In Senegal, a national recovery plan for Casamance was announced by the Prime Minister and former mayor of the region’s capital, Ousmane Sonko, following an interministerial meeting on October 8, 2024. A program that aims to encourage the return of people still displaced in this southern region of the country since the separatist fighting of the 1990s and relaunching the economy there.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff
At Senegal53.6 billion CFA francs – approximately 81.7 million euros – must be disbursed: 23 billion by the end of the year and 31 in 2025. An envelope which must be used to finance the construction of infrastructure basic needs – such as boreholes to access water, schools and access roads – and the return of state services which had left certain areas due to insecurity. All to encourage the return of some 6,000 people to their villages of origin.
The majority returned, but “ 33 villages are still abandoned » because of the separatist fighting that took place until the early 2000s in the region, said Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who also announced investing 10 billion CFA francs in mine clearance in Casamance. There are in fact many still left in the border areas with Gambia, scattered at the height of the fighting in the 1990s.
“ Casamance needs positive discrimination »
Announcements that are also very political, with anticipated legislative elections to be held in Senegal on November 17: Ousmane Sonko was mayor of Ziguinchor, the main city of Casamance, for almost 2 years, until he became Prime Minister 6 months ago. The latter therefore has a special link with this region in which he grew up.
He also knows that the political crisis, while he was in opposition, impacted the economy of Casamance: the ferry which connects Dakar to Ziguinchor twice a week was notably closed for almost a year, following to the demonstrations of his supporters in Dakar, stifling the economy of the region which sells and exports everything from the capital.
This is therefore a satisfaction for economic operators and development stakeholders in the region. “ Basic needs, like roads and access to electricity, are immense. Casamance needs positive discrimination », explains Mor Fall, who works for the NGO Grdr Migration-Citizenship-Development in Ziguinchor. Sine qua non condition to bring back populations and economic investors.
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