An article in today's SudQuotidien expressed public concern over Senegal's drop on the 2008 "corruption index" produced by Transparency International. Although Senegal is not among the most corrupt on the index, its position fell considerably on the 2008 index...
Construction companies and public works of major exporting countries in Senegal "are identified as most likely to pay bribes to the authorities of host countries," according to the 2008 corruption index. One way to understand the increase in "pots-de-vin" (bribes) is the source of bribes. Transparency International also indexed the countries with the companies most likely to offer bribes. The worst, in order, were Russia, China, Mexico and India.
Senegal does significant business with both China and India. China is engaged in major infrastructure projects, especially around Touba. As we have noted before, India's trade with Senegal has skyrocked in the last five years to lead all others.
The solution Transparency International recommends is, naturally, transparency. Major bidding processes and results should be made public. It cited recent mining deals as an example.
The SudQuotidien article calls increasing corruption a "trap." Rightly so. The well known corrolary to the corruption index is the poverty index--the more corruption, the less likely that a country will develop economically.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Groundnut harvest way up; a welcome relief for Senegal farmers
Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Peanut production in Senegal will probably increase 66 percent to 550,000 metric tons in the 2008-09 season after plantings increased, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Output fell 28 percent to 331,200 tons in the 2007-08 season, from the previous year, because of poor rainfall, the department’s Foreign Agricultural Service said on its Web site.
Peanuts are the primary cash crop and source of income for most Senegalese farmers, according to the FAS.
Output fell 28 percent to 331,200 tons in the 2007-08 season, from the previous year, because of poor rainfall, the department’s Foreign Agricultural Service said on its Web site.
Peanuts are the primary cash crop and source of income for most Senegalese farmers, according to the FAS.
Iran and Senegal launch SENIRAN auto assembly plant in Senegal
Iran Khodro, the biggest automobile producer in the Middle East has inaugurated a new assembly plant in the African country of Senegal.
Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, asked for Iran Khodro cars, Bardo pick-up and Peugeot Roa besides Samand passenger car to be produced in SENIRAN AUTO and be exported to the West African countries, said IKCO CEO and president, Manouchehr Manteghi.
During the inauguration ceremony of SENIRAN AUTO in Senegal Manteghi emphasized: Considering Iran Khodro’s strategic plans for its global sales, Central Asian, Middle Eastern and North and West African countries are our points of interest. Senegal’s special position in the region, neighboring seven countries with political an economical ties helped us to make up our mind for establishing a site in this country.
Mentioning that this production line is not a uni-functional one, he added: Right now, Samand passenger car under the name of "Mandory" is produced in this site; however Bardo pick-up, Peugeot Roa, and Pars can also be produced by this assembly line if needed.
Referring to IKCO's car making site in Senegal, Manteghi claimed that foreign companies have already announced their willingness for manufacturing their products in this site.
Renewing public transportation in Senegal has been one of the sources of interest for Senegal's government based on which 2000 Samand made their way to this country, he added. According to Manteghi, around $60 million have been invested on Samand assembly site in Senegal with Iran Khodro and Senegalese government and private sector together putting in 60 and 40 percent respectively.
It's noteworthy that Iran Khodro has established one of the biggest after-sale service centers in Senegal.
Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, asked for Iran Khodro cars, Bardo pick-up and Peugeot Roa besides Samand passenger car to be produced in SENIRAN AUTO and be exported to the West African countries, said IKCO CEO and president, Manouchehr Manteghi.
During the inauguration ceremony of SENIRAN AUTO in Senegal Manteghi emphasized: Considering Iran Khodro’s strategic plans for its global sales, Central Asian, Middle Eastern and North and West African countries are our points of interest. Senegal’s special position in the region, neighboring seven countries with political an economical ties helped us to make up our mind for establishing a site in this country.
Mentioning that this production line is not a uni-functional one, he added: Right now, Samand passenger car under the name of "Mandory" is produced in this site; however Bardo pick-up, Peugeot Roa, and Pars can also be produced by this assembly line if needed.
Referring to IKCO's car making site in Senegal, Manteghi claimed that foreign companies have already announced their willingness for manufacturing their products in this site.
Renewing public transportation in Senegal has been one of the sources of interest for Senegal's government based on which 2000 Samand made their way to this country, he added. According to Manteghi, around $60 million have been invested on Samand assembly site in Senegal with Iran Khodro and Senegalese government and private sector together putting in 60 and 40 percent respectively.
It's noteworthy that Iran Khodro has established one of the biggest after-sale service centers in Senegal.
The Khalife guarantees that Touba work continues
The massive intrastructure and public improvements underway in Touba continue, according to the Khalife of the Mourides, by way of a news report. He assures that the water system infrastructure and other projects were never stalled.
The Khalife, Serigne Mouhamadou Lamine Bara Mbacké, took efforts to emphasize the cooperation of the Holy City with the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade:
"The water project has started. Again, we are in step with the president because he had given the sum of seven billion CFA francs. Then he comes back three and a half billion for drilling, pipes, fountains throughout the city."
Addressing reports that the work had been stopped for lack of funding, the Khalife was reported to state: "The work has never been suspended. Those who say they do not know anything."
Since President Wade showed up with the payments in his recent visit to Touba, relations with the Holy City appear to have warmed up considerably. This at a time when the president is facing political opposition.
The Khalife, Serigne Mouhamadou Lamine Bara Mbacké, took efforts to emphasize the cooperation of the Holy City with the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade:
"The water project has started. Again, we are in step with the president because he had given the sum of seven billion CFA francs. Then he comes back three and a half billion for drilling, pipes, fountains throughout the city."
Addressing reports that the work had been stopped for lack of funding, the Khalife was reported to state: "The work has never been suspended. Those who say they do not know anything."
Since President Wade showed up with the payments in his recent visit to Touba, relations with the Holy City appear to have warmed up considerably. This at a time when the president is facing political opposition.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Senegal congress environmental department budget misses chance to pick up the garbage
Senegal's government cut the budget slightly this year to the Environment Ministry, but not before representatives deplored the state of garbage in the country. The $67.7 million (U.S.) environmental budget approved is down several million from the last adopted budget. Deputies in the National Assembly voiced their concerns that the garbage ringing Senegal's cities is creating a health hazard. The town of Kaolack, in the heart of the country's groundnut crop region voiced special concerns. The government responded that APIX, the foreign investment agency, and the city of Dakar are working on addressing the growing garbage problem as well as the closure of Mbeubeubus, the nation's sole actual landfill... Other environmental concerns such as fisheries and wildfires were noted as affected by the lowered environmental budget. But it is the garbage problem which Senegalese are most concerned about, according to the article Le Quotidien.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
IMF criticises Dakar for its "slow pay" history on infrastructure work
Previous posts have highlighted the Dakar central govern-ment's "slow pay" history on the Touba infrastructure projects. In the euphemistic terminology of the IMF, a statement following last September's report indicates it is aware of the problem:
"The mission evaluated the serious budgetary slippages that were uncovered in early August 2008. They comprise a large stock of unpaid bills to the private sector within the normal budgetary framework that have accumulated over the last few years, as well as past extrabudgetary spending, which, taken together, were inconsistent with the availability of financing and Senegal's macroeconomic circumstances. While a full assessment of the stock of unpaid bills is ongoing, their extent and lack of consis-tency with the budgetary framework warrant strong actions."
More recent posts here note that President Wade's visit to Touba this week was accompanied by some major payment installments on the Chinese infrastructure work there. One wonders however what result will come of the IMF's "full assessment" of the unpaid bills.
"The mission evaluated the serious budgetary slippages that were uncovered in early August 2008. They comprise a large stock of unpaid bills to the private sector within the normal budgetary framework that have accumulated over the last few years, as well as past extrabudgetary spending, which, taken together, were inconsistent with the availability of financing and Senegal's macroeconomic circumstances. While a full assessment of the stock of unpaid bills is ongoing, their extent and lack of consis-tency with the budgetary framework warrant strong actions."
More recent posts here note that President Wade's visit to Touba this week was accompanied by some major payment installments on the Chinese infrastructure work there. One wonders however what result will come of the IMF's "full assessment" of the unpaid bills.
Power du jour: solar (yesterday, nuclear, tomorrow...)
There appears to be growing enthusiasm lately for solar energy by the Senegalese authorities. At last spring's UNIDO renewable energy conference at the President Meridian (which I attended ex-officio), nuclear power was touted by the Wade administration. I don't know if the security and other concerns with nuclear have dampened that enthusiasm (which non-U.S. developed countries were frowning upon). But solar does have advantages of decentralized, scalable features. Here's the top of today's Reuters story:
"DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal hopes to rein in surging electricity prices, reduce frequent blackouts and power most of its street lighting through an energy policy using solar panels, the government said Friday.
"Located on Africa's west coast at one end of the arid Sahel belt south of the Sahara, Senegal has huge solar potential but has so far lacked the expertise and investments to harness it."
"President Abdoulaye Wade, 82, instructed his energy minister to extend the national electricity grid over the entire country and build a factory making low-energy light bulbs, a government statement summing up Thursday's cabinet meeting said.
"U.S. space agency NASA scientists have identified a location in nearby Niger as the sunniest piece of land on earth, and renewable energy campaigners say the region has huge solar generating potential.
