The success story of an ambitious reintegration project
After several years in France, a university graduate, Mr. Samba Diop MBENGUE still treasures the early knowledge of agriculture he got from his parents in Senegal and has remained keenly interested in this activity. Aware that the production and supply of fresh vegetables in his childhood village is difficult, he decided to develop and modernise market gardening there.
With this in mind, he looked for financial resources to make his childhood dream come true. He discovered via the Internet that OFII had created a business start-up aid scheme.
He then went to the OFII delegation in his area, where he was given all the necessary information to assist him in carrying out this project. He eventually applied for an assisted return and reintegration.
On returning to Senegal, the OFII mission in Dakar quickly introduced him to an operator who examined his project. As the project was deemed to be viable, he subsequently received the financial assistance he required to start his market gardening and tree growing activities.
Today, Mr. Samba Diop MBENGUE has fenced off part of the two hectares provided to him by the local authorities, installed an irrigation system, and started cultivating trees and growing a market garden. He also hopes to contribute to the fight against food insecurity and soon create jobs for youths in his community.
Despite the health crisis, this is a good example of a project that has been made possible with the aid of OFII’s assisted reintegration scheme.
On the contrary, OFII has exceptionally adapted its reintegration assistance scheme to the health crisis, which includes help with settling in, finding a job or setting up a business and remains available to inform those who wish to return to their countries of origin and benefit from this assistance.
OFII is aware that some beneficiaries of the scheme were particularly vulnerable due to halt of non-essential economic activities or delays in launching their project due to the strict lockdown protocols in the spring of 2020, and was able to provide additional assistance in order to maximise the chances of success, as well as make the payment procedures simpler.
In 2020, OFII granted 1 397 reintegration aids, nothing but beautiful stories.