The Chinese have arrived in Dakar, and their shops and wholesale outlets are an increasing source of worry and anger for local traders in the Senegalese capital.
Faced with low prices they cannot match and a flight of their customers to cheaper businesses they plan to close down the city's commercial activity on Aug. 23 as a gesture of protest.
PHOTO: AFP
The General de Gaulle boulevard, north of the city center, used to be a residential area. But since 2000 it has been transformed as the ground floors of buildings have been leased to Asian traders, most of them from China.
"Since the arrival of Chinese shopkeepers, the price of basic goods has been cut to a third or a fifth [of what it used to be]," the Senegal consumers' association Ascosen said last month.
"As a result many goorgorlu [ordinary Senegalese] have begun to be able to afford goods. Now electrical household goods are within the reach of every budget," the Ascosen said.
Street vendors have also benefited from the arrival of the Chinese. Lacking capital and permanent premises they can trade Chinese products which are far cheaper than those on offer from Senegalese wholesalers.
"It is quite normal that there is a price difference which works to the advantage of the Chi-nese," said Hassan Lee, 26, a native of Shanghai, who has lived in the west African state since 1999.
"We are more familiar with the Asian market where we buy our stock. I opened my shop in 2002 and I employ two Senegalese," Lee said.
Some Senegalese businessmen accuse their Chinese competitors of selling goods of poor quality while others claim Chinese-run businesses are screens for "dubious activities."
Last October four Chinese-run restaurants were shut down after the authorities found they had ties with organized crime, including prostitution and visa-trafficking.
"The Chinese bring no added value and do not really create jobs," said Dame Ndiaye, president of one of the four traders' associations taking part in the Aug. 23 protest.
"The government should control their activities out of respect for the rules governing residence in Senegal and trade. If it doesn't we shall organize a `closed city' day on August 23 and suspend all imports from October 15," he said.
"The Chinese sell junk and counterfeits. They stop us setting up small and medium-sized busi-nesses which generate jobs and productive activity," he said.
"Chinese traders do no harm to anyone," said Momar Seyni Mbengue, a former Senegalese ambassador to Beijing and the president of the Senegal-China friendship committee.
"They sell cheap goods and give work to Senegalese. The demands of Senegalese shopkeepers are selfish," he said.
Senegalese employees of Chi-nese businesses are paid an average of 50,000 local (CFA) francs a month (US$91) while the minimum wage is 35,000 CFA.
The friendship committee puts the number of Chinese families in Dakar and the rest of the country at 150.
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