By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

It’s morning in Dakar and in the centre of town the Sandega Market is heaving. A rainbow jumble of fabrics tumbles out of wheelbarrows, or is piled high on trestle tables and hung from cars. Household goods and children’s toys are on sale alongside artworks and bead jewellery, while roaming merchants selling sunglasses and mobile phone cards work the crowd. Young women with straightened or braided hair strut along the street in groups of twos and threes, dressed in tight jeans and low-cut tops, or closely fitted, brightly coloured African dresses with matching headpieces.

Senegal is open and friendly to foreigners and prides itself on being a “Teranga” state - a notion of welcome and hospitality promoted by both Islam and Catholicism, the two main religions. The sea brings coastal breezes, taking the tropical heat down a notch or two, and providing glimpses of blue around almost every street corner. The Senegalese have music in their blood and artists such as Youssou N’Dour have won fame on the world stage. The other great passion is football and the daily matches on the dusty football pitches of Dakar have produced some world-class players. We arrived in Dakar on the same flight as Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf ,who plays for the Bolton Wanderers, and he was mobbed by a crowd waving camera phones.

But Dakar is changing. There is construction on every street and new hotels are springing up along the waterfront. The city is being wired for the 21st century and free wireless internet seems to be a standard feature in most central hotels.

Socially, it’s changing too. Chinese immigrants starting coming in significant numbers about five years ago, pulled by economic factors and encouraged by the Chinese government. Official numbers are that there are 150 Chinese families - 200-300 people - in Dakar but unofficial estimates are much higher. Some come to work in the construction industry or road building but most go into business in the newly emerging Chinatown, along a long boulevard lined with trees and shops north of the city centre.

One of the pioneers was Hu Yan, a 42 year-old businessman, who moved from China 14 years ago and set up shop in Centenaire. Others followed and Hu estimates there are now 1,000 Chinese people in total living in Dakar, with 100 shops between them. Senegal might seem an unlikely destination for the great Chinese dream of immigration but for many people options are limited and it’s better than what they left behind. “China is a poor place and here they can make money,” Hu says. “Those that go to high school go to the US or Europe if they can, but the men who come to Africa never go to high school, just middle school.”

As well as business opportunities, immigration is also a way to escape China’s One Child policy and many Chinese migrants in Dakar have two or three children. “In China you can only have one but you can make another child here with dual nationality,” Hu explains. “It’s a route to go to Europe or America. You make money here, have another child, and the children can go to an American or French school.”

The Chinese traders import clothing, particularly womens’ shoes, as well as consumer durables such as glassware, and electronic goods such as televisions. Their arrival has transformed the lives of Senegalese consumers, through the wide availability of products and cheap prices. People come from all over Senegal and even further afield to shop at the Chinese market, such as Maryam from the Ivory Coast, who we met as she shopped for shoes with her friend Mami from Dakar. “I like the Chinese shoes better,” Mami says, inspecting a pair of sparkly flip flops. “They are cheaper.”

But it’s been less welcome for the Senegalese traders, who complain bitterly about the Chinese.
The traders at the African market tell me the Chinese are “no good”, and they sell only cheap plastic rubbish. Ass Sene, who runs a shop selling African textiles and crafts in the Centre Commercial Ass Khalifa near Sandega, describes the damage the Chinese competition has inflicted on his business. “The market is broken,” he says. “There are many, many Chinese people. It’s no good. Chinese people are no good. We buy our material from Senegal but the Chinese bring it from China. It’s a cheaper price but it’s not good material. Many, many Senegalese buy from the Chinese. Business was better before the Chinese.”

Senegalese traders, led by business organisation UNACOIS, went on strike in 2004 to demand caps on Chinese immigration. Antoine Diouf, editor in chief of the local newspaper L’obs Observateur, recalls the protest, which he says was peaceful but ultimately ineffective. “They were protesting to ask the government to stop the Chinese people in Dakar - they were angry because the Chinese people sell products not very expensively and people preferred to go to Chinese shops,” Diouf says. “There was no violence, just protests in the streets to show the administration they were not happy and then the government asked them to stop [so they did].”

