Lebanese people in Senegal

Lebanese people in Senegal
Total population
(30,000[1])
Languages
Arabic · French · Wolof[1]
Religion
Shi'a · Maronite · Eastern Orthodox[1]
Related ethnic groups
Lebanese diaspora

There is a significant community of Lebanese people in Senegal.[1]

Migration history

The first trader from Lebanon arrived in Senegal in the 1860s. However, early migration was slow; by 1900, there were only about one hundred Lebanese living in the country, mostly from the vicinity of Tyre. They worked as street vendors in Dakar, Saint-Louis, and Rufisque. After World War I, they began to move into the peanut trade. With the establishment of the French Mandate of Lebanon, Lebanese immigration expanded sharply.[2] During the Great Depression and again after World War II, French traders lobbied the government to restrict Lebanese immigration; however, the government generally ignored such lobbying.[3]

Interethnic relations

During the colonial period, the Lebanese tended to support independence movements.[3] Their social position outside of the colonial relationship, as neither colonist nor colonised, enabled them to maintain good relations with both Senegalese consumers as well as the large French businessmen.[4] After Senegal gained independence in 1960, most French small traders left the country; however, indigenous Senegalese people began to compete increasingly with the Lebanese in the peanut sector, and soon after, the whole peanut marketing sector was nationalised.[3]

Lebanese migrants and their descendants have tended to maintain dual citizenship of both Lebanon and Senegal.[5] Most speak Arabic, Wolof and French, and some have become involved in Senegalese politics. However, they are a fairly endogamous community.[1]

In the early 2000s, the Lebanese began to be displaced from their position as a market-dominant minority by the influx of Chinese traders and the cheap goods they brought from China; as a result, the Lebanese began to shift to a pattern of buying goods from the Chinese and reselling them in remote areas of the country where no Chinese migrants lived.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Schwarz, Naomi (2007-07-10), "Lebanese Immigrants Boost West African Commerce", Voice of America, retrieved 2010-01-11
  2. ↑ O'Brien 1975, p. 98
  3. 1 2 3 Boumedouha 1990, p. 538
  4. ↑ O'Brien 1975, p. 96
  5. ↑ Leichtman 2005, p. 663
  6. ↑ Gaye 2008, p. 131

Bibliography

Further reading

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