authorities then enjoy a degree of autonomy in decision-making and have their own budget (principle of free administration), under the supervision of a State representative who is not a hierarchical superior, but instead only verifies the legality of the issued by the local authorities.

Accordingly, in order to manage its affairs, a decentralised authority must have its own patrimony, material assets, staff and financial management stated in a budget.

The inception of Decentralisation Act III

In 2013, President Macky Sall decided to reinforce the decentralisation process with a third major territorial and administrative reform: Act III of Decentralisation. Originating from a desire to remedy the inequalities and inconsistencies between local and regional authorities that had dogged the territorial ecosystem since independence, Act III focuses on three objectives:

• full communalisation, to homogenise territorial levels irrespective of their nature (urban or rural);

• departmentalisation, which removed the region from the territorial and administrative architecture in favour of 45 départements;

• and lastly, the establishment of territorial development hubs capable of correcting the economic, infrastructural and social inequalities that the regions have been unable to combat (Republic of Senegal, 2013).

This reform, which marks a major overhaul of the State's territorial action, is aimed at organising Senegal into territories that are viable, competitive and conducive to sustainable development.

Based on the devolution of public policy to the territories, the reform is intended to help build Senegal by making full use of the potential of each territory, in a multi-stakeholder, multi-level approach that guarantees the participation of all territorial stakeholders. It thus represents a breakthrough in the strengthening of decentralisation and the renewal of regional planning policy.

The main principles of Act III

Full communalisation

All rural communities and arrondissement communes have been transformed into communes, Senegal's first tier of local government. This project is a response to the need for the populations' problems to be managed locally, and for local players to be involved in driving forward and implementing territorial development strategies.

Communal status has been reinforced with full communalisation, and the “rural community” is disappearing from the architecture of our decentralisation.

New opportunities are offered to grassroots local authorities, particularly those in rural areas, to improve the minimum platform of basic socio-economic infrastructure through equipment, to recruit qualified staff and to gain easy access to funding from development partners and decentralised cooperation. 

Lastly, full communalisation is enabling our country to harmonise its architecture with that of the sub-region or the rest of the continent.

The removal of the region as a local authority and the creation of economic development hubs

Land planning responds to an imperative  to rebalance investments across territories according to their specificities, with a global vision of development, taking into account equity and solidarity, particularly in the treatment of cities, rural, cross-border and eco-geographical areas. Territorial reorganisation must provide a better response to the challenges and objectives of economic and social development.

Decentralisation Act III reorganises the territory into development hubs in accordance with eco-geographical realities. This approach provides a more rational and consistent framework for territorial supervision and the promotion of economic development, based on the requirements of socioculturally, eco-geographically and economically homogenous territorial areas.

The département as local authority

The département is established as a local authority and remains an administrative district. In many cases, the boundaries of the départements overlap with those of the former kingdoms or provinces. The search for a cohesive socio-cultural and economic area with a strong sense of belonging explains the desire to reinvest in the département as a vehicle for a sound decentralisation policy.

This level is therefore a historical reality, and offers the advantage of forming intermediate territorial entities that encourage local governance and territorial development, bringing together municipalities that share a common experience and specific potential in a dynamic of rural-urban integration.

An approach that banks on economic development

A good land planning policy means integrating the territorial dimension into economic and social planning, and rebalancing investments according to the principles of equity and solidarity. 

In the context of a multi-stakeholder process, solidarity, synergy of action and territorialisation of responsibilities remain key indicators of effective territorial action. In this respect,  the following are needed:

• The rehabilitation of deconcentration through the administrative authorities in their role as territorial counterparts; 

• A reinforcement of decentralisation with more responsibility for the territories, in particular elected representatives, civil society and the local private sector; 

• A clarification of the roles and responsibilities of each player and a simplification of the scales of territorial governance.

Decentralisation Act III in motion

Act 3 has resulted in increased funding for local authorities: endowment funds rose from CFAF 16 billion in 2012 to CFAF 25 billion in 2020, while equipment funds increased from CFAF 12.5 billion in 2012 to CFAF 30 billion in 2020.

Act 3 of the decentralisation process allows for greater devolution of public policies at national level, and stronger collective action by institutions for the social and economic development of our country.