In its offices in Dakar, behind the northern highway (VDN), Racine Sarr reviews orders with her teams. Around ten people are gathered in a small open space for an online conference. Piles of packages litter the ground.

Racine Sarr is a Senegalese entrepreneur, founder of Shopmeaway, an import-export platform intended to facilitate trade with Senegal.

“Here, multinationals and investors benefit from a good business climate but the development of local businesses is difficult. Access to credit, markets but also equipment is complicated because almost everything must be imported. This is where that we intervene, to pool purchases and obtain better conditions."

The Shopmeaway team, in front of its offices, in Dakar. © David Rich, France 24

Like all Senegalese, Racine Sarr closely follows the evolution of the political situation in the country. The sudden interruption of the electoral process twenty-two days before the presidential election, by President Macky Sall, then its postponement until December 15 during a vote in the National Assembly, plunged Senegal into a period of uncertainty which could have a serious impact on the country's economy.

Read alsoSenegal: scuffles and anti-Macky Sall slogans in Dakar

Loss of trustworthy

In West Africa, Senegal is considered an economic hub. The country is in second place, after Côte d'Ivoire, among the economies of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which also includes Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Mali and Niger.

In terms of international trade, Senegal is nevertheless one of the underserved markets, recalls Racine Sarr. A category that includes most countries on the continent, the Middle East as well as Latin America. As the volumes of goods are lower, the price of freight is very high.

"Here, if you need a computer, the reflex is to wait until you go to France, because having a computer delivered to Dakar can cost five or six times more expensive than having it delivered to Paris, when it is is possible", underlines Racine Sarr.

Recently, his company signed a contract with Amazon which, until now, did not deliver to Senegal. A nice move.

"In addition to the question of volume which governs prices, the question of trust is essential. Our role is to be a vector of trust. This is of course linked to the political stability of the country, which has been until now one of our main assets. Today, we are losing it,” he laments.

The Shopmeaway team meeting in its offices in Dakar. © David Rich, France 24

Double impact on the economy

Racine Sarr has bad memories of the latest episodes of unrest experienced by the country around the legal affairs of opponent Ousmane Sonko, today in prison. "His house is just across the highway. During protests, tear gas was entering our offices even when the doors were closed."

In 2021, after the arrest of the leader of the Pastef party, now dissolved, demonstrators attack French multinationals. Auchan stores and offices of Total and Eiffage were vandalized during these deadly riots. “It was not France that was attacked, it was Senegalese who were attacked,” reacted Papa Samba Diouf, an Auchan manager in Senegal, recalling that the company employs thousands of locals and distributes hundreds of thousands of products from Senegalese agriculture.

In 2023, once again, the conviction of Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison in a morals case ignites the powder. Stores, public buildings and banks are ransacked, leading to cascading effects with power and Internet cuts, late payments and even shortages of tickets at ATMs.

“These episodes of unrest have two types of effects on the economy,” explains Thierno Thioune, Senegalese economist, director of the Center for Applied Economic Research (Crea). “In the medium to long term, they affect confidence and therefore international partnerships and investments. But they also have an immediate impact on Senegalese business due to the disruptions they generate.”

In Senegal, the people hardest hit by these disruptions are those who work in the informal sector. A huge part of the country's economy which represents 97% of jobs created, according to a recent World Bank report. Many market sellers, drivers and delivery men, who depend on their daily earnings to support their families, have found themselves unable to work. Some lost their work tools during the waves of riots.

“It’s hellish what we are going through”

So far, Racine Sarr's activities have not been affected by the tensions linked to the postponement of the election, apart from the cutting of mobile Internet, the day after Macky Sall's speech. But others have already suffered big losses.

"We had concluded a communications contract with one of the candidates. We had already purchased the equipment. In the end, 20,000 euros in profits passed under our noses, that's not nothing for a small structure ", deplores Ousmane Diallo, jack-of-all-trades entrepreneur, shareholder of several start-ups. "We don't necessarily realize but the presidential elections represent a financial windfall for a lot of sectors: consultants, printers, advertisers, transport companies, sound systems, food businesses and so on."

Today, the businessman is worried about his activities in tourism, one of the country's most important economic sectors along with mining, construction, fishing and agriculture. “It’s hellish what we are going through,” he criticizes. “I feel deep dismay, real disappointment with the postponement of the election.”

A feeling shared by Racine Sarr. "It's a huge waste of money. I've always had a lot of respect for authority and observed a form of restraint on politics. But now, people like me can no longer remain neutral. With the postponement of the presidential election and all its implications, my feeling is that political calculations endanger the interests of all."

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