Senegal: Dakar’s classic thieves

RNW - May 12 - Open any tour guide book on Senegal and you will come across the same warnings: Be careful of robbers, watch out for thieves and be aware of pick-pockets when you are in a crowd.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr, Dakar

Besides its beautiful weather, sandy beaches, attractive architecture and the warm hospitality of its people, the Senegalese capital Dakar is known for its high rate of street robbery.

Snatch and run
With tourists and expatriates as main victims, the robbers normally snatch bags, wallets, cell phones and other belongings from people in the streets, markets, nightclubs and other public areas. Usually, the robbers would be suspicious-looking disgruntled youths in their dirty clothes and their trick would be snatch and run.

Maxima the grassroots princess visits Senegal

RNW - May 12 - Princess Maxima has already won the hearts of the Dutch people and now she looks set to win those of Africans. As part of her West African tour of Senegal and Mali, the Crown Princess of the Netherlands is acting as a UN advocate for inclusive finance in the fight against poverty. Her goal? To prove that microfinance can turn dreams into cash and self-reliance.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr

Inside the PAMECAS microfinance office in Dakar, about a dozen middle-aged women sit quietly waiting to be served by one of the microfinance officers.

All these women are brought together by a common enemy: poverty. And they turn to microfinance for a way out.

Princess Maxima of the netherlands

Escaping poverty
Ndeye Toure is a 48-year-old mother of three young children. Her husband was a factory worker in the suburbs of Dakar in the 1990s but was laid off due to poor health. With no job or earnings, Ndeye couldn’t send her kids to school.

In order to put food on the table for her family, she cooked for people in her neighborhood whenever they have occasions such as weddings and christening ceremonies. She earned just enough to buy three loaves of bread for her sick husband and the three kids.