Issa Barro still can’t believe it. In the space of three days, the hotelier who manages two establishments in the Sine Saloum delta has seen 90% of reservations postponed. The 70 rooms of its hotels are however located far from the hotbeds of tension, 170 kilometers from Dakar and about 270 kilometers from Ziguinchor. “Customers, mostly French and Belgian, were spooked by the videos of chaos in Dakar and Ziguinchor. This is deplorable because it was reservations over several days. The shortfall should be around ten million CFA francs,” he estimates.

Even if a precarious calm prevails in the two big cities, the unrest that broke out on June 1 and 2 after the sentencing of opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison seriously tarnishes the image of a country deemed welcoming and stable. . A new blow to take for tourism, a sector which weighs 6.7% of GDP, already affected by the Covid-19 health crisis.

“If the political crisis sets in and lasts until the presidential election, the 2024 tourist season could be compromised,” fears Issa Barro, also president of the Federation of Tourist Offices and Tourist Offices of Senegal. Within his organization, he receives daily worried messages from tourism professionals, whose activities are slowed down or even severely handicapped: a colleague saw his only transport bus set on fire during a night of clashes in Dakar.

To the bitterness is added an enormous weariness. In fact, it has been more than two years since the tensions linked to the case between Ousmane Sonko and Adji Sarr, the former masseuse who filed a complaint for rape, have slowed down economic activity in the main cities of the country. At each appearance of the opponent, the large police force deployed paralyzes the capital and pushes some traders to lower their curtains for several hours to avoid looting and damage. Since March 2021, clashes between supporters of the main opponent and the police have often been violent. They killed around 30 people.

Fear of rising inflation

“The other collateral victims of these tensions are workers in the informal sector. For the market vendor or the taxi driver, the damage is considerable because they live from day to day. One day without work, whole families are weakened, ”deplores Ousmane Sy Ndiaye, the executive director of the National Union of Traders and Industrialists of Senegal (Unacois)

With the approach of Tabaski – the biggest Muslim holiday of the year scheduled for the end of June – another fear sets in. That of seeing inflation go up, when in April it had reached 9%, its lowest level since June 2022, thanks to state subsidies on food prices.

“The entire distribution chain could be affected by the latest episodes of violence. There has been a lot of looting and burning of warehouses where food stocks are stored. In addition, containers of goods remain at the quay at the port of Dakar for fear that during transport they will be attacked. All of this will affect food prices,” warns Ousmane Sy Ndiaye.

The decision to suspend mobile Internet and some popular applications for five days has also weakened merchants, who often use digital platforms to make sales. According to the simulator of the NetBlocks organization, which monitors Internet access around the world, the measure causes Senegal to lose nearly 5 billion CFA francs (some 7.5 million euros) per day.

Cancellation of major events

On the retail side, the fear of reliving a scenario similar to March 2021 is very present. At the time, around twenty Auchan stores had been targeted by protesters. This time, half a dozen points of sale in Dakar and Mbour, out of the thirty-eight in the country, were looted. Contacted, the group did not wish to comment on the amount of damage.

Another consequence of the unrest is the cancellation of major events. Scheduled for July 9 to 12 in Dakar, a symposium of the Foundation for Innovation for Democracy, the flagship organization of Emmanuel Macron’s new African policy and led by the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe, has finally been relocated to Abidjan.

In Diamniadio, Africa Mith, organized by host Hapsatou Sy, was intended to be the big meeting point for “African talents” and training. Scheduled for nine days in a 40,000 m2 complex, with the inauguration in the presence of President Macky Sall, the event had to be hastily cut short for fear of insecurity.

At the head of the Senegal Investors Club, Pierre Goudiaby Atepa does not take off. This emblematic figure of the business world is worried about the repercussions on an economy engaged in a dynamic of growth for years: “Beyond the human and economic losses, what is regrettable is the change in perception that investors could have from Senegal. »

This former adviser to Abdoulaye Wade is mobilizing his network to mediate in the crisis. “These young people are attacking businesses, they are looting them because they are hungry. I tell President Macky Sall that we urgently need to review our economic model to give prospects to our youth and ensure stability,” he said. To the Senegalese head of state, still silent about his intentions to run for a third term, the businessman alerted: “He must give up representing himself and go out the front door. Otherwise, chaos will ensue. »