l'AFRiQUE...and other stories

I figured I’d share one of the videos I watched yesterday. Eumeu Sene vs. Balla Gaye

Another disclaimer: I have NO idea what’s happening here, but after watching it with Harold we agreed that a MAJOR upset just went down. 2:32…So pumped up the gate needed to be pushed DOWN. 

Africa has great potential to climb many value chains and create thousands of new jobs. It is time to test a new approach to realising this potential.

Why is it that Tanzania exports raw cashew nuts and imports processed cashew nuts, the ones they actually sell in stores? And why does Senegal’s largest juice processor import mango pulp, when mangos are rotting by the tonne a few miles down the road? Processing raw materials into market-ready products would create more jobs, capture more value locally, and reduce the tremendous post-harvest losses affecting farmers and traders.

Many attempts at converting raw materials that are in abundant supply into consumer products have gone wrong. Africa has many examples of so-called ‘White Elephants’ – expensive factories that have never been fully operational because the business concept was flawed. A recent study by the World Bank reports that 60 percent of 87 failed agribusiness projects reviewed were brought down due to a flawed business case. The fact that you have a tomato surplus does not mean you can enter the ketchup market.

So we have learned that we need to start with the market. In the Tanzania and Senegal cases, the market is there and the customer requirements are clear. As an aside, it is notable that ‘the market’ in these cases means Tanzania and Senegal and their surrounding regions rather than Europe and the US, where the barriers to entry are higher. Projections show that most increases in food demand will come from urban markets in developing countries. Perhaps it is time to devote more attention to growing in these markets first.

Leaving the product destination aside, from a development perspective, advancing the processing segment of the value chain is an excellent investment in jobs and incomes. If a company processes fruit pulp, jobs are created, farmers get income from produce that would otherwise be lost, suppliers of packaging material and trucks experience increased demand, and so forth. The multiplier effect is significant.

How do we unlock market opportunities? Policymakers must invest in infrastructure – roads, electricity and irrigation – and regulators must at least remove disincentives for entrepreneurs, industry and financiers to invest. We also need to ensure productivity and consistent quantity and quality at the farm level.

Read on here

Source: This is Africa

Senegal’s constitution requires that a presidential candidate receive fifty percent of the total votes or face a run-off. Incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade received only thirty-five percent of the vote in the February 26 presidential election, while his chief opposition, Macky Sall, received twenty-six percent. (There were numerous other candidates.) Only about half of the electorate voted, compared with more than seventy percent in the 2007 elections. There will be a run-off between Wade and Sall on March 18. Unlike the case of Cote d’Ivoire’s Laurent Gbagbo, Wade’s people have said that he will accept the results of the run-off. He probably will; Senegal is not as internally divided as Cote d’Ivoire, where rival presidential candidates represented profound ethnic, social and economic divisions. Senegal’s democratic institutions, while by no means perfect, are also among the strongest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Chatham House has published a succinct analysis of the electoral strengths and weaknesses of both run-off candidates. Its bottom line: even with the powers of the incumbency, there is a good chance Wade could be defeated. As Chatham House says, many Senegalese are angry that Wade has manipulated the constitution (of which he is the principal author) so that he could run for a third term.

African leaders struggling to remain in office even when there are term limits is an old and sad song. Nevertheless, Wade is at least 85 years of age, and one Kenyan newspaper speculates he is closer to ninety. Why is he risking the humiliation of defeat? To me the most credible explanation is that he is trying to engineer the eventual succession to the presidency of his son, Karim, whom he has promoted to various government posts. Wadeattempted to create the office of vice president, which many Senegalese think he intended for Karim. This was not popular, and Wade failed. Macky Sall, on the other hand, has cultivated the grassroots and is popular in Dakar. As a former prime minister and president of the National Assembly, he is a credible presidential candidate that is fifty years of age–neither too young nor too old. Given the immense power of the incumbency in most African countries and Wade’s political skills, Chatham House is rght to caution that he might yet win. But, if I were a betting man, I would put my money on Sall. We will see on Sunday.