"'He (Wade) has also decided to put in place an energy-saving and management policy to lower prices for electricity consumers and reduce the negative effects of costs on our nation's economic development,' the government statement said.
"Like many African countries, Senegal has suffered long-term underinvestment and neglect of its power network. This has hampered economic development despite it being one of the region's most stable democracies since independence from France in 1960.
"Last month, crowds of youths smashed up offices of the state power utility Senelec in the capital Dakar to protest against frequent power cuts due to load-shedding.
"DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal hopes to rein in surging electricity prices, reduce frequent blackouts and power most of its street lighting through an energy policy using solar panels, the government said Friday.
"Located on Africa's west coast at one end of the arid Sahel belt south of the Sahara, Senegal has huge solar potential but has so far lacked the expertise and investments to harness it."
"President Abdoulaye Wade, 82, instructed his energy minister to extend the national electricity grid over the entire country and build a factory making low-energy light bulbs, a government statement summing up Thursday's cabinet meeting said.
"U.S. space agency NASA scientists have identified a location in nearby Niger as the sunniest piece of land on earth, and renewable energy campaigners say the region has huge solar generating potential.
"'He (Wade) has also decided to put in place an energy-saving and management policy to lower prices for electricity consumers and reduce the negative effects of costs on our nation's economic development,' the government statement said.
"Like many African countries, Senegal has suffered long-term underinvestment and neglect of its power network. This has hampered economic development despite it being one of the region's most stable democracies since independence from France in 1960.
"Last month, crowds of youths smashed up offices of the state power utility Senelec in the capital Dakar to protest against frequent power cuts due to load-shedding.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Government money appears in Touba in advance of President Wade's visit
President Abdoulaye's visit tomorrow to the Mourides' holy city of Touba has been greased by finally funding Touba infrastructure projects. The President needs to spread the goodwill, according to today's article in L'Observateur. The sacking of Macky Sall, leader of the Senegalese parliament is apparently fomenting ill feeling toward the president and the Mourides are backing off from their support for the President... Those sore feelings may be assauged somewhat by the reported payment this month to Chinese contractors working in Touba of 3.6 billion CFA francs. According to L'Observateur sources, 2 billion CFA francs were received by Hénan China and 1.6 billion by another company. Work on Touba infrastructure has been restarted, although Chinese and local employment on the projects is still far below the scheduled need... L'Observateur sources with the Khalife say they'll push for more funding for the projects from the President's central government. As we noted here earlier, Touba sent billions of francs (much of it raised abroad) to the central government, where it disappeared for quite awhile. The Khalife took up the matter in a visit to Dakar earlier this year. Only 30 percent of the contract Touba infrastructure has been completed.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
President Wade looks for better GOANA harvest
Six months after President Abdoulaye Wade launched his agricultural growth initiative, Senegal is predicting record harvests for 2008. Good news for Senegal and its president, both of which were battered by food shortages over the last year.
“The Grand Agricultural Offensive for Food Security” or GOANA, was launched by President Wade in May 2008. It aims for Senegal’s self-sufficiency in food production by 2015. Goals include doubling rice production, and increasing maize and manioc yields.
According to IRIN, Senegal imports 600,000 tons of rice a year, or three-quarters of the country’s food consumption, making its people vulnerable to high global rice prices, especially when energy costs boost transportation costs.
Six months into GOANA, the Ministry of Agriculture predicts a harvest of 1.8 million tons of cereal—a 136 percent increase over last year’s yields—700,000 tons of millet, 500,000 tons of maize and 380,000 tons of non-irrigated rice in 2008.
Thousands of supporters, farmers and members of agricultural organizations gathered opposite the presidential palace in Dakar October 27 to showcase harvests of peanuts, fonio, rice, millet, bananas and vegetables.
But according to the IRIN report, good rains may have had more to do with the higher yields than the government subsidized seeds or farm equipment that some farmers say didn’t reach them until past the planting season.
Still, it is a good start to the President’s worthy effort.
“The Grand Agricultural Offensive for Food Security” or GOANA, was launched by President Wade in May 2008. It aims for Senegal’s self-sufficiency in food production by 2015. Goals include doubling rice production, and increasing maize and manioc yields.
According to IRIN, Senegal imports 600,000 tons of rice a year, or three-quarters of the country’s food consumption, making its people vulnerable to high global rice prices, especially when energy costs boost transportation costs.
Six months into GOANA, the Ministry of Agriculture predicts a harvest of 1.8 million tons of cereal—a 136 percent increase over last year’s yields—700,000 tons of millet, 500,000 tons of maize and 380,000 tons of non-irrigated rice in 2008.
Thousands of supporters, farmers and members of agricultural organizations gathered opposite the presidential palace in Dakar October 27 to showcase harvests of peanuts, fonio, rice, millet, bananas and vegetables.
But according to the IRIN report, good rains may have had more to do with the higher yields than the government subsidized seeds or farm equipment that some farmers say didn’t reach them until past the planting season.
Still, it is a good start to the President’s worthy effort.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Report: Chinese will stay to work in Touba
"L'observateur" is reporting today that the Mourides leadership in Touba has smoothed over relations with the Chinese firm Henan, after the Chinese were reported to have stopped work for nonpayment. The multi-million dollar road and infrastructure work to be done by the Chinese in and around Touba will continue... El Hadji Ndiaye, the "right arm" of the Khalif General of the Mourides, is quoted as saying that the Chinese will continue the work although behind in payments to the tune of 9 billion CFA franc ($20.3 million)... The "L'observateur" report also indicates that 60 of the 80 Chinese who were working on the Touba projects are no longer there... About half the 115 kilometers of roadwork committed to the Chinese has been done, according to the report. Meanwhile, the balance of the five-year project, at about 20 billion CFA franc per year, will continue, insists the Khalif. The work includes sanitation and other infrastructure, besides the road work.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Toward a solar powered Senegal?
This from the U.N., seeking to promote solar energy:
DAKAR, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Investing in solar energy could bring electricity to millions of Senegalese, significantly reduce electricity bills in the long term, and attract millions of dollars in development funding under the UN-brokered Clean Development Mechanism, says the UN, but only if investors step in.
Spiralling fuel costs, with oil prices at US$90 a barrel increase the urgency to go solar. “If you reduce these [fuel] oil import costs,” said Nick Nuttall, spokesperson for the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, “it will do a tremendous amount to save money for government investment in schools, hospitals and other development activities to help the poor.”
Just one in four Senegalese has access to mains electricity, according to the UN, and the national electricity company, Senelec, struggles to meet even this demand.
Faced with a five-fold increase in its fuel bill between 2005 and 2008, Louis Seck, head of Senegal’s Renewable Energy Department, said Senegal not only wants to, but must now invest in renewables.
Senegal, like many of its Sahelian neighbours, gets 3,000 hours of sunshine a year at an intensity of 5.8 Watt hours per square metre (Wh/m2) per day. Solar power stations can be set up on uncultivable land, making Senegal “an ideal location for solar energy development”, said Nuttall.
Abdoulaye Fall, head of environmental quality and safety at the National Confederation of Employers in Senegal (CNES), said solar power could save money in the long term. While it currently costs about US$18.40 to produce one kilowatt hour of electricity using diesel, according to Seck, energy created at giant solar power plants could cost as little as half of this.
There are environmental and health benefits to solar energy, according to German aid agency GTZ. On top of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions it would make rural Senegalese, almost all of whom use firewood or charcoal for cooking, less dependent on these “dirty fuels” which can lead to respiratory diseases, a cause of infant mortality.
Moreover, the carbon emissions market makes investing in solar power a draw for wider sustainable development projects. Senegal hosted Africa’s first carbon forum in September 2008 hoping to attract investors seeking a higher greenhouse emission allowance than permitted by the Kyoto Protocol to fund renewable energy projects in Senegal as part of the Clean Development Mechanism. At the end of the week-long forum, 25 projects had found funders.
GTZ is working with the Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification (ASER) to provide villages with photovoltaic panels, aiming to bring electricity to 60 percent of the targeted populations within three years.
But only one renewable energy scheme of any size exists in Senegal: an HEP station at the Manantali dam on the River Senegal, which has been supplying power to Senegal, Mali and Mauritania since 2002.
To set up more schemes of this size the government needs more cash. It has not been easy to attract private investors at anywhere near a large enough scale, according to the CNES’s Fall, because Senegal is still seen to be a risky place to invest, and the government provides little to no information for investors on risks and opportunities, he said.
GTZ coordinator Mansour Assani Dahouenon agreed. “The challenges for investors in renewable energies are the lack of a regulatory framework, and of incentives to investors,” he said.
Legislators from across West Africa came together in Ghana in late September 2008 to urge regional leaders to form a West African Renewable Energy Community to promote renewable energy projects. They also agreed to push leaders across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to pass stronger laws to protect investors in renewable energy schemes.
Fall suggests in the meantime the Senegalese government should form a public-private partnership agency to regulate the renewable energies market, and should agree to back up big financing projects to reassure investors. Only then, he says, will solar power be affordable on a mass scale.
DAKAR, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Investing in solar energy could bring electricity to millions of Senegalese, significantly reduce electricity bills in the long term, and attract millions of dollars in development funding under the UN-brokered Clean Development Mechanism, says the UN, but only if investors step in.
