The Role of the Informal Sector in the Development of Entrepreneurship in Senegal: Background and Justification

In general, informal activities have always been well accepted in Senegal, and the rest of Africa as well. From this point of view, they are all the time, well integrated into society. This means therefore that the economic and social importance of the informal sector does no longer need evidencing. Through an exploratory methodological approach, this article aims to analyze, from the entrepreneurial model of Ahmad and Hoffman (2007) (1), new conditions for the emergence of a modern entrepreneurship resulting from the eradication and the progressive inclusion of the informal sector into the modern economy in Senegal. Beyond the debate on eradication and / or inclusion of the informal sector in the modern economy, it is to see whether the emergence of the informal sector is a foreshadowing of microenterprises and modern SMEs. Five aspects to apprehend the changes in the business environment are addressed here: the new relationship to the company, the business models of reference, the incentive scheme for formalization, financing and business environment.