In Senegal, almost a month before the presidential election on February 25, our correspondents are traveling the country to meet voters. The town of Kédougou, in the far southeast, is the last major town before the border with Mali and Guinea. Although it is located in a gold-producing region, it is one of the poorest in the country. The locality switched to the majority camp in 2022.
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From our special correspondent in Kédougou,
A gigantic trench scratches the hill behind the village of Barafoute, about fifteen kilometers from Kédougou. Over more than 100 meters, around fifty deep holes follow one another. The work of the diggers makes the place buzz like a real beehive. Sheltered by reeds, there are hundreds of them hoisting, using a simple rope attached to a pulley, bags of earth mixed with precious metal. “ Finding gold here is a bit difficult, laments Frédéric, 25, who started looking a month ago. We don’t have the means to dig the ground. »
The jackhammers that attack the rock are powered by a generator. The women then separate the earth and the stones that contain the gold, then they grind them. Last step, finally: the use of mercury, to agglomerate the gold and release it from the sand… A particularly polluting and dangerous technique. “ If we catch you with mercury, explains Joseph, aged 23, you will go to prison. So if we could have machines that allowed us to work without the use of mercury, that would be better! »
Two hundred and twenty-four mercury-free treatment units are to be tested in the coming months in an artisanal mine a few kilometers away. For Mamadou Dramé, president of the federation of gold miners in the Kédougou region, there is an urgent need to regulate the artisanal gold panning sector: “ The mine, today, has many harmful effects on the environment. But it is also profitable, which is why instead of stopping it we must organize it, support it… and use technology to mitigate the harmful effects of traditional gold panning. » Every year, more than four tonnes are produced by these artisanal mines, most of which is, for the moment, sold in Mali, a huge shortfall for Senegal.
In this region of Kédougou, gold panning has become one of the main economic activities. It is considered more profitable than agriculture, in particular. In 2020, a study estimated the number of people practicing artisanal gold panning at nearly 40,000… A boom that requires regulating the sector. In any case, this is what the inhabitants of the region are demanding.
Local benefits too weak, according to the population
A gigantic poster on a central roundabout in Kédougou serves as a reminder of the city’s political roots… Side by side, the portrait of outgoing president Macky Sall and that of the city’s mayor Ousmane Sylla with this inscription: ” On the march for the big victory of Benno Bokk Yakaar » – named after the coalition of the presidential majority. Ousmane Sylla, who was elected two years ago, is a member of Macky Sall’s party, the Alliance for the Republic. The president of the departmental council, Mamadou Saliou Sow, too. The ruling party is therefore well established in the Kédougou region.
It is through this town of Kédougou that Macky Sall started his farewell tour last November. Quite a symbol, because the city, located closer to Mali than the capital, Dakar, is quite landlocked and underdeveloped despite its significant gold production: 26 tonnes in 2021 for more than a billion FCFA.
The main criticism made of the authorities is that they have failed to resolve this difficulty in finding a job. The inhabitants of Kédougou welcome the construction of a certain number of roads, such as that of Salémata, a fairly isolated region towards Guinea. Residents also welcome the arrival of a regional hospital in Kédougou in 2022. There are attempts to begin to regulate and structure the informal gold panning sector, but young people, also very numerous in this region, are feel forgotten.
An example: while we are in the middle of the African Cup of Nations, there is no municipal stadium worthy of the name in the town of Kédougou. But it is above all the training sector which is criticized, with a gap between the training which is offered and the needs of mining companies for example. The technical high school with a mining vocation does not offer real job opportunities and the project to create a metallurgy school in Kédougou did not come to fruition.
The frustration is amplified by the presence of three mining multinationals. According to the population, the economic benefits of this gold production are not felt enough, particularly for the revitalization of businesses in the region. Although progress has been made on the obligation to have a certain number of local employees in these mines.