Adjustment to West African realities: the Lebanese in Senegal

Extract

The century-old Lebanese presence in West Africa has been the subject of mixed reaction from the host societies. While many Africans, including political leaders, have defended this presence in the belief that it has been very beneficial for their countries, others have strongly criticised it, arguing that the Lebanese have blocked the way to Africans in trade, repatriated their capital and used many kinds of malpractices in their trading activities. In Senegal, which is the subject of this article, French small and medium traders opposed the presence of the Lebanese during the colonial period because the latter became their main competitors. The groundnut trade was the country's main economic activity and there was a great demand for this product in Europe. The major European companies were keen to increase exports and, in this, they relied on the Lebanese who, in the first decades of this century, acted as middlemen.

Résumé

L'adaptation aux réalités de l'Afrique occidentale: les Libanais au Sénégal

Cet article analyse l'influence des Libanais sur le Sénégal post-colonial. L'auteur soutient que pour préserver leur place dominante dans le secteur du commerce, les Libanais ont eu recours à des stratégies économiques, telles que l'orientation vers de nouveaux domaines d'investissements, la concentration de leurs activités dans les principaux centres urbains et l'emploi d'un plus grand nombre de travailleurs africains. Ils se sont également servis de mécanismes politiques: par exemple, ils ont apporté leur concours financier à divers projets sociaux afin d'obtenir la protection de la classe dirigeante sénégalaise et des chefs de la confrérie musulmane des soufis.