Source: CFR 

Senegal’s presidential election second round runoff between the incumbent Abdoulaye Wade and ex-prime minister Macky Sall will be held on March 25, the electoral commission has announced.

Wade, 85, on Saturday called for a recount of the first round vote in a southern constituency, which has to be examined within five days by the constitutional council.

Under the constitution, the second round must take place on the third Sunday following the last date for publication of the disputed result, in this case on March 25.

The final council decision, however, is not expected to significantly change the results of the first round which took place on February 26.

The campaign for the runoff vote will start as soon as final results have been published, or Thursday at the latest.

Wade, who has been in power for 12 years and is bidding for a third term in office in a move that has triggered weeks of sometimes deadly protests, won 34.8 per cent of the vote, or 942,546 votes, in the first round, according to provisional results.

He was well short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff.

His former premier-turned-challenger Macky Sall, 50, won 26.5 per cent - 719,369 votes.

In third and fourth place were two other one-time members of Wade’s inner circle - former prime ministers Moustapha Niasse, with 357,347 votes, or 13.2 per cent, and Idrissa Seck with 212,848, or 7.86 per cent

Turnout in the February election hovered around the 51 per cent mark, authorities said.

Wade’s third-term bid has proved to be a test of Senegal’s democratic credentials, prompting international concern and weeks of protests.

Despite having served two terms in office, a limit he himself introduced, Wade says 2008 constitutional changes extending term lengths to seven years allow him to serve two more mandates.

He has been roundly criticised for seeking to hang on to power, a move that sparked street protests displaying public outrage and rising discontent.

The poll-linked violence claimed at least six lives, according to sources. The Senegalese Red Cross said it had treated 153 people for injuries in less than a month.

Senegal, a former French colony, is one of the continent’s pioneer democracies, and it boasts an unbroken series of elections since independence in 1960.

Source: Al Jazeera

dreams-from-my-father:

dynamicafrica:

Monsieur President, Please Retire

Senegal’s recent presidential election saw Abdoulaye Wade fighting for a third term in office despite prominent protests calling for the 85-year-old to let go of his reign. The message heard around the African continent is that Africans have had enough – enough of leaders who don’t want to leave their posts when it’s time.

Counting the number of African heads of state that have come into power, after independence, and have breached or amended policies to suit their megalomaniac quests for absolute power, is far from a difficult task. Over half of the world’s top ten longest ruling non-royal leaders hail from Africa with almost no end in sight to their divine right-like presidencies.

In a continent where at least 40% of the population is below the age of 15, it’s astounding to think that many citizens in various nations have never seen more than one president in their lifetime. From the infamous and controversial 87-year-old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe – who has been the president of that country since 1987, to the younger but just as outspoken leader of The Gambia – Yahya Jammeh – who was re-elected for the third time since 1996 and vowed to rule for another billion years (God willing).

Over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Joseph Kabila was controversially re-elected last year for a second term, since 2001, as the country’s head of state, with the usual accusations of voter fraud and intimidation of opposition leaders and voters that have come to be part of the status quo surrounding elections in African nations.

read more at @OkayAfrica

It is horrible to think that in 2012, we, Africans, in most cases have the choice between either dictators or civil war.

This is something that westerners would never experience, when election time comes, the fear of seeing your country implode. Wade came into power democratically and promised change and stability. 12 years on, he is not better than his peers (African heads of state) and worse than his predecessor.

(Source: , via b-sama)

Picture of the Day. Dakar, Senegal. A man holds prayer beads, his cellphone and goggles and a mask to protect himself from teargas during protests against President Wade in the Senegalese capital.

 Via.

View more Picture of the Day posts.

i love this photograph. 

