Entrepreneurship in Senegal

Not 'the' beach, this one is further down the road on the Westernmost
point of the continent

After visiting the beach yesterday afternoon for a bit of R&R, my interaction with the local entrepreneur got me thinking about about entrepreneurship in Senegal. Something that exists on a completely different level to the capitalist entrepreneurship I am used do. Of course that does exist here, but to an extremely limited extent. Here is my experience, at my local beach – I go there because it is a 10 minute walk away, and I’m not actually sure there are any other beaches in a reasonable walking distance (I use the Australian definition of a beach here – where land meets ocean in the form of gently sloping soft sand into the water – some rocks are acceptable).

I sit down on the sand, specifically not taking advantage of one of the half broken umbrellas or partially torn up straw mats. Within seconds, I am approached by a hustler, calling me mon ami and asking for 2,000 CFA! Although this at some point in the conversation changed to 1,000 CFA, and I’m sure is different for every person at the beach, I wasn’t up for it. I figured this is a good opportunity to practice the little French I know, since the gentleman does not speak English. “Why?” I ask. He explains. I have little idea what he’s saying. We go back and forth, with half of the conversation being me telling him that I don’t understand or him telling me that he doesn’t understand English. My argument (armed with knowledge I gained from my colleagues) is that this is a public beach, I am not using any of his ‘equipment’, so why do I need to pay? His argument, I think, is that just like I have a job, he has a job, and it is related to the beach. It seems as though he is telling me that he cleans the beach and makes it look presentable. Admittedly, the beach does look a 100 times nicer than most public spots in Dakar. There is very little rubbish there, the sand and rocks are clearly separated in a way which didn’t occur naturally. Still, I argue – I a coming here to read my book and swim. If I use his services, I will pay. After 15 minutes he decides to leave me and give me free passage.

And what a view, from the Westernmost point...

I started thinking a lot about this encounter and realise that this is typical of this country. The local ‘entrepreneur’ is attempting to extract money from a ‘customer’ in a mildly unethical way – through an attempted guilt trip. Although it is a public beach, because he has done some work there, I should feel obliged to pay him. Take the taxi drivers – with 1 passing me every 10 seconds on a main road, I would flag one down if I wanted to. But many drivers feel that shouting out ‘taxi’, honking at me, and stopping next to me is enough to make me change my mind – not because I need a taxi, but because one is there for me now. Or the mobile phone credit sellers in the street. The same ones see me every day, twice a day. I don’t have a prepaid phone, but they feel that perhaps I’ll change my mind if they persist enough. I’m sorry, this is not being entrepreneurial.

My local beach is round about the middle of the left-facing 'bay'

Later on, the beach ‘landlord’ returns with his brother, the same discussion ensues. I decide to see whether this group of entrepreneurs is actually trying to take advantage of opportunities. They have a beach to themselves, no shops nearby, maybe they offer value added services. I ask if I can buy a drink. “Sure, anything” is the response. My request for any type of juice leads nowhere, and my request for a beer lands me with a bottle of Sprite. That’s all they have apparently. I’m sorry – but that’s lame. Offer value added services properly – people appreciate it. Put a sign up (even in English and Spanish) explaining that although this is a public beach, you spend hours every day improving it because the government doesn’t and suggest people give you something in return. Don’t just sit around playing music and smoking and feel that you can bully people into paying you.

I have found that this sort of thing is the prevalent attitude here. The full entrepreneurial spirit may exist here, but on a much smaller scale. There are, I’m sure, plenty of opportunities here, but they simply are not being taken advantage of particularly well.