But not everyone wants the Chinese to go. With many basic goods within reach of ordinary Senegalese for the first time, consumers are determined to keep the lower prices. Also, since all Chinese shopkeepers employ local staff, many young men owe their jobs to the Chinese. Momar Ndao, the president of the Senegalese consumers’ association Ascosen, says his organisation made a protest to counter the traders and argue that the Chinese should stay. He claims the Senegalese traders were rorting their customers with grossly inflated prices, charging up to 10 times more than the Chinese for the same products. “If it was different goods it would be acceptable but it was the same goods - they go to China, buy the same goods and sell 10 times higher,” Nadao says. He adds that Senegalese consumers shop with the Chinese by preference because they know the prices are better.

The Chinese traders have not only led to reduced prices for consumers but also expanded the range of products available. “Glasses to drink water were very expensive and in some parts of the country they didn’t use glasses but plastic cups, which is not very hygienic because you can’t sterilise them,” Ndao says. “When the Chinese people came the price for these basic goods became in reach for many poor people.”

Ndao says that Senegal must protect its reputation as a “Teranga” state and make foreigners feel welcome. He argues that if the Chinese people have correct immigration papers, are registered for business and obey the law, they should be allowed to stay. “We say it’s xenophobia sending back people of another complexion skin - if we are ‘Teranga’ state we have to be open with other countries,” Ndao says.

The Chinese also bring employment - most shops employ two or three Senegalese people and reportedly pay up to a third more than the minimum wage. Kemo Bojang, 23, is one young Senegalese who has found work in the Chinese market. He is not directly employed but instead works for himself, and is able to make a good living reselling goods acquired from the Chinese.
“They are my friends,” he says. “They bring many jobs.”

The problem between the Chinese and the Senegalese is economic rather than social but there is little interaction between the two communities outside of work. The Chinese cluster in areas, living near their businesses and socialising only with other Chinese, if at all. Mei Young-Hung, 42, says she works so hard, there is little time left for making friends. She moved to Senegal five years ago with her husband, leaving her two grown-up children behind in China. “I came only for business,” she says. “When I don’t have another job, I sleep or watch TV.” She proudly shows off her new television set, imported directly from China and showing Chinese programming.

Some people, even supporters of the Chinese, believe there is a risk of social unrest if Chinatown grows too much bigger without greater integration with the Senegalese. “If a lot of them live in a local part of town and we see something like a Chinatown then that splits the population from the rest of the population and that can be difficult,” says Ascosen’s Ndao. “I think they have to be in many places - the government should give them the chance to live in other places in Dakar, although I think they like Centenaire.”

There are exceptions - such as Hadina, who sells shoes on Centenaire and has lived in Senegal for five years. She speaks the local Wolof language as well as Chinese and has a Senegalese husband and two young children. The Chinese arrive in Senegal without any language skills but they learn both French and Wolof from their employees and in turn teach them Mandarin. There has been very little trouble between the Chinese and Senegalese so far, despite the tensions over trade, but there has been some conflict within the Chinese community. One Chinese trader, who wishes to remain anonymous, says some of his fellow countrymen have even resorted to guns to resolve their differences. “Between the Chinese there are a lot of problems because they compete and no one wants to be under another,” he says. “If you say you are the top here, other one say no.”

The Chinese immigration comes against the backdrop of growing inter-governmental friendship between Senegal and China. Senegal, which previously aligned itself to Taiwan, resumed diplomatic ties with China in 2006 and declared that there was only one China in the world and Taiwan was an integral part of its territory. Taiwan cut ties in protest, accusing China of “buying” Senegal with the pledge of $US600 million in aid. China is also interested in Africa for its natural resources and a number of Chinese companies are setting up in Senegal to export minerals such as phosphates.

The Chinese government has been actively encouraging its people to emigrate to Senegal. Many of the shopkeepers on Centenaire came from Hunan Province on the south bank of the Yangtze River and say they received funding from the Chinese authorities to move to Senegal. Without a radical change in policy in both China and Senegal, the numbers of Chinese will only increase, opening more shops and bringing more trade.

It’s not good news for their Senegalese competitors, but cosmopolitan Dakar with its tradition of “Teranga” seems well equipped to cope.

This article was first published in Anyway magazine in June 2007. Copyright held by Caitlin Fitzsimmons and all rights reserved.

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