Spiralling fuel costs, with oil prices at US$90 a barrel increase the urgency to go solar. “If you reduce these [fuel] oil import costs,” said Nick Nuttall, spokesperson for the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, “it will do a tremendous amount to save money for government investment in schools, hospitals and other development activities to help the poor.”
Just one in four Senegalese has access to mains electricity, according to the UN, and the national electricity company, Senelec, struggles to meet even this demand.
Faced with a five-fold increase in its fuel bill between 2005 and 2008, Louis Seck, head of Senegal’s Renewable Energy Department, said Senegal not only wants to, but must now invest in renewables.
Senegal, like many of its Sahelian neighbours, gets 3,000 hours of sunshine a year at an intensity of 5.8 Watt hours per square metre (Wh/m2) per day. Solar power stations can be set up on uncultivable land, making Senegal “an ideal location for solar energy development”, said Nuttall.
Abdoulaye Fall, head of environmental quality and safety at the National Confederation of Employers in Senegal (CNES), said solar power could save money in the long term. While it currently costs about US$18.40 to produce one kilowatt hour of electricity using diesel, according to Seck, energy created at giant solar power plants could cost as little as half of this.
There are environmental and health benefits to solar energy, according to German aid agency GTZ. On top of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions it would make rural Senegalese, almost all of whom use firewood or charcoal for cooking, less dependent on these “dirty fuels” which can lead to respiratory diseases, a cause of infant mortality.
Moreover, the carbon emissions market makes investing in solar power a draw for wider sustainable development projects. Senegal hosted Africa’s first carbon forum in September 2008 hoping to attract investors seeking a higher greenhouse emission allowance than permitted by the Kyoto Protocol to fund renewable energy projects in Senegal as part of the Clean Development Mechanism. At the end of the week-long forum, 25 projects had found funders.
GTZ is working with the Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification (ASER) to provide villages with photovoltaic panels, aiming to bring electricity to 60 percent of the targeted populations within three years.
But only one renewable energy scheme of any size exists in Senegal: an HEP station at the Manantali dam on the River Senegal, which has been supplying power to Senegal, Mali and Mauritania since 2002.
To set up more schemes of this size the government needs more cash. It has not been easy to attract private investors at anywhere near a large enough scale, according to the CNES’s Fall, because Senegal is still seen to be a risky place to invest, and the government provides little to no information for investors on risks and opportunities, he said.
GTZ coordinator Mansour Assani Dahouenon agreed. “The challenges for investors in renewable energies are the lack of a regulatory framework, and of incentives to investors,” he said.
Legislators from across West Africa came together in Ghana in late September 2008 to urge regional leaders to form a West African Renewable Energy Community to promote renewable energy projects. They also agreed to push leaders across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to pass stronger laws to protect investors in renewable energy schemes.
Fall suggests in the meantime the Senegalese government should form a public-private partnership agency to regulate the renewable energies market, and should agree to back up big financing projects to reassure investors. Only then, he says, will solar power be affordable on a mass scale.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Chinese leaving Touba?
Chinese contractors in Touba may be poised to exit. According to news reports today Henan China is due 12 billion CFA francs in receipts, wages are not being paid and Touba workers--about 250--are set to strike, and even to ransack the Chinese offices.
As noted here before, millions of dollars sent to the central government in Dakar from Touba went missing over the last year. This apparently in some significant part precipitated the Khalif of the Mourides to visit President Wade a couple months back.
The troubles of the Chinese may be elicting delight in some quarters, and moves to assume their work. But the situation does not reflect well on the ability of Touba and Senegal to utilize the capital and technical assistance of other countries. The political problems, murky finances and labor turmoil could thwart Touba's need to obtain modern infrastructure. Still, some are doubtless aware of the irony that the Chinese may be reaping what they sowed.
As noted here before, millions of dollars sent to the central government in Dakar from Touba went missing over the last year. This apparently in some significant part precipitated the Khalif of the Mourides to visit President Wade a couple months back.
The troubles of the Chinese may be elicting delight in some quarters, and moves to assume their work. But the situation does not reflect well on the ability of Touba and Senegal to utilize the capital and technical assistance of other countries. The political problems, murky finances and labor turmoil could thwart Touba's need to obtain modern infrastructure. Still, some are doubtless aware of the irony that the Chinese may be reaping what they sowed.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Touba tax base could support infrastructure
I'm wondering whether Touba organized a tax base. It will be difficult for the Holy City of the Mourides to have infrastructure and services such as garbage collection without means to identify and administer a revenue system.
In 2005, the Arizon company STC created a land management and tax support system, SIGGIL, for Touba. The system created the ability (with GIS) to create and distribute land ownership titles to over 100,000 citizens. SIGGIL enabled the local government to levy the first taxation in Touba. According to the company website (www.stchome.com):
"Scientific Technologies Corporation (STC), an Arizona corporation established in 1988, provides domain expertise and information technology solutions to address complex real world problems in community, regional, state/provincial, and national public health programs... "
According to internet reports the software was delivered. I'll follow up to see if it was implemented... Senegal sources report that the Khalif has succeeded in generating tax revenue. (See previous posts about some of those funds disappearing in Dakar)...
In 2005, the Arizon company STC created a land management and tax support system, SIGGIL, for Touba. The system created the ability (with GIS) to create and distribute land ownership titles to over 100,000 citizens. SIGGIL enabled the local government to levy the first taxation in Touba. According to the company website (www.stchome.com):
"Scientific Technologies Corporation (STC), an Arizona corporation established in 1988, provides domain expertise and information technology solutions to address complex real world problems in community, regional, state/provincial, and national public health programs... "
According to internet reports the software was delivered. I'll follow up to see if it was implemented... Senegal sources report that the Khalif has succeeded in generating tax revenue. (See previous posts about some of those funds disappearing in Dakar)...
Saturday, August 9, 2008
No wonder the Chinese aren't getting paid
The Khalif was in Dakar recently wondering where all the money from Touba disappeared to. Chinese contractors aren't going to get paid if revenues disappear after being sent to Dakar and the President Wade's central government. So now there is this revelation, from today on Independent Online:
"Dakar - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has sacked Budget Minister Ibrahima Sarr for allowing government departments to overspend by 109-billion CFA francs ($252-million), a Finance Ministry official said late on Friday.
Wade sacked a quarter of his ministers last year in a bid to cut costs in the face of a ballooning food import bill, but has been criticised by opponents for funding prestige projects such as a planned 50-metre bronze "African Renaissance" statue.
The octogenarian president signed a decree sacking Sarr late on Thursday.
The decree gave no reason for Sarr's sacking, which came just hours after Wade met resident International Monetary Fund representative Alex Segura. Details of their discussions were not made public."
"Dakar - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has sacked Budget Minister Ibrahima Sarr for allowing government departments to overspend by 109-billion CFA francs ($252-million), a Finance Ministry official said late on Friday.
Wade sacked a quarter of his ministers last year in a bid to cut costs in the face of a ballooning food import bill, but has been criticised by opponents for funding prestige projects such as a planned 50-metre bronze "African Renaissance" statue.
The octogenarian president signed a decree sacking Sarr late on Thursday.
The decree gave no reason for Sarr's sacking, which came just hours after Wade met resident International Monetary Fund representative Alex Segura. Details of their discussions were not made public."
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Meanwhile people are going hungry
Saturday, May 17, 2008
This from Reuters:
"ROME (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. food agency hit back on Thursday at criticism from the president of his home country Senegal, who has called the organisation "a bottomless pit of money largely spent on its own functioning."
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation since 1993, said the broadside from President Abdoulaye Wade was politically motivated and factually incorrect."
Diouf is actually a former Senegalese minister himself. President Wade has pushed a Senegalese agricultural self-sufficiency program, something that doesn't look to put food on Senegalese plates right away.
The Reuters story states that Senegal has one of the largest per capita food import figures. It stands to reason that skyrocking fuel prices would hit Senegal harder than most.
Between the lines we read that Wade wants food programs based in Africa where he has more control over them.
If Wade's agricultural self-sufficiency program starts to show success, maybe closer integration with world support is justified. But the UN is addressing an immediate food crisis that is giving President Wade his one of his biggest political liabilities. Not only is picking a fight to divert attention short sighted--it is below the statemanship that Wade has shown up to now.
This from Reuters:
"ROME (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. food agency hit back on Thursday at criticism from the president of his home country Senegal, who has called the organisation "a bottomless pit of money largely spent on its own functioning."
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation since 1993, said the broadside from President Abdoulaye Wade was politically motivated and factually incorrect."
Diouf is actually a former Senegalese minister himself. President Wade has pushed a Senegalese agricultural self-sufficiency program, something that doesn't look to put food on Senegalese plates right away.
The Reuters story states that Senegal has one of the largest per capita food import figures. It stands to reason that skyrocking fuel prices would hit Senegal harder than most.
Between the lines we read that Wade wants food programs based in Africa where he has more control over them.
