Thanks Ylva for the forward and keep up the good work.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou


>From: Ylva Hernlund <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Americanization of Senegal (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:55:15 -0800
>
>***
>NYT January 28, 2004LETTER FROM AFRICA   America Tugs at French-Accented
>Lands: It's Not Peanuts By SOMINI SENGUPTA
>
>DAKAR, Senegal, Jan. 26 -- This was once the portal to the French Empire
>on the African continent.
>
> >From here, Paris administered the vast territory known as Afrique
>Occidentale Franaise, stretching east across the arid savannas to what is
>now Chad and south along the lush coast to the present-day Congo Republic.
>
>Downtown Dakar bears the 19th-century French stamp, from the shuttered
>windows of its colonial-era buildings to its perennially jammed main
>commercial street, named after Georges Pompidou. Senegalese men once
>fought in the French military. The Dakaroise were once French citizens by
>birth.
>
>Even after independence, in 1960, the French stayed on, pouring aid,
>installing bureaucrats in virtually every important government ministry,
>maintaining a military base here with a view of the Atlantic. French
>companies still run Dakar's telephone company and water service. From the
>Peugeots on the street to the Pouilly Fums on the hypermarch shelves, a
>quarter of all imports to Senegal come from France; 20,000 French citizens
>live here.
>
>With the advent of the campaign against terrorism, though, things began to
>change. Africa once again figured in Washington's strategic thinking, and
>there was something to be gained for an overwhelmingly Muslim country by
>cozying up to the Americans and, not coincidentally, threatening the
>French with a loss of influence.
>
>These days, because of a swirl of additional circumstances ranging from a
>drop in French foreign aid to bitterness over French immigration policy to
>the power of American hip-hop to a variety of slights and perceived
>slights, Senegal is marching headlong into the arms of a new empire run
>out of Washington.
>
>This is by no means a line in the sand, ending French influence here. It's
>more as if the dunes are shifting, slowly but perceptibly. France remains
>the biggest donor and trade partner, but Senegal's relations with the
>United States have already created some Paris-Dakar frisson.
>
>Publicly, both sides say all is well. Africa-watchers are fond of likening
>it to a difficult moment in the life of an old couple, a love-hate
>dialectic born of an intimate familiarity.
>
>"It's a period of friction," said Mamadou Diouf, a historian at the
>University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Senegalese by origin, "where two
>partners are trying to adjust to a new moment."
>
>The "moment" that Mr. Diouf refers to has as much to do with the global
>primacy of American power as the diminution of French power in the shadow
>of a united Europe. Complicating matters, just as the former colonies on
>the continent still need France, France still needs its former colonies:
>French influence in Africa allows it to punch above its weight in the
>world.
>
>Influence, of course, comes at a price. And the price of supporting a
>swath of destitute countries in Africa has lately proved to be too much.
>French aid to its former colonies has plummeted. In Senegal alone, the
>number of French "technical experts" assigned to work in government
>ministries has fallen to 124 in 2003 from 750 a decade ago.
>
>The signs of shift are small and subtle, based as much on assumptions and
>perceptions as anything else. Among ordinary Senegalese, the resentment
>against all things French is based on the one thing they know best: the
>difficulties of getting a visa to study or work in France. (They have not
>had as much experience with the American immigration bureaucracy.)
>
>For strivers, New York is now the promised land. For the elite, a degree
>from Harvard is more fashionable than one from the the Sorbonne. The
>cabinet of President Abdoulaye Wade is sprinkled with people who have
>studied or worked in the States. English is now de rigeur. And ardor for
>all things American is exploited by marketers: ads for American Cola
>(endorsed by a Senegalese wrestler who calls himself Tyson) and Houston
>brand cigarettes plaster Dakar.
>
>Mr. Wade's government has unabashedly sought to strengthen ties with
>Washington in recent years. Senegal has vowed to fight against terrorism.
>It has signed an agreement, sought by the Bush administration, promising
>to exempt American citizens from prosecution by the International Criminal
>Court. It has kept quiet on the war in Iraq.
>
>An African diplomat said he sensed "an openness to the world outside the
>Francophone world" since Mr. Wade's election in 2000, and particularly
>since the Sept. 11 attacks. "I think Wade is playing that quite
>intelligently" the diplomat said. "He's very shrewd with the U.S. in
>particular. He realizes it's the only way to diminish the influence of
>France."
>
>A French diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his country
>was hardly threatened by Dakar's efforts to make new friends.
>
>"We have long regretted that the United States has done so little for the
>African continent, and we rejoice, seeing that that great country is
>trying to turn its words into deeds," the diplomat said. Feeling less
>charitable, the diplomat wondered how long it would take for the United
>States to reach the level of French aid and trade with Senegal: nearly $60
>million in development and military assistance in 2003.
>
>What Senegal will receive in exchange for cozying up to the United States
>remains to be seen. Military and economic aid has been modest, so far.
>American companies aren't exactly rushing to do business here. Senegal
>produces peanuts, not oil.
>
>Senegal stands to gain its biggest reward later this year, when the Bush
>administration announces the recipients of its new $650 million
>development aid program called the Millenium Challenge Account. Senegal
>was the only country to receive a planning grant on how it would use the
>funds.
>
>Still, Senegal knows it cannot afford to oust the French, said one member
>of the Wade government, but is seeking a way to escape exclusive French
>control. "The only question is, `Will France accept Senegal's being more
>independent?' " he wondered aloud. "We don't know. But they have no
>choice. Senegal in 2004 is not the same Senegal as in 1960. The world has
>changed."
>
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