(via )

fotojournalismus:

Members of Senegalese anti-government youth movement Y’En A Marre, or “We’re Fed Up,” chant slogans in Senegal’s capital Dakar, February 16, 2012. Senegal riot police again used teargas, truncheons, and a water cannon on Thursday to disperse hundreds of people in the capital Dakar protesting at President Abdoulaye Wade’s decision to seek a third term in office. The clashes in the West African state erupted after demonstrators shouting “Wade step down” gathered at a downtown square near the presidential mansion, shrugging off a state ban on protests in the run-up to the Feb. 26 vote.

[Credit : Joe Penney/Reuters]

(via misshamdi)

Senegalese police have violently dispersed opposition protesters demonstrating in the capital, Dakar, in the run-up to a crucial presidential election.

Several hundred people turned out on Wednesday in defiance of a government ban and attempted to reach the presidential palace before being blocked by a column of soldiers.

Riot police fired tear gas and used used truncheons as well as a water cannon to disperse the protesters as they attempted to assemble for a banned march against President Abdoulaye Wade’s third-term candidacy in the February 26 polls.

Police pushed back groups of opposition protesters who attempted to converge in the suburb of Medina, later firing tear gas as they tried to begin the march to Independence Square in the heart of the city.

At the square itself, another candidate Bamba Dieye rallied a small crowd of people, which grew to several hundred as riot police blocked the road to the presidency.

Someone had spray-painted “Wade Degage” (Get Out Wade) and other graffiti on the street circling the square. Police fired volleys of tear gas and sprayed protesters with water as they dispersed and later regrouped.

Perched on the roof of a 4X4, Dieye and Fall denounced “the violation of their constitutional rights”.

As calm and traffic returned to the square, music superstar Youssou N’Dour made an appearance. 

Senegal’s most famous export, N’Dour has remained at the head of the anti-Wade campaign even after his own candidacy was blocked by the constitutional council, the country’s top court.

“Senegal needs to free itself, to rediscover its democracy … We are allowing a dictatorship to set in here,” he said as dozens of fans clamoured around holding up cellphones and cameras.

Wade, Africa’s second oldest leader after Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, argues that changes to the constitution in 2008 mean he can serve two more mandates.

Read on here

Source: Al  Jazeera

Senegalese troops have clashed with suspected separatist fighters in the troubled Casamance region, leaving three soldiers dead and six wounded, military and hospital sources say.

The clashes took place in Sindian, 50km north of the regional capital Ziguinchor, as troops were providing security for people and their property against “armed groups who terrorise them”, a military source told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.

“Yesterday [Monday] at dusk… we clashed with Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) rebels, we counted three dead and six injured,” the source said.

A nurse at a hospital in Ziguinchor confirmed that three bodies, and six wounded, had been taken in.

The Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by Gambia and is the theatre of West Africa’s longest running conflict with the MFDC fighting for independence since 1982.

The conflict, which has seen periods of quiet and surges of violence, has not reached the levels of bloodshed of other wars in the region but has nonetheless claimed thousands of lives over the past three decades.

Several peace accords have failed, the MFDC is reportedly riven with divisions and rebels are often implicated in large-scale hijackings and the harassment of villagers.

Violence soared over November and December with 23 people, including 10 civilians, killed in fighting.

President Abdoulaye Wade, who promised upon his election in 2000 to solve the crisis in 100 days, visited the region which has remained a thorn in the side of his government last weekend as he campaigned for a third term in February 26 polls.

He proposed a plan which involved disarmament, demining, and five major agricultural projects. 

Source: Al Jazeera  

dynamicafrica:

Senegal’s Wade shrugs off western pressure

Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, whose reelection bid has drawn fierce criticism abroad, said in his opening campaign rally that France and the United States had no right to ask him to step aside.

“I do not seek the interest of the toubabs (Westerners), but that of the Senegalese people,” the 85-year-old leader said late Sunday in Mbacke, 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital Dakar.

“The Americans and the French are not the Senegalese’s bosses. Nobody can deny our strength,” he said in a speech marking the official launch of the campaign for the February 26 presidential election.