If Wade's agricultural self-sufficiency program starts to show success, maybe closer integration with world support is justified. But the UN is addressing an immediate food crisis that is giving President Wade his one of his biggest political liabilities. Not only is picking a fight to divert attention short sighted--it is below the statemanship that Wade has shown up to now.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Of crop exports and American commerce
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Talked agricultural exports this morning at length with Professor Abdoulaya Sanokho this morning. Among the products discussed were the massive mangos grown here, baobab powder—the stuff of the delicious baobab drink I had earlier in Mbacke—and tamarind. I suggested strongly to the professor that he work to make contacts with American organic certification companies to certify Senegalese crops for export…
In the afternoon, I met with the representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce here, Steven Morrison, and his staff people, Youhanidou Wane Ba and Alosa Diop, commercial specialists. Over my lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and French fries in the U.S. embassy cafeteria, they listened patiently to my accounts of exploits in Dakar, Touba and lands beyond uncharted, while I benefited greatly from their insights into the scene here and in particular waste management. Alosa told me of an interesting Peace Corps project south of Dakar which pulls out the wastestream organics and composts them at a yard next to the centralized dump that they use. The fact that the dump is centralized may seem insignificant, but it represents a big step away from everybody dumping willy nilly at the edge of town. Tomorrow is my last full day here before returning home (sorely missed) on an early Friday a.m. flight. I will check with the Peace Corps project when I get home.
Talked agricultural exports this morning at length with Professor Abdoulaya Sanokho this morning. Among the products discussed were the massive mangos grown here, baobab powder—the stuff of the delicious baobab drink I had earlier in Mbacke—and tamarind. I suggested strongly to the professor that he work to make contacts with American organic certification companies to certify Senegalese crops for export…
In the afternoon, I met with the representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce here, Steven Morrison, and his staff people, Youhanidou Wane Ba and Alosa Diop, commercial specialists. Over my lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and French fries in the U.S. embassy cafeteria, they listened patiently to my accounts of exploits in Dakar, Touba and lands beyond uncharted, while I benefited greatly from their insights into the scene here and in particular waste management. Alosa told me of an interesting Peace Corps project south of Dakar which pulls out the wastestream organics and composts them at a yard next to the centralized dump that they use. The fact that the dump is centralized may seem insignificant, but it represents a big step away from everybody dumping willy nilly at the edge of town. Tomorrow is my last full day here before returning home (sorely missed) on an early Friday a.m. flight. I will check with the Peace Corps project when I get home.
Dakar's mysterious disappearing waste management
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I came here interested in ventures/collaborations/projects involving solid waste management in Senegal. From my advance research on the subject, a mystery remained about the fate of the AMA project here. The multi-million dollar, 25-year AMA project, the World Bank’s most significant waste management project in Africa, started with competitive bidding four or five years ago. The Italian company AMA won the contract to collect the entire Dakar region, build a transfer station and develop a landfill to replace the out-of-control, polluting Mbeubeus dump. But suddenly after the contract had been implemented for a couple year, the project simply ended. The government stopped payments on its contract, and presumably the bank loan. It was never clear why. Today I spoke with Christian Diou, the World Bank’s infrastructure manager for Dakar. He gave the bank’s understanding of the project breakdown—they don’t know either. Not much more than a year ago, he says, the government simply pulled its payments and terminated the contract. The garbage trucks and facility plans were stopped in their tracks. There was no explanation given by the Ministry of Environment which handled the contract. However, my Senegalese sources, and hints from the internet, indicate that the problem had something to do with labor; that unions formed of the waste workers hired by AMA made unmet demands. Nor should it go unnoticed that once the AMA contract was breached, the French firm, Veolia, moved in to manage the easy collection in downtown Dakar… Perhaps here as in California garbage, like politics, is always local. (Or maybe that French sense of the colonial “droit de seigneur” asserting itself under the table.) Since the AMA meltdown, the central government, says Mr. Diou, has enacted the devolution of waste management authority to the local “commune” governments of Dakar and nearby Rufisque. Those two communes are working together loosely to handle or contract waste collection and management. The result is apparently a patchwork of waste management that the central government has left (perhaps consciously) little understood or known…
Earlier in the day we met with the Ministry of Environment. After first greeting the minister himself, he passed us off to his sub-minister with the garbage portfolio. The one clear message I got from the minister himself was that Mbeubeus must close. Later today I learned from Mr. Diou why the government is so decided to get rid of Mbeubeus—the huge dump is smack in the way of the showcase coastal highway that is the Wade administration’s highest priority public project. The Mbeubeus closure is one waste project that the World Bank and the Senegal government can both get behind, says M. Diou, and the bank will help fund those efforts. But I got the strong impression that further World Bank involvement in waste collection and management here is unlikely—once burned as they were.
I came here interested in ventures/collaborations/projects involving solid waste management in Senegal. From my advance research on the subject, a mystery remained about the fate of the AMA project here. The multi-million dollar, 25-year AMA project, the World Bank’s most significant waste management project in Africa, started with competitive bidding four or five years ago. The Italian company AMA won the contract to collect the entire Dakar region, build a transfer station and develop a landfill to replace the out-of-control, polluting Mbeubeus dump. But suddenly after the contract had been implemented for a couple year, the project simply ended. The government stopped payments on its contract, and presumably the bank loan. It was never clear why. Today I spoke with Christian Diou, the World Bank’s infrastructure manager for Dakar. He gave the bank’s understanding of the project breakdown—they don’t know either. Not much more than a year ago, he says, the government simply pulled its payments and terminated the contract. The garbage trucks and facility plans were stopped in their tracks. There was no explanation given by the Ministry of Environment which handled the contract. However, my Senegalese sources, and hints from the internet, indicate that the problem had something to do with labor; that unions formed of the waste workers hired by AMA made unmet demands. Nor should it go unnoticed that once the AMA contract was breached, the French firm, Veolia, moved in to manage the easy collection in downtown Dakar… Perhaps here as in California garbage, like politics, is always local. (Or maybe that French sense of the colonial “droit de seigneur” asserting itself under the table.) Since the AMA meltdown, the central government, says Mr. Diou, has enacted the devolution of waste management authority to the local “commune” governments of Dakar and nearby Rufisque. Those two communes are working together loosely to handle or contract waste collection and management. The result is apparently a patchwork of waste management that the central government has left (perhaps consciously) little understood or known…
Earlier in the day we met with the Ministry of Environment. After first greeting the minister himself, he passed us off to his sub-minister with the garbage portfolio. The one clear message I got from the minister himself was that Mbeubeus must close. Later today I learned from Mr. Diou why the government is so decided to get rid of Mbeubeus—the huge dump is smack in the way of the showcase coastal highway that is the Wade administration’s highest priority public project. The Mbeubeus closure is one waste project that the World Bank and the Senegal government can both get behind, says M. Diou, and the bank will help fund those efforts. But I got the strong impression that further World Bank involvement in waste collection and management here is unlikely—once burned as they were.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Initiative and help from the Ultimate Inertia
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hanging around Le Baol this morning, I met an Iranian engineer. He is one of seven working on electrical projects in Theis, Koacola and Touba. Nice fellow. He wanted to get a picture, just as I did. So we exchanged shots and handshakes. It would be interesting to try to put together a U.S.-Iranian project in Senegal…
When Mamemor finally sent a taxi for lunch, I started meeting more of his relatives at Soda’s. “Roots,” in French, was on the television while we talked. Mamemor harangued his young nephews Mustapha and Abdul about how they were dictators and how they just wanted to use other people, while unwilling to work themselves. They had long discussions about self-reliance and the original Mourides values of work, equality and solidarity. Mamemor is very anti-clerical, anti-marabout. He feels many Mourides have strayed far from Bamba’s original teachings. When we went to the market, he complained about all the men sitting around “in their pajamas” all day.
…With all the free time I’ve been having it feels like I’m going native myself. I’m forced to spend time just sitting and looking around. It makes me realize the degree of inertia we Americans push against every day. We cut through it so naturally, most of us don’t even realize we are doing it… Here in Senegal you feel the weight of a motionless force. There is no plan that can be laid, no foundation placed, nothing that can be done about anything outside you—except to pay a constant fealty to the Ultimate Inertia. That seems to be much of the worship here; they praise with a concession to hopelessness… Americans pray with a belief in the Great Plan; faith that we can strive to the image of perfection. One God certainly; but two fashions of devotion…
Hanging around Le Baol this morning, I met an Iranian engineer. He is one of seven working on electrical projects in Theis, Koacola and Touba. Nice fellow. He wanted to get a picture, just as I did. So we exchanged shots and handshakes. It would be interesting to try to put together a U.S.-Iranian project in Senegal…
When Mamemor finally sent a taxi for lunch, I started meeting more of his relatives at Soda’s. “Roots,” in French, was on the television while we talked. Mamemor harangued his young nephews Mustapha and Abdul about how they were dictators and how they just wanted to use other people, while unwilling to work themselves. They had long discussions about self-reliance and the original Mourides values of work, equality and solidarity. Mamemor is very anti-clerical, anti-marabout. He feels many Mourides have strayed far from Bamba’s original teachings. When we went to the market, he complained about all the men sitting around “in their pajamas” all day.
