TOMBONG: What are you trying to insinuate here? Are you trying to campaign on the basis that since the Senegalese Farmers prefer the DALASI instead of CFA means that PRESIDENT JAMMEH'S ECONOMIC STRATEGY has thus far tremendously enhanced the value of the DALASI? If that is your point of contention, then I am a bit disappointed in you as a shrewd Economist. Economics has been your area of interest since High School days, I was told . I do not think that that School of Thought does hold water. The fact is, since independence, all those Senegalese Farmers at the borders have always preferred using the DALASI than the CFA for numerous reasons, some of which could be advanced as follows: First, Economic Reason:- In gaining independence, most Francophone countries including Senegal gained independence based on what was called ASSIMILATION(that is, all Francophone gained independence and still maintain ties with the Colonial Master, France. This means that ALL GOODS and SERVICES coming to these countries MUST pass through France first before reaching their final destinations. And this means that an ADDITIONAL DUTY is levied on shipments passing via France, and this as a result, increases COSTS of IMPORTS into these countries; and since ECONOMIC 101 teaches us, an INCREASE in COST of SUPPLIES or PRODUCTION has the resultant effect of increasing the PRICE of GOODS and SERVICES. This is what always make goods and services in Senegal absolutely dearer than goods and services in The Gambia. That is what motivates Senegalese consumers to prefer buying goods and services from The Gambia. This has continued to be the trend up till now. Second, Accessibility to goods and services is another major factor that greatly determines the rationale behind consumer behavior. That is to say, the more accessible goods and services are to ultimate consumers, the more convenient and cheaper for them. Therefore, ACCESSIBILITY, CONVENIENCE and AFFORDABILITY are the primary determinants of consumer rationale. To state this point more vividly, since development in most African Countries are centralized(ie only main capital cities and key towns have goods and services available, and not in the border towns and villages), the chief reason why Senegalese Farmers tend to prefer Gambian DALASI instead of the CFA is because of the fact that these border farmers find goods and services more accessible, convenient and affordable in The Gambia than in Senegal(because they have easy access to Gambian main cities and key towns where goods and services then to be a little bit cheaper there than in the distant main cities and key towns in their own country). This is CONDITION of supply of these goods and services, which tend to impinge on COSTS of supplies. TOMBONG, in conclusion, the Senegalese Farmers tend to prefer The Gambian DALASI instead of the CFA because of a major economic factor other than JAMMEH'S shrewd ECONOMIC STRATEGY; and this major economic factor is CONDITION of supply of goods and services into Senegal which profoundly influence the rationale behind the Senegalese Farmers' decision to prefer the DALASI instead of the CFA. Therefore, you should not have used the Independence's report as a major economic victory for President Jammeh. Ansumana Kujabi concerned Citizen >From: TOMBONG SAIDY <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: The Gambian Dalasi >Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 06:12:48 -0500 > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------