Garbage strike hits Dakar

Garbage workers--les ramasseurs d'ordure--in Dakar are on strike, and according to one news source, facing arrests. The workers, employed by the community association of CADAKAR and the French multinational firm Viola, want more pay and better health conditions. Apparently tuberculosis is widespread among the workers and the vaccinations that they receive have not been effective... We noted last year that the demise of the large-scale AMA waste management contract may have been doomed by labor unrest. Since the Italian AMA left town, the French Viola has moved in, at least to the central parts of Dakar. Now apparently it is also running into trouble... Do the garbage workers have a valid grievance? We're told that pay runs only around a couple (U.S.) dollars a day. Of course,the work is hard around the world, good pay or bad... Our sources also tell us that the Dakar labor force is subject to manipulation by political power brokers. The current strike is organized by Le Front unitaire des syndicats du nettoiement. They promise that garbage will pile in the streets if their demands are not met. They want to meet with President Wade to voice their complaints... Senegal's garbage problems have many causes...

Senegal economy dropped big in 2008; better this year?

The growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of Senegal in 2008 registered a sharp drop, from 4.7 percent in 2007 to only 2.5 percent, according to the Senegal representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Alex Segura. (Who recently had his Dakar apartment burlarized, by the way.)

"Between 1995 and 2005, Senegal has had a growth rate around 5 percent. In 2007 it was 4.7 percent," Segura told Radio France Internationale (RFI).

But "the effect of domestic debt on economic activity was very negative and led to a slowdown in activity in 2008 with a growth rate estimated at 2.5 percent, which is a sharp drop," he said. In 2006, the GDP of Senegal had already been a bad year with 2.4 percent.

In 2008, the secondary sector was severely affected, providers of the state have not been paid on time. Many companies were forced to reduce their activities," he added. According to Segura, the growth of non-agricultural GDP was only 1.5 percent in 2008.

For 2009, the IMF's estimated growth for Senegal is 4 percent.

Regarding the heavy domestic debt, "a third had been paid a week ago. The stock of 225 billion CFA francs (342 million) registered with the authorities, there were still around 150 billion CFA francs," Segura said.

"The Minister of Finance (Abdoulaye Diop) is working to find resources to pay the rest. In the coming weeks, if not all, much will be paid," said the IMF representative.

Good credit means paying your debts. The slow pay policy of Senegal's central government could continue to drag down the economy.

China and Senegal: sweethearts hook up

They've known each other for about three years. "Mais c’est le grand amour" between China and Senegal. Thus on Saint Valentine's Day it is appropriate that the president of the Republic of China, Hu Jintao, rendezvoused with Abdoulaye Wade, the president of Senegal. According to the L'Observateur the visit marked the growing relationship between the two since Senegal recognized communist China only three years ago. China suspended diplomatic relations with Senegal in 1996 when Senegal had the audacity to formally recognize the democratic Chinese government of Taiwan. Then in 2005, under Wade, Senegal switched to recognizing the communist regime over the democratic, furthering the communists' efforts to freeze the democratic Chinese out of international, and United Nations, recognition... Now the relationship has flowered into "a great love" according to the news reports of Hu's Valentine's Day visit to Dakar... That great love was testified according to sources from both countries by the extensive couplings expected in areas such as the development of Senegal's airlines and other transportation systems, as well as exploitation of hard-to-develop oil reserves in Casamance... The Chinese are already involved in major infrastructure projects in Senegal, particularly in Touba, as we have posted here often. The oil exploitation move is interesting, but not surprising considering China's clear program of developing its own oil sources... Will this "great love" last? One wonders, considering the cultural differences of the pair, especially the religious. Senegal is a land of great faith and the Muslim morality of its people is one of its greatest strengths. China is atheist. One wonders if the relationship is really just one of convenience, or even meretricious...