…With all the free time I’ve been having it feels like I’m going native myself. I’m forced to spend time just sitting and looking around. It makes me realize the degree of inertia we Americans push against every day. We cut through it so naturally, most of us don’t even realize we are doing it… Here in Senegal you feel the weight of a motionless force. There is no plan that can be laid, no foundation placed, nothing that can be done about anything outside you—except to pay a constant fealty to the Ultimate Inertia. That seems to be much of the worship here; they praise with a concession to hopelessness… Americans pray with a belief in the Great Plan; faith that we can strive to the image of perfection. One God certainly; but two fashions of devotion…
Sunday, April 20, 2008
My "Visit Senegal" recommendations
Friday, April 18, 2008
We sat tonight under a full moon in the courtyard of Mamemor’s mother’s compound. Later we walked by the Mbacke family mosque, the towers glowing under the moonlight. A side street along the way was filled with drum-driven singing, and I could see the people filling the street dancing in the Senegalese fashion, wide aggressive stepping punctuated with wild rhythmic arm waving and body movements. At one point much of the group danced in loose unison in a single direction to the beat… It’s Friday and drumming, loudspeakers and crowds were fairly commonplace, although I have avoided the gatherings. But when Mamemor mentioned that the group dancing in the street was Baye Fall, I asked excitedly about going over to watch. “No, you don’t want to do that,” he said. “Those kids can get crazy.”
With our plans for Saint Louis abandoned due to delays leaving, I settled back comfortably in Le Baol, attended to very well by the hotel manager “C.D.”. The baol are fashioned after the thatch bungalows inhabited by the rural, pastoral Senegalese…
Tourism came up repeatedly today. The hotel’s owner, M. Mbaye, is a friend of Mamemor’s. I was introduced and caught pieces of their conversation about M. Mbaye’s efforts to promote Senegal tourism. Mamemor’s concerns about the conflicts between the religious population here and the values of tourists came up. Later, this evening, while sitting with Mamemor’s family under the moon, with a perfect cooling breeze keeping away the mosquitoes, while drinking the delicious, milkshake-like juice of the baobab tree, the conversation turned to what-should-be Senegal’s appeal to tourists—the beaches, the welcoming, smiling people, the culture. The main obstacles, I commented, seem to be two: promotion and garbage. Some Americans, well-traveled or curious like my friend Ron, know of Senegal and its culture, usually through the music. But a mass-media Senegal tourism promotion campaign in the States is needed to change the common American misperceptions of Africa, especially of Muslim Africa. I think African-Americans would especially enjoy Senegal. Mamemor doesn’t think so; he thinks they are even more wary of Africa than most Americans—“they want to go to Europe like everybody else.” Maybe, maybe not…
The garbage is another matter. The beauty of the beaches is utterly ruined by the garbage. A person’s first impression of the town of Diourbel is the sea of garbage strewn at its gateway. The Dakar golf course at Technopol will never be what it could when ringed by a wall of garbage. If American tourists came here, the garbage would unfortunately confirm the pre-impressions of backwardness and poor services.
So—a “visit Senegal” ad campaign, clean up the garbage—viola, a multi-million-dollar tourism industry. And one more thing: wireless modems. The tourism ministry would do well to ship in a few containers of Linksys wireless modems to distribute and install in all the hotels. And keep the DSL up!
We sat tonight under a full moon in the courtyard of Mamemor’s mother’s compound. Later we walked by the Mbacke family mosque, the towers glowing under the moonlight. A side street along the way was filled with drum-driven singing, and I could see the people filling the street dancing in the Senegalese fashion, wide aggressive stepping punctuated with wild rhythmic arm waving and body movements. At one point much of the group danced in loose unison in a single direction to the beat… It’s Friday and drumming, loudspeakers and crowds were fairly commonplace, although I have avoided the gatherings. But when Mamemor mentioned that the group dancing in the street was Baye Fall, I asked excitedly about going over to watch. “No, you don’t want to do that,” he said. “Those kids can get crazy.”
With our plans for Saint Louis abandoned due to delays leaving, I settled back comfortably in Le Baol, attended to very well by the hotel manager “C.D.”. The baol are fashioned after the thatch bungalows inhabited by the rural, pastoral Senegalese…
Tourism came up repeatedly today. The hotel’s owner, M. Mbaye, is a friend of Mamemor’s. I was introduced and caught pieces of their conversation about M. Mbaye’s efforts to promote Senegal tourism. Mamemor’s concerns about the conflicts between the religious population here and the values of tourists came up. Later, this evening, while sitting with Mamemor’s family under the moon, with a perfect cooling breeze keeping away the mosquitoes, while drinking the delicious, milkshake-like juice of the baobab tree, the conversation turned to what-should-be Senegal’s appeal to tourists—the beaches, the welcoming, smiling people, the culture. The main obstacles, I commented, seem to be two: promotion and garbage. Some Americans, well-traveled or curious like my friend Ron, know of Senegal and its culture, usually through the music. But a mass-media Senegal tourism promotion campaign in the States is needed to change the common American misperceptions of Africa, especially of Muslim Africa. I think African-Americans would especially enjoy Senegal. Mamemor doesn’t think so; he thinks they are even more wary of Africa than most Americans—“they want to go to Europe like everybody else.” Maybe, maybe not…
The garbage is another matter. The beauty of the beaches is utterly ruined by the garbage. A person’s first impression of the town of Diourbel is the sea of garbage strewn at its gateway. The Dakar golf course at Technopol will never be what it could when ringed by a wall of garbage. If American tourists came here, the garbage would unfortunately confirm the pre-impressions of backwardness and poor services.
So—a “visit Senegal” ad campaign, clean up the garbage—viola, a multi-million-dollar tourism industry. And one more thing: wireless modems. The tourism ministry would do well to ship in a few containers of Linksys wireless modems to distribute and install in all the hotels. And keep the DSL up!
Friday, April 18, 2008
I meet the Khalif
Thursday, April 17, 2008
We saw the Khalif today—what an intense experience! …For the second day, there has been no ADSL to connect to the internet throughout the area. Apparently the problem is with the phone system Sonatel—not a good reflection on the infrastructure. While going into town to check the connection at the cybercafé I had the good luck to find one of the commune’s garbage trucks and to speak with its crew. I found out that the commune operates four trucks, one of them apparently a packer. The small donkey carts bring much of the waste to the trucks. They then go to a dump. Mustafa found out from them where the dump is and we will go there another time… But first we had to get to Touba because, as I found, seeing the Khalif is not just making an appointment… I had thought to wear the grand bou-bou that I had purchased from Soda’s nephew yesterday. But Mamemor said that I might look too much like one of the hippies that hang out around the Grand Mosque smoking pot, and often wearing Baye Fall bou-bous. His general thought was that if I was there as an American businessman, I should look like one. Thus attired, we headed for Touba…
Touba is much as I expected—sprawling with many newer improvements, as much of the growth of the city has occurred in recent years. The City Hall looked new and modern. There is plenty of capital sent here from abroad, both from ex-patriot Mourides and foreign governments, especially the Chinese. There are a noticeably higher proportion of Mercedes cars in Touba… We only had time to drive around the Grand Mosque before heading to the Khalif’s compound.
Once at the Khalif’s compound it was apparent that I wasn’t the only one wanting to see the Khalif… The Khalif is like the Pope to the Mourides, and so, like Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, you will find crowds of the faithful there to see the Khalif, staged in various rooms, with the place permeated by the constant sing-shouting of Islamic praying. One of the main rooms was full of women and children. There was a courtyard with classes of schoolchildren. At one point we were staged in a room full of men of some apparent significance sitting around on the floor. As we wound our way here and there, various people would come to bring us another step closer. Mamemor’s friend the albino seemed to have quite a bit of pull, and he had others working the system to advance me. The maneuvering became much more intense once we got in the room where the Khalif was sitting. I moved seat-by-seat closer to the end of the room where he sat. The closer I got, the more intense was the jostling. The room was not large, maybe 20 feet by 40 feet, if that. The seats were along one side. As a Westerner I think it was expected that I sat in the seats. I was waved to one of the seats closest to those pushing and shoving to see the Khalif. I had to be careful; one man stumbling back clipped me in the throat with his hand. I started to worry about banging my still-vulnerable jaw. A noisy anxious babble was constant. I couldn’t see the Khalif from where I was sitting… This was actually a quiet day; the weekends are much worse… Soon we got the wave from somebody up by the Khalif. As I now know there are plenty of plain-clothes soldiers, government informants and watchful, if not envious, eyes around always. A little more jostling and I was put in the one chair next to the Khalif. He gave some recognition that I was there but still had to heed those others in front of him clawing for blessing and recognition. Every so often he would give a blessing, writing something with his finger in the palms placed up before him, and (as I found out later) spraying a little spittle which the believers immediately wiped on their forehead. This went on for awhile and then Mamemor got his attention. The Khalif is elderly, wearing a blue knit hat. We had a pleasant exchange with the Khalif about what I could do for Senegal and what he could do to help. I remember at one point it got very quiet—the whole place. I’m not sure why; the discussion wasn’t especially significant at that point. It was sort of eerie. The commotion renewed shortly… The Khalif will review my information and indicated that we would talk again soon, with less distraction…
At the conclusion of our talk, I asked for the Khalif’s blessing. He gave the very slightest smile of surprise, but readily wrote on my palm with his finger; Mamemor quickly translated: “May you find God in Touba. There is only one God, not two.” I felt the faint spray of the spittle and wiped it on my forehead…
It looks like I am at the hotel here in Mbacke again tonight. The toilet in the other room didn’t work, so I have another room. The toilet works fine. We had lunch at Mamemor’s mom’s. Café Touba at Soda’s and I will go back to mom’s for dinner soon… I am somewhat homesick; halfway through my trip. I think it best to hang out here for tomorrow. Maybe head back to Dakar via Petit Cote Saturday to get ready for the business week next…
We saw the Khalif today—what an intense experience! …For the second day, there has been no ADSL to connect to the internet throughout the area. Apparently the problem is with the phone system Sonatel—not a good reflection on the infrastructure. While going into town to check the connection at the cybercafé I had the good luck to find one of the commune’s garbage trucks and to speak with its crew. I found out that the commune operates four trucks, one of them apparently a packer. The small donkey carts bring much of the waste to the trucks. They then go to a dump. Mustafa found out from them where the dump is and we will go there another time… But first we had to get to Touba because, as I found, seeing the Khalif is not just making an appointment… I had thought to wear the grand bou-bou that I had purchased from Soda’s nephew yesterday. But Mamemor said that I might look too much like one of the hippies that hang out around the Grand Mosque smoking pot, and often wearing Baye Fall bou-bous. His general thought was that if I was there as an American businessman, I should look like one. Thus attired, we headed for Touba…
Touba is much as I expected—sprawling with many newer improvements, as much of the growth of the city has occurred in recent years. The City Hall looked new and modern. There is plenty of capital sent here from abroad, both from ex-patriot Mourides and foreign governments, especially the Chinese. There are a noticeably higher proportion of Mercedes cars in Touba… We only had time to drive around the Grand Mosque before heading to the Khalif’s compound.
