China has a vise grip on
Senegal's markets By Hamadou Tidiane
Sy
DAKAR - Allees du Centenaire, a
neighborhood in the heart of Senegal's capital,
may be lacking the trademark red lanterns, but in
the eyes of locals it is fast becoming the city's
unofficial Chinatown.
The area consists of
a double row of houses of which the front sides
have been transformed into shops. Chinese traders
live in these homes-cum-shops, selling cheap goods
imported from their
home
country to local petty traders.
Most of
these small informal retailers are young
Senegalese, usually with very little capital.
Their numbers are growing because of the lack of
jobs in the country's formal sector.
"I
started the business very recently, only two
months ago,'' Mame Sane, a young woman in her
mid-20s, told Inter Press Service.
IPS
spotted her in one of the Chinese shops in Allees
du Centenaire, bargaining over the price of a pair
of shoes she was holding in one hand. In her other
hand was an enormous blue plastic bag stuffed with
items she had purchased in similar shops. She
started her business with a measly 50,000 CFA
francs (about US$100). "It is much better than
sitting idle at home," said Mame, who resells her
products to "friends and acquaintances" in her
neighborhood of Parcelles Assainies on the
outskirts of Dakar.
She adds 500 francs to
her retail price for each 1,000 francs she spends,
she explained. Mame is one of an unknown number of
young people who, on the back of cheap China-made
goods, have found opportunities to start their own
small businesses.
One sees them going from
door to door, offering anything from shoes to
electric lamps and notebooks to watches at
"unbeatable prices". Others face the scorching
heat to run between cars in the busy streets of
the capital city, showing their merchandise to
motorists. The luckiest ones exhibit their goods
in tiny stalls, set up wherever they find space.
Trade has been facilitated by the
resumption of diplomatic relations between Senegal
and China in October 2005, making it easier for
Senegalese importers to bring in Chinese products.
However, some Senegalese importers allege that
their Chinese counterparts are nothing but
ruthless profit makers.
According to
Senegal's Ministry of Commerce, Chinese imports
represented 94% of the total value of goods traded
between the two countries in 2006. At a meeting
between Chinese and Senegalese business people in
Dakar last month, Senegalese Foreign Affairs
Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio urged an improvement
in the balance of trade between the two countries.
Trade relations are "largely in favor of
China", the official Chinese news agency Xinhua
reported on July 13, indicating that China is the
fourth-largest supplier of goods to Senegal.
Soumboul Sylla believes that the
activities of Chinese traders in Senegal should be
better regulated, as these activities "represent a
threat" to the national economy and to large local
firms that rely on imports. Sylla, who was
involved in textile imports from Dubai before
turning to Chinese products, is a member of the
very influential Senegalese Union of Traders and
Industrialists (known by its French acronym
UNACOIS).
UNACOIS planned a protest march
in 2004 against the Chinese presence in the
capital. Sylla believes local business should get
preference because "while the Chinese traders
bring in petty, valueless items and accessories,
the Senegalese importers bring in the more
important goods, such as furniture and bedroom
suites".
In the name of the "free market",
the union's proposal was strongly opposed by poor
consumers and petty traders who make their living
from selling Chinese goods.
UNACOIS has
since changed its strategy but not its position.
The organization is lobbying the Senegalese
government to obtain "reciprocity" from China. In
short, Sylla explained, it wants Senegalese
traders to be able to open shops, settle and do
business in China as easily as their Chinese
counterparts do in Senegal.
But members of
the Chinese community who are settled in Dakar
also have complaints. "I used to pay customs fees
of 800,000 francs for a container of goods. Now I
pay 12 million or 13 million," Zhen Yanling
claimed in broken French.
Zhen was the
only Chinese shop owner who was willing to speak
to IPS, seemingly confirming a perception believed
to be true by many Senegalese: that the Chinese
community is secretive.
The interview was
interrupted by a young man in his early 20s who
pointed at a shirt that he wanted to buy. Another
bargaining session started. Zhen proposed a price
of 700 francs per piece. The young man offered 400
francs, promptly adding: "I will buy 500 items!''
And so the two continued bargaining.
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