WELTSTADT

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by Elke Krasny, Weltstadt Correspondent in Dakar

The city is growing. The informal sector is growing. The social distinctions that in the past were recognizable through the fabrics that people wore are disappearing. These three observations make their appearance on the margins of the conversations that Angelika Fitz and I held in Dakar.

Most of the fabrics that one can buy at the informal street markets and also from mobile dealers come from China. But also many other consumer goods that in the past were much more expensive can be purchased in the markets or from mobile dealers. Most of the mobile dealers come from the countryside, from the villages. Their first opportunity to land a job is for the most part in the informal sector. The growth of the city, the shrinking of the villages, the growth of the informal sector, the everyday clothing, the consumer goods, all this hangs together in a complex fashion. But it is no local context, but instead a transnational relationship that is re-constellating the contexts. That which is becoming interpretable in public space and in the fabrics, is gaining visibility, has roots that lie in diplomacy, long-term political goals, bi-lateral intergovernmental agreements.

"Growth in Africa will be fueled by China", thus the Senegalese economist and former presidential candidate Mamadou Diallo in August 2010. In the years from 1971 until 1996, Senegal maintained diplomatic relations with Beijing, but from 1996 until 2005 with Taiwan. Infrastructure, such as road construction in the country’s interior, the connection between Dakar and St. Louis, for instance, bear witness to this relationship to this day. On 25 October 2005, Senegal re-established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. 2006 was the African Year in Chinese diplomacy, the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, abbreviated FOCAC, is investing in Sino-African relations. As Eilert Stamm argues in his 2006 article "Das chinesische Engagement in Senegal" (i.e. Chinese engagement in Senegal), these are political interests, not interests in raw materials or resources. China’s diplomatic weight in the political south is to be increased, and Senegal is viewed in this context as a gatekeeper. Senegal for its part hopes for backing for a candidacy for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

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In the informal booths of the street markets, of the mobile dealers who set up their workplaces on the sidewalks of the Plateau of Dakar, one sees other effects of transnational connections in urban everyday life. Micro-politics and macro-politics, the politics of everyday life and diplomacy, the local and the transnational are intermeshed in extremely complex ways, and yet distinct from each other. The Chinese immigration to Dakar was not steered by the Chinese government. It began independently in the 1980’s and continued in the 1990’s when Beijing and Dakar did not maintain official diplomatic relations. Although Dakar has no architecturally recognizable Chinatown, there is a Chinese quarter along the Boulevard de Centenaire.

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Everybody knows it as “the Chinese quarter.” The business owners are Chinese, mobile commerce is carried out for the most part by people who come to the city from the countryside. As a transnational constellation, the Chinese diaspora in Dakar, and the exodus from the countryside as intra-Senegalese trans-local constellation between the city and the rural areas are therefore closely connected. In 2004, in the year prior to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Beijing, there were anti-Chinese demonstrations in Dakar’s Chinese quarter. The relations are characterized by interdependencies, conflicts, tensions, but also by exchange in other areas besides trade. Those who work for Chinese dealers often learn Mandarin, the Chinese dealers in their turn learn Wolof and French from their employees– a “language exchange.”

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Official China is investing in exchange at the level of culture, in cultural infrastructure: the Dakar Grand Theatre was built by China, the Black Civilization Museum is under construction. In February 2014, Senegal’s president Macky Sall emphasizes in an interview published on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation’s website, that he supports the establishment of a “Chinese Cultural Centre” in Dakar. "I think that the Chinese Cultural Center will certainly offer us an opportunity to develop bilateral partnership in the area of culture. There is so much to do in different domains such as dances and music," he said. In the meantime, transnational Sino-Senegalese have attained television format: Doudou and her Beautiful Mothers is a Chinese television series which also includes Senegalese actors. In the words of Senegal’s president Sall, this series shows how "our people, our artists and comedians can work together."