Once at the Khalif’s compound it was apparent that I wasn’t the only one wanting to see the Khalif… The Khalif is like the Pope to the Mourides, and so, like Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, you will find crowds of the faithful there to see the Khalif, staged in various rooms, with the place permeated by the constant sing-shouting of Islamic praying. One of the main rooms was full of women and children. There was a courtyard with classes of schoolchildren. At one point we were staged in a room full of men of some apparent significance sitting around on the floor. As we wound our way here and there, various people would come to bring us another step closer. Mamemor’s friend the albino seemed to have quite a bit of pull, and he had others working the system to advance me. The maneuvering became much more intense once we got in the room where the Khalif was sitting. I moved seat-by-seat closer to the end of the room where he sat. The closer I got, the more intense was the jostling. The room was not large, maybe 20 feet by 40 feet, if that. The seats were along one side. As a Westerner I think it was expected that I sat in the seats. I was waved to one of the seats closest to those pushing and shoving to see the Khalif. I had to be careful; one man stumbling back clipped me in the throat with his hand. I started to worry about banging my still-vulnerable jaw. A noisy anxious babble was constant. I couldn’t see the Khalif from where I was sitting… This was actually a quiet day; the weekends are much worse… Soon we got the wave from somebody up by the Khalif. As I now know there are plenty of plain-clothes soldiers, government informants and watchful, if not envious, eyes around always. A little more jostling and I was put in the one chair next to the Khalif. He gave some recognition that I was there but still had to heed those others in front of him clawing for blessing and recognition. Every so often he would give a blessing, writing something with his finger in the palms placed up before him, and (as I found out later) spraying a little spittle which the believers immediately wiped on their forehead. This went on for awhile and then Mamemor got his attention. The Khalif is elderly, wearing a blue knit hat. We had a pleasant exchange with the Khalif about what I could do for Senegal and what he could do to help. I remember at one point it got very quiet—the whole place. I’m not sure why; the discussion wasn’t especially significant at that point. It was sort of eerie. The commotion renewed shortly… The Khalif will review my information and indicated that we would talk again soon, with less distraction…
At the conclusion of our talk, I asked for the Khalif’s blessing. He gave the very slightest smile of surprise, but readily wrote on my palm with his finger; Mamemor quickly translated: “May you find God in Touba. There is only one God, not two.” I felt the faint spray of the spittle and wiped it on my forehead…
It looks like I am at the hotel here in Mbacke again tonight. The toilet in the other room didn’t work, so I have another room. The toilet works fine. We had lunch at Mamemor’s mom’s. Café Touba at Soda’s and I will go back to mom’s for dinner soon… I am somewhat homesick; halfway through my trip. I think it best to hang out here for tomorrow. Maybe head back to Dakar via Petit Cote Saturday to get ready for the business week next…
Inland via the massive Mbeubeus dump
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Early start to beat the traffic out of Dakar; headed straight for the Mbeubeus (“m-boob-us”) dump/landfill, we decided to skip Saint Louis and head for Touba direct therefrom…
Mbeubeus was all that I had heard—a smoking hell hole, with those making a hellish existence from its dregs. The fellow working his smouldering hole to screen out the metal was a disturbing image, then again maybe it’s just a black-and-white version of Voltaire’s garden. Maybe that’s why they have resisted the government’s attempts to relocate their livelihood. But the reasons why it just can’t work are growing all around the dump. We cruised the area a little and I saw gardeners carrying their metal watering cans up from the groundwater springs to water beautifully green gardens. Maybe the gardens will need to be closed instead of the dump?
I still have quite a few questions about the dump that will require follow up. I didn’t get any means to conduct even an eyeball survey of what was coming in and where it came from. The only trucks I saw on the road in or out were a couple very, very full top load trucks, a hundred or more cubic yards each. I had understood that Canadian or some other researchers were at the landfill but we didn’t try any advance contact and couldn’t find visual directions once there.
The road to Touba was nice. I loved the rural sights, such as the thatched compounds. But there is garbage dumping in large areas blighting that view. Goats can always been seen grazing on a field of garbage. It occurred to me at a point: what would happen if they didn’t have the garbage? Would their livelihood be threatened just like the Mbeubeus scavengers? Almost half of the goats, sheep, and other livestock in Senegal already starve to death.
Theis and Diourbel were nice towns. Diourbel is pretty sleepy; evidently being overshadowed by Mbacke and Touba. Actually Touba is apparently drawing the attention and activity from Mbacke, too… We got to Mbacke about 12:30—it really didn’t take long from Dakar; the road is good. I settled in to a great hotel here with stucco bungalows that look like the circular thatched homes of the rural dwellers. The personnel here are very nice and real. Then we hung out with Mamemor’s extended family. His mom and aunt made lunch. I bought a Baye Fall bou-bou that his nephew made. I met others while we drank lots of café Touba, the strong, sweet dark roast coffee, spiced with diar (“jar”). Before that, while napping at Mamemor’s mom’s place, I caught the Pope’s arrival in the U.S. on CNN; I tried to ignore the silly tired comments that American Catholics are “diverse.” If they were so diverse they wouldn’t be Catholics; nobody is forcing them…
Mustafa and Mamemor’s nephew Mustafa drove me around Mbacke looking at all the garbage around the town… Then back to the hotel. Mamemor brought a fantastic salad, chicken and rice dinner made by his folks before bed. Tomorrow we go into Touba and hopefully meet the Halif (religious leader of the Mourides)…
Early start to beat the traffic out of Dakar; headed straight for the Mbeubeus (“m-boob-us”) dump/landfill, we decided to skip Saint Louis and head for Touba direct therefrom…
Mbeubeus was all that I had heard—a smoking hell hole, with those making a hellish existence from its dregs. The fellow working his smouldering hole to screen out the metal was a disturbing image, then again maybe it’s just a black-and-white version of Voltaire’s garden. Maybe that’s why they have resisted the government’s attempts to relocate their livelihood. But the reasons why it just can’t work are growing all around the dump. We cruised the area a little and I saw gardeners carrying their metal watering cans up from the groundwater springs to water beautifully green gardens. Maybe the gardens will need to be closed instead of the dump?
I still have quite a few questions about the dump that will require follow up. I didn’t get any means to conduct even an eyeball survey of what was coming in and where it came from. The only trucks I saw on the road in or out were a couple very, very full top load trucks, a hundred or more cubic yards each. I had understood that Canadian or some other researchers were at the landfill but we didn’t try any advance contact and couldn’t find visual directions once there.
The road to Touba was nice. I loved the rural sights, such as the thatched compounds. But there is garbage dumping in large areas blighting that view. Goats can always been seen grazing on a field of garbage. It occurred to me at a point: what would happen if they didn’t have the garbage? Would their livelihood be threatened just like the Mbeubeus scavengers? Almost half of the goats, sheep, and other livestock in Senegal already starve to death.
