Beginning of July. Dakar seems benumbed by a blazing sun when a woman in her sixties strides across the courtyard of a Treasury department. She has just pocketed aid of 61 euros for Tabaski on Sunday.
Every morning at dawn, dozens of Senegalese line up to receive this savings offered by the municipality to the most needy, essential to prepare for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Ahda, known as Tabaski in West Africa. the West.
While the political class is quarreling before the legislative elections on July 31, part of the population is struggling to make ends meet as this religious holiday approaches.
Food prices in Senegal continue to climb, due to speculation by traders and the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine.
More and more households are struggling, raising popular anger.
“Everything is very expensive. Onions, rice… This year, the menu will be light. Just grilled mutton to eat and that’s it. We’re going to do without cheese, gifts and all that that we bought to enhance the event”, explains to AFP Fatou Diop, in her sixties, sitting while waiting for her turn to collect municipal aid.
“There are 15,000 (applicants) this year to claim aid for Tabaski, almost double last year,” says Samba Ndoye who checks the identification cards of the beneficiaries.
– “Everything increases” –
According to a report by the Ministry of the Economy published in April, consumer prices increased by 7% over one year, driven by the soaring cost “of food products and non-alcoholic beverages (+ 11.4%)” . “And the July report promises to be even more worrying,” said a ministry official on condition of anonymity.
“Everything is increasing,” abounds Massamba Ndoye, 45, his brow furrowed. “The sum of 40,000 CFA francs (61 euros) given by the town hall does not buy a sheep, but it’s better than nothing”, adds this security guard.
For Tabaski, also called “the sheep festival”, Muslims sacrifice this animal as a sign of devotion to God, and families buy one or more for the occasion.
Everywhere in Dakar, merchants set up enclosures, sometimes on the sidewalks. Abdou Mbaye, 35, is one of them. He piled up a dozen animals in a small courtyard in the popular district of Ouakam.
– “Last minute” –
“This year, the prices of my sheep vary between 150,000 and 700,000 FCFA (228 euros and 1,067 euros)”, up from last year, he told AFP. For him, this increase is due to that of the price of animal feed and transport costs to take them to Dakar.
“Senegal is not self-sufficient in livestock, especially for sheep. We still depend on supplies from Mauritania and Mali,” said Ismaila Sow, president of the Senegalese Council of Breeders.
“This year, the political crisis in Mali and the rise in the price of animal feed, made up of wheat and corn imported from Russia and Ukraine, have a real impact on the purchase price of sheep,” he continues. .
But the price of mutton is not the only one to go up, that of onions, one of the main ingredients of Senegalese cuisine, is just as spicy.
“Not even a week ago, a 25 kg bag of onions cost between 2,500 and 3,000 FCFA (between 3.8 and 4.5 euros) and currently, it is sold at 7,500 FCFA (11.5 euros)”, notes Boubacar Sall, president of the national college of onion producers in Senegal. He explains that merchants are taking advantage of this prosperous period to sell off unsold goods and replenish their coffers.
But while many Senegalese cringe, Serigne Diaw, an official at the Ministry of Commerce, believes that “prices are stable on the market”.
Security guard Ndoye says he is waiting for the “last minute” to buy his sheep. He hopes that the sellers sell their beasts at low prices, tired of waiting for “big customers”.