The west African country’s opposition argues that Wade’s bid for a third term is unconstitutional, and has launched a protest movement aimed at forcing him to drop out of the race.

Former colonial power France and the United States, once fervent supporters of the veteran leader, have voiced their disappointment and suggested Senegal was ready for a next generation of leaders.

(Source: )

excentricyoruba:

Senegalese + Japanese fusion cooking with Chef Pierre Thiam’s sushi style rice pudding.

(Source: thefemaletyrant)

You don’t have to look far for a symbol of Abdoulaye Wade’s presidency. If you’re in Dakar, you just have to look up. It’s a monstrous, 49m statue of the “African Renaissance”, built to the specifications of the president himself. It depicts a topless giant of a man surveying the Atlantic Ocean, a woman clutching his rippled chest and a baby balanced rather precariously on his bulging bicep. Completed in 2010, It was to be Wade’s lasting legacy. But perhaps not in the way he envisaged.

You see, rather than bring Senegalese together in a vision of a prosperous, united future, the statue has upset just about every social grouping possible, and turned up the volume on the questions surrounding Wade’s presidency. Feminists are unhappy that the female figure is so obviously subordinate. Muslims were unhappy about the amount of leg she shows. Christians were unhappy because Wade compared the male figure to Jesus Christ. Unions were unhappy because Wade employed a North Korean firm to build it, not local labour. Taxpayers were unhappy because it cost $27-million to build. And for what, exactly?

(Source: thefemaletyrant)

dynamicafrica:

Inside Story - Is Senegal sliding into chaos?

Senegal is one of the most peaceful nations on Africa’s west coast but violent protests are increasing over the president’s bid to be re-elected for a third term in office. Discussants are: Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Amadou Sall and Sylvain Touati.

(Source: )

dynamicafrica:

Anti-government protestors march past burning tires in Dakar on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.

Protesters hurled rocks at police who retaliated with tear gas in Senegal’s capital Dakar on Friday after a top legal body said President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run for a third term in elections next month.

Local television said one policeman died from head injuries after clashes in the capital Dakar.

Toure Behan / AFP - Getty Images

(Source: )

Senegal’s opposition has called for more resistance to the court approval of President Abdoulaye Wade’s bid to seek a highly disputed third term, after a night of riots in the capital, Dakar.

Opposition leaders vowed on Saturday to force the president out of office, threatening to march on the palace in a city reeling from violent riots that left at least one policeman dead, according to local media.

“We are asking the people to remain alert and to resist Abdoulaye Wade,” Abdoul Aziz Diop, the spokesman for opposition activist movement M23, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday.

“If Wade tries to impose himself on us … we will resist.”

Diop said that opposition figures and activist leaders were meeting on Saturday to discuss their next steps.

The meeting came a day after Senegal’s constitutional court approved a list of 14 candidates who had met the requirements to run for president in the February 26 election.

Among them was the 85-year-old Wade. However, the court rejected the candidacy of music icon Youssou N’Dour, who warned of rising tension in the country and vowed to challenge his disqualification.

Fury in Dakar

The ruling sparked fury in the capital, where protesters clashed with police. Anti-Wade protesters threw stones at police who responded with batons and tear gas after the much-anticipated ruling.

Youths set fire to tyres and engaged in running battles with police in the streets around la Place de l’Obelisque, one of the main squares in Colobane, a working class district of the capital.

Ebrima Sillah, a Senegalese journalist, told Al Jazeera that relative calm had returned to Dakar late in the night.

“At the moment, the situation is a bit under control,” he said. “The security forces have managed to take control of the streets from opposition supporters. They set fire to a lot shops, especially in the boulevard area of Dakar where you have a lot Chinese businesses concentrated.”

A little earlier, in the more affluent suburb of Almadies, the list of eligible candidates had been posted at the office of the Constitutional Council.

They included the names of three ex-prime ministers, Idrissa Seck, Macky Sall and Moustapha Niasse, as well as the main opposition leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng.

Read on here 

Source: Al Jazeera