Theis and Diourbel were nice towns. Diourbel is pretty sleepy; evidently being overshadowed by Mbacke and Touba. Actually Touba is apparently drawing the attention and activity from Mbacke, too… We got to Mbacke about 12:30—it really didn’t take long from Dakar; the road is good. I settled in to a great hotel here with stucco bungalows that look like the circular thatched homes of the rural dwellers. The personnel here are very nice and real. Then we hung out with Mamemor’s extended family. His mom and aunt made lunch. I bought a Baye Fall bou-bou that his nephew made. I met others while we drank lots of café Touba, the strong, sweet dark roast coffee, spiced with diar (“jar”). Before that, while napping at Mamemor’s mom’s place, I caught the Pope’s arrival in the U.S. on CNN; I tried to ignore the silly tired comments that American Catholics are “diverse.” If they were so diverse they wouldn’t be Catholics; nobody is forcing them…
Mustafa and Mamemor’s nephew Mustafa drove me around Mbacke looking at all the garbage around the town… Then back to the hotel. Mamemor brought a fantastic salad, chicken and rice dinner made by his folks before bed. Tomorrow we go into Touba and hopefully meet the Halif (religious leader of the Mourides)…
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The cost of Senegal's garbage
I saw firsthand today how the garbage problem is undermining Senegal’s economic prosperity. Piles of garbage have been thrown over the ridge above the Technopol development area, which is also a very beautiful wetland preserve of hundreds of acres, also the site of the new but sorely undeveloped Dakar golf course…
I left the President Meridian this morning after a brief but fascinating talk with Heinz about nuclear power—just recently pushed by both America’s and Senegal’s presidents—as a solution to global warming, with the probably insurmountable concerns which would have to be addressed by global cooperation: safe operation, political questions of stability and terrorism threat, fuel for arms, nuclear waste management, etc… I left the President to begin our travels through the Senegalese hinterlands—to Touba and land beyond uncharted. I will miss the cosmopolitan excitement there. But before heading out tomorrow, we saw the city water treatment facility near the Technopol site, surrounded by lush plant nurseries. Then we drove above the palm trees and wetlands to see children playing in garbage covering, almost entirely, the ridges around the site. We saw further health concerns at the nearby street food market where reeking garbage piles sit uncollected next to the food vendors. Tomorrow we will stop at the country’s one landfill which, as I understand, is surrounded by choleric vegetable gardens… M. Libasse dreams of cleaning up the hillside around Technopol and using the treated water to finish the golf grass. Something has to start somewhere…
I left the President Meridian this morning after a brief but fascinating talk with Heinz about nuclear power—just recently pushed by both America’s and Senegal’s presidents—as a solution to global warming, with the probably insurmountable concerns which would have to be addressed by global cooperation: safe operation, political questions of stability and terrorism threat, fuel for arms, nuclear waste management, etc… I left the President to begin our travels through the Senegalese hinterlands—to Touba and land beyond uncharted. I will miss the cosmopolitan excitement there. But before heading out tomorrow, we saw the city water treatment facility near the Technopol site, surrounded by lush plant nurseries. Then we drove above the palm trees and wetlands to see children playing in garbage covering, almost entirely, the ridges around the site. We saw further health concerns at the nearby street food market where reeking garbage piles sit uncollected next to the food vendors. Tomorrow we will stop at the country’s one landfill which, as I understand, is surrounded by choleric vegetable gardens… M. Libasse dreams of cleaning up the hillside around Technopol and using the treated water to finish the golf grass. Something has to start somewhere…
Monday, April 14, 2008
A busy day of business
Monday, April 14, 2008
Started with coffee in the shop downstairs at the President. Had the luck to be invited to sit with Heinz Leuenberger, director of the environmental management branch of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, based now in Vienna. We had, for me, a very fascinating discussion of international developments, from the changes in Vienna since the opening of East Europe (and the amazing speed with which it has reassumed its role as a cultural capital—Hapsburgs redux), to the looming clash between Russia and China over Eastern Russia, where energy resources, space and cultural affinities may be too great for China to resist. Heinz is here for the big renewable energy conference being held at the hotel all this week…
Mustafa, our driver, was there to take me just as I finished coffee. I made the mistake of leaving my jacket which made Mamemor very unhappy with me, because we were going to meet bankers with some other prospective Senegalese associates. Specifically we met with the charming Oumy Bar Diouf, a “chef d’agence” of Ecobank. The bank, active throughout West Africa, is very interested in expanding its portfolio in the works that we are planning. I believe that I effectively conveyed the applicable principles of non-recourse project financing and available American guarantees. I think she was jazzed. We discussed their loan approval process and possible strategic alliance; I promised to get back to speak with her after doing my informal field analysis and before returning home… We then visited the factory of our associate Mr. Ndiaye, near the oil refinery. I was somewhat disturbed by the lack of worker safety assurance. Mamemor and I later talked at length about how to assure improvements in that aspect for our projects…
Afterwards we met with M. Libasse Niang at his bureau to prepare for our meeting with the minister of agricultural development downtown. The government has an aggressive policy to expand agriculture, recognizing the opportunity to relieve urban overcrowding and promote the economy and welfare of the people at the same time. The downtown this afternoon was busy and active, but we had to cool our heels for a good couple hours before the minister and two of his staff could see us. The minister himself had to beg off early for a meeting with an important Saudi… We all agreed that in the end the meeting was productive; the staff people promising full support for the Cap International project. But it took them a while to understand that this was a private project (which they say they never see) which would ultimately get private, albeit guaranteed, financing—not a handout, not a “gift” from the Saudis or any others, rather a plan to put agriculture in place. Fortunately we had the redoubtable M. Libasse to convey our plans. I have seen many a smooth lobbyist in my day—they are born not made: an engineering contractor by training, M. Libasse is a born lobbyist…
After dropping everybody back at M. Libasse’s bureau, Mamemor and I headed back toward the hotel. We stopped on the way to the restaurant we had been to on Saturday for breakfast; they wouldn’t let Mamemor bring in his own bottled water, so he insisting on leaving. On the way out there were soldiers along the road by the car and the road, usually crowded, was suddenly deserted. Mamemor called it: “the President is probably coming.” And indeed he did with motorcycle cops, sirens, SUVs and limos screaming by. Maybe going to the airport I said. Maybe the President was going to the President hotel, said Mamemor and again he called it exactly. By the time we got to the hotel they were all there, with the presidential guard. I got myself in a picture with one of them—very good uniforms. President Wade ducked out very shortly before we could see him, but Mamemor spotted Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, the minister of foreign affairs (our Secretary of State). He is very important—Mamemor and I had just been speaking on the way to the hotel of the Senegalese government’s growing importance on the world stage, as not just the broker of West African development (witness the assumption of the trial of the ex-Congo president), but even in matters as paramount as Iranian-American relations (vis President Wade’s meeting with Ahmadinejad this weekend. That said, Dr. Gadio was very accessible and friendly; he had studied in America and spoke English fluently, and as clear evidence of his civility—he let me have a picture with him. Afterwards with Mamemor, I found the restaurant down by the waterfront that I didn’t know about—incredible setting, pricey but worth-it buffet. In the elevator up to the room, I saw Heinz again; he says the President and Senegalese top officials will be speaking at the conference this week… All-in-all a fantastic day and productive day…
Started with coffee in the shop downstairs at the President. Had the luck to be invited to sit with Heinz Leuenberger, director of the environmental management branch of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, based now in Vienna. We had, for me, a very fascinating discussion of international developments, from the changes in Vienna since the opening of East Europe (and the amazing speed with which it has reassumed its role as a cultural capital—Hapsburgs redux), to the looming clash between Russia and China over Eastern Russia, where energy resources, space and cultural affinities may be too great for China to resist. Heinz is here for the big renewable energy conference being held at the hotel all this week…
Mustafa, our driver, was there to take me just as I finished coffee. I made the mistake of leaving my jacket which made Mamemor very unhappy with me, because we were going to meet bankers with some other prospective Senegalese associates. Specifically we met with the charming Oumy Bar Diouf, a “chef d’agence” of Ecobank. The bank, active throughout West Africa, is very interested in expanding its portfolio in the works that we are planning. I believe that I effectively conveyed the applicable principles of non-recourse project financing and available American guarantees. I think she was jazzed. We discussed their loan approval process and possible strategic alliance; I promised to get back to speak with her after doing my informal field analysis and before returning home… We then visited the factory of our associate Mr. Ndiaye, near the oil refinery. I was somewhat disturbed by the lack of worker safety assurance. Mamemor and I later talked at length about how to assure improvements in that aspect for our projects…
Afterwards we met with M. Libasse Niang at his bureau to prepare for our meeting with the minister of agricultural development downtown. The government has an aggressive policy to expand agriculture, recognizing the opportunity to relieve urban overcrowding and promote the economy and welfare of the people at the same time. The downtown this afternoon was busy and active, but we had to cool our heels for a good couple hours before the minister and two of his staff could see us. The minister himself had to beg off early for a meeting with an important Saudi… We all agreed that in the end the meeting was productive; the staff people promising full support for the Cap International project. But it took them a while to understand that this was a private project (which they say they never see) which would ultimately get private, albeit guaranteed, financing—not a handout, not a “gift” from the Saudis or any others, rather a plan to put agriculture in place. Fortunately we had the redoubtable M. Libasse to convey our plans. I have seen many a smooth lobbyist in my day—they are born not made: an engineering contractor by training, M. Libasse is a born lobbyist…
After dropping everybody back at M. Libasse’s bureau, Mamemor and I headed back toward the hotel. We stopped on the way to the restaurant we had been to on Saturday for breakfast; they wouldn’t let Mamemor bring in his own bottled water, so he insisting on leaving. On the way out there were soldiers along the road by the car and the road, usually crowded, was suddenly deserted. Mamemor called it: “the President is probably coming.” And indeed he did with motorcycle cops, sirens, SUVs and limos screaming by. Maybe going to the airport I said. Maybe the President was going to the President hotel, said Mamemor and again he called it exactly. By the time we got to the hotel they were all there, with the presidential guard. I got myself in a picture with one of them—very good uniforms. President Wade ducked out very shortly before we could see him, but Mamemor spotted Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, the minister of foreign affairs (our Secretary of State). He is very important—Mamemor and I had just been speaking on the way to the hotel of the Senegalese government’s growing importance on the world stage, as not just the broker of West African development (witness the assumption of the trial of the ex-Congo president), but even in matters as paramount as Iranian-American relations (vis President Wade’s meeting with Ahmadinejad this weekend. That said, Dr. Gadio was very accessible and friendly; he had studied in America and spoke English fluently, and as clear evidence of his civility—he let me have a picture with him. Afterwards with Mamemor, I found the restaurant down by the waterfront that I didn’t know about—incredible setting, pricey but worth-it buffet. In the elevator up to the room, I saw Heinz again; he says the President and Senegalese top officials will be speaking at the conference this week… All-in-all a fantastic day and productive day…
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Australians see pot of gold
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -- 04/13/08 -- Mineral Deposits Limited (TSX: MDM)(ASX: MDL) is pleased to announce that it has executed documentation and commenced drawdown of the first component of a debt financing package for the further construction and development of the Sabodala Gold Project ("Sabodala") located in the Republic of Senegal, west Africa. The US$35 million Revolving Working Capital Facility has been provided by RMB Australia Holdings Limited and Macquarie Bank Limited.
