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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Adjustment to West African Realities: The Lebanese in Senegal |
Author: | Boumedouha, Saïd |
Year: | 1990 |
Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |
Volume: | 60 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 538-549 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Senegal |
Subjects: | immigrants Lebanese domestic trade groundnuts Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Ethnic and Race Relations Economics and Trade |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1160207 |
Abstract: | The first Lebanese immigrants arrived in Senegal at the end of the 19th century, but it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Lebanese immigration began to increase considerably as a reaction to opportunities in the groundnut trade. After Senegal gained independence in 1960, Lebanese traders began to face competition from the Senegalese. This article examines how the Lebanese dealt with African competition, how they responded to the nationalization of groundnut marketing in the early 1960s, and what strategies they used in the face of growing economic problems. These strategies included moving to new fields of investment, concentrating activities in the main urban centres, and employing more African labour. They also used political mechanisms to gain protection from the Senegalese government and the leaders of the Muslim brotherhoods; these included the financing of various social projects and providing assistance to repatriated nationals. Finally, the author explores the prospects for the Lebanese in Senegal, in a situation currently dominated by riots and worsening economic conditions, and considers how the war in Lebanon has affected them. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French. |