Sabodala is situated some 650 kilometres east of the capital Dakar and within the Birimian belt and about 90 kilometres from major gold discoveries in Mali. MDL and the Government of the Republic of Senegal ("GRS") have established an operating company to complete the project and then mine the deposit under the terms of the Mining Convention between them. MDL has a 90% holding and GRS a 10% free-carried interest in the new company (Sabodala Gold Operations SA).
The project has proven and probable reserves totalling 1.4 million tonnes of gold within a global gold resource of 2.74 million ounces. Sabodala is now 45% complete and remains on schedule to commission the two million tonne treatment plant in late September 2008. The company anticipates an initial gold pour in late October 2008.
Sabodala is situated some 650 kilometres east of the capital Dakar and within the Birimian belt and about 90 kilometres from major gold discoveries in Mali. MDL and the Government of the Republic of Senegal ("GRS") have established an operating company to complete the project and then mine the deposit under the terms of the Mining Convention between them. MDL has a 90% holding and GRS a 10% free-carried interest in the new company (Sabodala Gold Operations SA).
The project has proven and probable reserves totalling 1.4 million tonnes of gold within a global gold resource of 2.74 million ounces. Sabodala is now 45% complete and remains on schedule to commission the two million tonne treatment plant in late September 2008. The company anticipates an initial gold pour in late October 2008.
President Wade on Senegal-India trade
Some important excerpts from the speech of President Wade in India, April 8, 2008
"It is much significant to note that trade between India and West Africa have tripled in the 2002-2007 period. That makes India the first partner of Senegal in our exports."
"The bilateral cooperation between India and Senegal is certainly among others an example of what we can achieve based on our complementarities. The Senegalese – Indian partnership covers in fact areas as various as agriculture with our national program of self sufficiency in rice, chemical industries from Senegal’s phosphates, vehicle assembly and the exploitation of iron ore."
"Furthermore the Export Import Bank of India just opened a 2nd office in Dakar after the one in Johannesburg. An institutional frame work like TEAM 9 and its credit line also shows through its concrete achievements the innovating South-south cooperation model India and Africa can develop durably by creating a "value added" compared to classical forms of cooperation."
"It is much significant to note that trade between India and West Africa have tripled in the 2002-2007 period. That makes India the first partner of Senegal in our exports."
"The bilateral cooperation between India and Senegal is certainly among others an example of what we can achieve based on our complementarities. The Senegalese – Indian partnership covers in fact areas as various as agriculture with our national program of self sufficiency in rice, chemical industries from Senegal’s phosphates, vehicle assembly and the exploitation of iron ore."
"Furthermore the Export Import Bank of India just opened a 2nd office in Dakar after the one in Johannesburg. An institutional frame work like TEAM 9 and its credit line also shows through its concrete achievements the innovating South-south cooperation model India and Africa can develop durably by creating a "value added" compared to classical forms of cooperation."
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Senegal's president Wade, head of OIC, meets Ahmadinejad
ISNA - Tehran Service: Foreign Policy
TEHRAN, April. 11 (ISNA) - In his meeting with Senegal's president, presently the head of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), in Mashhad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the only solution to the Palestine crisis was respecting its people's opinion.
Ahmadinejad called Israeli acts in Palestine the greatest violation of human rights, saying, "The Palestine issue is a criterion for the nations and governments' loyalty to democracy, human rights and freedom."
Regarding the positive and constructive relations between Iran and Senegal, Ahmadinejad said that Iran would recognize no limitation for conveying its valuable experience to the countries having friendly ties with Iran.
Expressing his gratitude for Iran's support for Islamic nations, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said after being elected for the presidency of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), he had regarded Iran as his first choice for consultation.
TEHRAN, April. 11 (ISNA) - In his meeting with Senegal's president, presently the head of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), in Mashhad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the only solution to the Palestine crisis was respecting its people's opinion.
Ahmadinejad called Israeli acts in Palestine the greatest violation of human rights, saying, "The Palestine issue is a criterion for the nations and governments' loyalty to democracy, human rights and freedom."
Regarding the positive and constructive relations between Iran and Senegal, Ahmadinejad said that Iran would recognize no limitation for conveying its valuable experience to the countries having friendly ties with Iran.
Expressing his gratitude for Iran's support for Islamic nations, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said after being elected for the presidency of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), he had regarded Iran as his first choice for consultation.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Senegal growth to grow
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Senegal's economy will probably expand an average of more than 5.5 percent over the ``medium term'' as investment increases and exports of chemicals, such as phosphates, recover, the International Monetary Fund said.
Growth will likely accelerate from an estimated 4.8 percent in 2007, the Washington-based lender said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The government needs to ``anticipate and limit'' the impact on the economy of a slowdown in global economic growth, the IMF also said.
Growth will likely accelerate from an estimated 4.8 percent in 2007, the Washington-based lender said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The government needs to ``anticipate and limit'' the impact on the economy of a slowdown in global economic growth, the IMF also said.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Massive foreign investment ahead for Senegal?
From the pages of the OTAL shipping line we have this:
"An eight-fold increase in foreign direct investment in Senegal by 2010 through major infrastructure and mining projects could help lift economic growth over 7% a year, according to the IMF. With steel giant Arcelor Mittal planning a $2.2 billion iron ore mine investment and Dubai entrepreneurs pouring money into a new port and economic free zone, the IMF expected foreign investment to rise from 47 billion CFA francs [$106 million] in 2006 to at least 367 billion CFA in 2010.
Alex Segura, IMF representative in Senegal, said the multilateral agency forecast a medium-term growth rate for the poor West African country of 5.5 percent a year, but this could be sharply higher if proposed foreign investments went ahead.
Economic growth dipped to 2% in 2006 due in part to a long break in production at Senegal's struggling state-run phosphates producer ICS -- the country's largest exporter. In a strong endorsement of President Abdoulaye Wade's economic management, the IMF board officially agreed with Senegal a Policy Support Instrument [PSI] with the IMF at the start of this month. It was the first francophone country in Africa to reach such a deal. "
"An eight-fold increase in foreign direct investment in Senegal by 2010 through major infrastructure and mining projects could help lift economic growth over 7% a year, according to the IMF. With steel giant Arcelor Mittal planning a $2.2 billion iron ore mine investment and Dubai entrepreneurs pouring money into a new port and economic free zone, the IMF expected foreign investment to rise from 47 billion CFA francs [$106 million] in 2006 to at least 367 billion CFA in 2010.
Alex Segura, IMF representative in Senegal, said the multilateral agency forecast a medium-term growth rate for the poor West African country of 5.5 percent a year, but this could be sharply higher if proposed foreign investments went ahead.
Economic growth dipped to 2% in 2006 due in part to a long break in production at Senegal's struggling state-run phosphates producer ICS -- the country's largest exporter. In a strong endorsement of President Abdoulaye Wade's economic management, the IMF board officially agreed with Senegal a Policy Support Instrument [PSI] with the IMF at the start of this month. It was the first francophone country in Africa to reach such a deal. "
Saturday, March 22, 2008
We recently came across an interesting summary of the development of Touba and its fascinating connection with global commerce while maintaining its unique character. The link is:
http://llnw.creamermedia.co.za/articles/attachments/01378_africancity.pdf
The article compares three West African cities which exploded over recent decades. Here's one of the insightful excerpts about Touba:
"More than half of all Touba households are described as primarily active in commerce and here imports and a consumer economy tied to the outer world, is especially significant. International remittances account for a huge share of income while the importation and dispersal of industrially produced goods from the whole world have taken over the Senegalese economy, so weak in “internationally competitive” productive activity. Touba makes sense as a town only if one starts to take stock of one major aspect of globalisation—the large-scale temporary or permanent movement of Africans, notably West Africans, to all corners of the globe, together with the decline in productive local activity."
http://llnw.creamermedia.co.za/articles/attachments/01378_africancity.pdf
The article compares three West African cities which exploded over recent decades. Here's one of the insightful excerpts about Touba:
"More than half of all Touba households are described as primarily active in commerce and here imports and a consumer economy tied to the outer world, is especially significant. International remittances account for a huge share of income while the importation and dispersal of industrially produced goods from the whole world have taken over the Senegalese economy, so weak in “internationally competitive” productive activity. Touba makes sense as a town only if one starts to take stock of one major aspect of globalisation—the large-scale temporary or permanent movement of Africans, notably West Africans, to all corners of the globe, together with the decline in productive local activity."
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